Talking and understanding
How babies and young children start to make sounds, use gestures, understand words, say words and put them together.
When they usually start
Each bar shows the ages when most children in the studies started. Children vary a lot. Tap a milestone to read more.
- Cooing. Typical: about 1 to 3 months. The spread of ages hasn't been measured yet.
- Babbling. Most children: about 5 to 10 months; typical: about 6 to 7 months
- Responding to their name. Most children: about 4½ to 9 months
- Understanding first words. Most children: before 6 months to about 12 months; typical: about 6 to 8 months
- Waving bye-bye. Most children: before 8 months to about 16 months; typical: about 9 to 11 months
- First words. Most children: before 8 months to about 16 months; typical: about 10 months
- Pointing. Most children: about 9 to 16 months; typical: about 11 months
- Saying about 50 words. Most children: before 16 months to about 2¼ years; typical: about 18 months
- Two-word phrases. Most children: before 16 months to about 2½ years; typical: about 19 to 21 months
- Word endings like -ing and plural -s. Most children: before 16 months to about 2½ years; typical: about 23 to 24 months
- Speech other people can understand. Most children: before 2½ years to about 4 years; typical: about 3 years
Typical age only: studies haven't yet measured how widely the ages spread.
Sounds and babbling
- CooingMost babies start making soft vowel sounds like "ooo" and "aah" in their first few months. In a study in four countries, half did so by about 1 month, and a review of earlier studies puts cooing at around 3 months.
- BabblingMost babies start babbling, repeating sounds like "ba-ba" or "da-da", somewhere between about 5 and 10 months, often around 6 to 7 months. Babies learning very different languages start at similar ages.
- Speech other people can understandStrangers can understand about half of what most children say by around 3 years, and most of what they say by around 4. Children vary a lot: some get there a year or more later.
Gestures
- Waving bye-byeMost babies start waving bye-bye somewhere around 9 to 11 months, and nearly all by 16 months. Babies in very different countries start at similar ages.
- PointingMost babies start pointing at things somewhere between about 9 and 16 months, often around their first birthday. Babies in very different communities around the world start at similar ages.
Understanding words
- Responding to their nameBabies recognise the sound of their own name surprisingly early: lab studies have found this at about 4 to 5 months. By 8 months, more than 9 in 10 US parents say their baby responds when called, and nearly all by 9 months.
- Understanding first wordsBabies understand some words well before they say any. Many understand common words like "no" and their parents' names by about 6 to 8 months, and nearly all understand at least 10 words by their first birthday.
Saying words
- First wordsMost babies say their first word somewhere around their first birthday. About half say one by 10 months, and nearly all by 16 months.
- Saying about 50 wordsMost children are saying about 50 words somewhere between about 16 months and 2¼ years, often around 18 months. Children learning many different languages reach this at similar ages, though some take longer.
Putting words together
- Two-word phrasesMost children start putting two words together, like "more milk", somewhere between about 16 months and 2½ years, often around 19 to 21 months. Children learning many different languages start at similar ages.
- Word endings like -ing and plural -sMost children start adding endings like plural "-s" (cats) and "-ing" (running) somewhere between about 1½ and 2½ years, often around their second birthday. Past-tense "-ed" (jumped) tends to come a few months later.
- Asking questionsChildren start asking questions like "where's daddy?" as their talking grows. The CDC lists asking who, what, where or why questions at 3 years, but we haven't yet found studies that measured when most children start.
Researchers have their own name for this area: Language and communication. The sections on this page follow the way studies usually group these skills:
- Sounds and babbling (Prelinguistic vocalisation)
- Gestures (Gestural communication)
- Understanding words (Receptive language)
- Saying words (Expressive language)
- Putting words together (Syntax and morphology)