Communication is a fundamental aspect of human interaction, and its development is crucial for our overall growth. In this post, we highlight  the important early childhood milestones for communication, speech, and language. We’ll also discuss  when to seek help if your child's communication development isn’t progressing as expected.

What is Communication?

Communication is the act of transferring information from one place, person, or group, to another. It is a two-way process involving a sender, a message, a medium, a channel, a receiver, a response, and feedback. Communication is a multi-sensory neurological process that allows us to use our visual, auditory, motor, and kinesthetic capabilities to decode visual, verbal, written, gestural, and postural information, and to respond in kind to establish meaningful contact.

Verbal Communication Development: Receptive and Expressive Language

As with all skills, our verbal communication develops over time. Receptive language involves understanding and processing information, while expressive language involves conveying information through speech  and gestural actions. 

Communication Development Milestones for Children from Birth to Age Five

Early childhood communication progresses in phases:

Communication Milestones from Birth to Three Months

Between birth and three months, babies develop various communication skills, such as: 

• Responding to sounds by stopping motion
• Listening to voices
• Searching for sound with their eyes 
• Making suckling sounds
• Differentiated crying
• Cooing and producing open vowel sounds
  
  

Communication Milestones from Four to Seven Months

From four to seven months, infants can:

• Respond to their names
• Vocalize in response to music or speech
• Start babbling

Babbling is a universal language, and babies begin to understand words through actions or gestures.

Communication Milestones from Eight to 12 Months

Between eight and 12 months, babies convey different emotions and social competencies through communication: 

• They start using sounds to express joy, distress, or anger
• They babble to people
• They can also take turns as if carrying on a conversation.
  
  

Communication Milestones from 13 to 18 Months

From age one to one-and-a-half years, babies begin understanding verbal communication:

• They understand 20 to 100 words: most of them nouns, and a few verbs
• They respond to simple yes/no questions
• They can point to body parts and favorite characters in familiar books
  
  

Communication Milestones from 19 to 26 Months

As children approach their second birthday, their language abilities increase dramatically. They can:

• Understand close to, or more than, 100 common words 
• Actively use between 20 and 30 words (or their approximations) spontaneously

Communication Milestones from 27 to 36 Months

After the second birthday, children become even more conversational. They can:

• Use appropriate turn-taking
• Speak in present tense
• Enjoy conversations
• Understand size words (e.g. "big" or "small")
• Understand simple questions
• Recognize the names of family members and pets
• Use plurals and pronouns correctly and have a vocabulary of well over 200 words

Communication Milestones from Ages Three to Four Years

From age three to four, children’s language continues to develop. They can:

• Use comparison words like  "bigger"  or   "shorter” 
• Understand and use location words like "inside," "on,"  and  "under" 
• Use words like  ”a” or  ”the”  when talking
• Recognize signs and logos (such as stop signs)
• Correctly pronounce t, k, g, f, y, and –ing   in words
• Say all syllables in a word
• Speak the sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of words

Communication Milestones from Ages Four to Five Years

Children between ages four and five years display increasingly complex language skills and are able to: 

• Speak in grammatically correct sentences
• Speak in longer and more complex sentences 
• Include one main character and a setting in their speech 
• Correctly use at least one irregular plural form, such as  "feet"   or  "men"  
• Use additional words for time, such as "yesterday"  and  "tomorrow"  
• Follow simple directions and rules to play games
• Recognize and name 10 or more letters 
• Write their own name
• Imitate reading and writing from left to right
• Blend word parts, like  cup + cake = cupcake
• Identifies some rhyming words, like " cat"  and " hat"
• Produce most consonants correctly
• Speak with intelligible speech

Impact of Communication Skills on Overall Early Childhood Development

Understanding communication development is crucial for parents, professionals, and caregivers. A child's ability to convey feelings and needs, as well as understand the feelings and needs of others, is pivotal for their success in any group. 

After age eighteen months, many cognitive skills are conveyed through communication, and therefore, a communication delay can be reflected as a cognitive challenge.

If you observe that your child's communication development is delayed, schedule an appointment with your pediatrician. Your child's doctor will play a crucial role in discussing your child's skills acquisition and identifying when to seek therapeutic services. By understanding the chronological acquisition of communication skills, we can better support children's overall development and behavior.

Further reading: 

Late Talker or Speech Delay? How to Help Your Child Start Speaking

Speech Sounds by Age: What Sounds Should My Child Be Able to Pronounce?

When Should I Seek Development Services for My Child?