Early Vocalizations (0-12 months):
* Cooing and gurgling: (2-3 months) Soft, vowel-like sounds.
* Babbling: (4-6 months) Repetitive consonant-vowel sounds like "baba" or "mama."
* Reduplicated babbling: (7-12 months) Repeating syllables like "dadada" or "bababa."
* Variegated babbling: (7-12 months) More complex babbling with different syllables like "badabada."
* First words: (12 months and up) Typically nouns and simple words like "mama," "dada," or "ball."
Early Speech Development (12-24 months):
* Holophrases: Using one word to express a complete thought, like "milk!" meaning "I want milk."
* Telegraphic speech: Simple two-word phrases like "want cookie" or "go park."
* First verbs and adjectives: Start appearing in sentences.
* Understanding simple commands: "Come here," "Give me the ball."
* Increased vocabulary: Rapidly expanding vocabulary with new words learned daily.
Later Speech Development (2-3 years):
* Three-word sentences: "Mommy eat cookie."
* More complex sentence structures: "I want to play outside."
* Plurals and pronouns: "My toys" or "I see you."
* Questioning and negations: "Where's the ball?" or "No, I don't want it."
* Emergence of grammar: Basic understanding of word order and sentence structure.
Other Important Characteristics:
* Individual variation: Children develop language at their own pace. Some may be earlier or later talkers.
* Contextual learning: Children learn language through interactions with their environment and caregivers.
* Repetition and modeling: Children learn by hearing and repeating words and phrases.
* Feedback and correction: Children learn from feedback and corrections from adults.
Signs of potential speech delays:
* Not babbling by 7-8 months.
* Not saying single words by 12-18 months.
* Not using two-word phrases by 2 years.
* Difficulty understanding simple instructions.
* Limited vocabulary for their age.
Important Note: If you have concerns about your child's speech development, consult a healthcare professional or speech-language pathologist for advice and guidance.