Development milestones in speech and other skills before the age of 2

Parents, here’s a must-read of speech development milestones to watch out for with your 2-year-old.

Your child is almost ready to greet the terrible twos! Hurray! By this time, you already know that your baby is not a baby anymore (although, for us parents, they will forever be) but an active and adventurous toddler.

Now that he is able to walk, the more that he is able to explore and learn about the things around him. He might already know a few words or start saying them, although still mispronouncing them, which is so cute.  Before you know it, you’ll already have him talking nonstop and asking a lot of questions.

Speech Developmental Milestones

As your child grows and advances in age, you might start to wonder if what he is doing or learning is expected of him. Is he learning and understanding what kids his age are supposed to learn and understand? Is he delayed or advanced?

According to the website Pathways.org, developmental milestones are behavioral or physical checkpoints in children’s development as they grow.

These include core skills and actions that children should be reaching each month or year. These developmental milestones are validated by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Developmental milestones are divided into different categories. Some milestones are physical or referring to movement, cognitive or referring to the way your child thinks, while some are speech and development milestones.

It’s important for parents to know that while these milestones are merely a guide to what is expected of your child at a certain age, children develop differently and each child has his own timeline. Your child might not be able to run fast yet, but he is way advanced with speech and language milestones.

For this particular article, we give you a checklist of milestones that your child should be hitting or learning before he turns 2.

Developmental milestones before the age of 2

Physical and motor skills

If you haven’t yet, it’s a good idea to babyproof or “toddler-proof” your home, as you can expect your little one to be more active, and independent and start exploring the things around him.

1. Walks independently
2. Pulls toys behind her while walking
3. Carries large toy or several toys while walking
4. Begins to run
5. Stands on tiptoe
6. Kicks a ball
7. Climbs onto and down from furniture unassisted
8. Walks up and down stairs holding on to support
9. Scribbles spontaneously
10. Turns over the container to pour out contents
11. Builds tower of four blocks or more
12. Might use one hand more frequently than the other
13. Helps with getting dressed/undressed
14. Has a regular sleep schedule
15. Learning to feed himself
16. Eats an increasing variety of foods
17. Squats to pick up a toy

At 18 months, some toddlers show that they are ready to be potty-trained. However, this doesn’t apply to all and some toddlers will just start this process at age 3.

Speech and language development

1. Responds to questions
2. Repeats words overheard in conversation
3. Continues to produce speech-like babbling
4. Names objects and pictures
5. Understands “in” and “on”
6. Responds to yes/no questions with head shake/nod
7. Uses at least 50 words
8. Understands and uses simple pronouns (me, you, my)
9. Identifies 3-5 body parts when named
10. Understands new words quickly
11. Begins to use 2-word phrases
12. Understands action words like sit, stop, eat
13. Uses gestures and words during pretend play
14. Follows 2-step related directions e.g. “Pick up your coat and bring it to me”
15. Enjoys listening to stories

At around 18 months, your child is learning words all the time – usually 1-2 words a week, or maybe even one word a day. They’re also getting better at understanding simple sentences and instructions.

And from blabbing words you can’t make sense of, you’ll find that you’re now able to understand more of what your toddler says to you.

Now that they’ve learned to express themselves, you can also bet that they will have their say in so many things. They can learn to say “more” when they want something, and “No!” when they don’t like what they’re hearing or seeing.

Add that to the fact that at this age, toddlers also start to experience big emotions like anger and frustration, guilt, shame, possessiveness, and excitement.

And although they have learned to talk, they still don’t know how to express these feelings properly or control their emotions. It often leads to tantrums or as some parents call it, the “terrible twos.” But having a routine and teaching them about safety and mindfulness can help your child manage his feelings better.

Significant speech development milestones

Speech development is a success and a milestone for babies learning the language in their surrounding culture.

Babies are both receptive (hearing and understanding) and expressive (speech), which is a milestone for learning as a development of language patterns.

Not every baby can utter the say thing always. Speech milestone is an approximation of when most babies do and develop certain things.

Each time they grow and develop, of course, there are notable learnings and development that mark their speech milestones.

1. Cooing – the first baby sound production; occurs between six to eight weeks old
2. Laughing – usually around 16 weeks of age, your baby will laugh as a response to anything in their surroundings
3. Babbling and baby jargon – this is a repetition of syllables again and again without specific meaning like “bababa”. It usually occurs during 6 to 9 months old
4. The first word – at a year old or around 10 to 15 months, your baby might probably have said their first word.
5. Words are not yet perfect. Consonants that are easy to produce like “p, m, or b” are usually uttered with lips. So instead of saying Da-da, your baby might say ma-ma.
6. Some babies older than 9 months may utter words or syllables like “ba” for bottle, or anything related to food.

These speech milestones are not that exactly learned by your babies, but development will come in time slowly.

READ MORE: 

Toddler development and milestones: your 24 month old

Mom of an Independent Toddler Shares 3 Tips on Helping Child Reach Her Milestones

Want baby to start blabbing? Here are some speech exercises to do at home

My child does meet a few milestones on the checklist

But what if your child hasn’t reached some of the milestones on the list yet?  What if he only knows how to say a few words?

As mentioned earlier, each child develops at his own particular pace and it’s impossible to tell exactly when yours will perfect a given skill.

You have to remember that the checklist is a collective observation where 90% of children do these things by the age indicated. So, if your child does not ‘check’ one or more of these milestones in time, it does not mean there is something wrong with her. It may simply mean that she is a late bloomer as they say.

If you’re concerned about your child not hitting his milestones, you may consult with his doctor and ask her to refer you to a specialist or a developmental pediatrician.

There, your child will undergo an evaluation where the doctor can pinpoint whether your child is just a late talker, a late bloomer or if there is a significant delay that should be addressed.

Red flags

However, according to Health Children.org, alert your pediatrician if your child displays any of the following signs of possible developmental delay for this age range:

1. Cannot walk at 18 months
2. Fails to develop a mature heel-toe walking pattern after several months of walking, or walks exclusively on his toes
3. Does not speak at least 15 words by 18 months
4. Will not use two-word sentences by age two
5. no knowledge about the function of common household objects (brush, telephone, bell, fork, spoon) by 15 months
6. won’t imitate actions or words by the end of this period
7. Does not follow simple instructions by age two
8. Cannot push a wheeled toy by age two

If your child needs therapy, your doctor will refer her to a relevant speech and language expert. An early diagnosis will help your child immensely, so talk to your doctor even if you have the slightest doubts.

At this age, your child’s brain is like a sponge – they will absorb every little thing you teach them, every little experience they get to have. And while they don’t have all the words for it yet, they are learning so many things.

So the best way for your almost 2-year-old to reach her milestones, especially when it comes to speech and language, is to immerse them to different things every day.

Synthesis

Children can learn a significant amount of knowledge through everyday play. So if your child does not display any of red flags, just relax, and take the time to talk and play with him. You’ll soon realize that he has hit important development milestones and learned core skills without any pressure, like speech.

If you have any questions about your child’s development milestones and how much should he be learning at his age,  consult his pediatrician about it.

Republished with permission from theAsianParent Singapore

Additional information by Camille Eusebio and Nathanielle Torre.

Here at theAsianparent Philippines, it’s important for us to give information that is correct, significant, and timely. But this doesn’t serve as an alternative for medical advise or medical treatment. TheAsianparent Philippines is not responsible to those that would choose to drink medicines based on information from our website. If you have any doubts, we recommend to consult your doctor for clearer information.