9 months
Your child demonstrates that he can understand simple words such as “Mommy”, “Daddy” or “No.”

10 months
Your child’s speech should have a “language structure” and consist of individual coherent syllables (“da-da-da”). He will begin to form his first understandable words at around this time.

1 year
Your child can speak one or more words.

18 months
Your child understands simple sentences. In response to verbal prompts, he fetches familiar objects and points to parts of the body. He should have a spoken vocabulary of 20 to 50 words and use short sentences such as “Go away!” or “Mommy carry.”.

24 months
Your child’s spoken vocabulary now comprises at least 150 words, which are used in short sentences. His speech should also be largely comprehensible to adults who are not with him on a daily basis. He should be able to sit still and listen to descriptions of picture books.

3 to 5 years
Your child continuously expresses himself orally in order to convey his wishes and feelings, communicate information and ask questions. At pre-school age, he should be able to understand more or less everything that is spoken. His vocabulary varies from 1000 to 2000 words, with which he can form complex sentences. At the end of the pre-school stage, all of his speech sounds should be clear and comprehensible.

The timings mentioned above serve as guidelines for normal speech development. Delayed speech development of more than two to three months could potentially indicate hearing loss. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s hearing ask your physician or local specialist consultant for a hearing assessment.

» Causes and types of hearing loss
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