1-2 Years

From 1-2 years is when parents can really make a difference for those children who aren’t meeting milestones, or who need help.

Around 11-12 months, it’s possible to start seeing if a child will meet the 12-month milestone, and by 18 months things become clearer.

All parents (ourselves included) want their child be OK and the tempation is to overlook, or forgive, any missing pieces—it's important to monitor your child closely from 12-18 months.

Take a look below at all of the communication milestones and averages for children between 1-2 years.

Underneath the milestones/averages you'll find a summary of the typical speech/communication journey for 1-2-year-olds', and what to do if your child is below average, or if you have concerns.

* Learn more about milestones and averages [opens new tab. please read if you haven't already.]

Milestones

• Waves "bye-bye"
• Calls a parent "mama" or "dada" or another special name (milestone is 1 word)
• Understands "no" (pauses briefly or stops when you say it)

Averages

• understands about 10 words
• responds to their name
• recognises greetings and gestures, such as ‘hi’ and ‘bye-bye’
• recognises a few familiar people and objects (e.g., mummy, blankie, teddy)
• makes eye contact
• starts to use sounds, gestures, and says 2-6 words (actual average is 5 words)
• continues to babble
• copies different sounds and noises

Milestones

• Tries to say 6 to 20 single words – some easier to understand than others, but becoming more consistent besides “mama” or “dada” (milestone is 10 words)
• Follows one-step directions without any gestures, like giving you the toy when you say, “Give it to me.”

Averages

• Understands up to 50 words and some short phrases.
• Follows simple instructions (e.g., ‘throw the ball’).
• Points to familiar objects when named
• Points to some pictures in familiar books
• Says 50 single words – some easier to understand than others, but becoming more consistent
• Copies lots of words and noises
• Names a few body parts.
• Uses objects in pretend play (e.g., hold toy phone to their ear and say ‘hello?’)

Milestones

• Points to things in a book when you ask, like “Where is the bear?”
• Says 50 single words – some easier to understand than others, but becoming more consistent
• Says at least two words together, like “More milk.”
• Points to at least two body parts when you ask him to show you
• Uses more gestures than just waving and pointing, like blowing a kiss or nodding yes

Averages

• Follows simple two part instructions (e.g., ‘give me the ball and the car’)
• Respond to simple wh-questions, such as ‘what’ and ‘where’
• Points to several body parts and pictures in books when named
• Understands when an object is ‘in’ and ‘on’ something
• Says 200-300 single words (average is 250 words)
• Puts two words together (e.g., ‘bye teddy’, ‘no ball’)
• Uses their tone of voice to ask a question (e.g.,‘teddy go?’)
• Says ‘no’ when they do not want something
• Uses most vowel sounds and a variety of consonants (m, n, p, b, k, g, h, w, t, d)
• Starts to use ‘mine’ and ‘my’

From 12 months onwards, toddlers experience vast development in speech sounds and at least triple the number of words they can say between 1 and 2 years of age.

Their speech becomes easier to understand and by the time they’re 2 years old, half of their speech should be understood.

By 2 years, toddlers can say a range of speech sounds when talking (e.g. p, b, m, t, d, n, h, w)

Many 1-2 year olds have difficulty saying sounds correctly all the time. Some words are more difficult than others for children to say, so they may make some sound errors (e.g. “tat” for cat and “pam” for pram). Sometimes, children can be more difficult to understand when they are using longer sentences.

Even if children make sound errors, they should still use the correct syllable-pacing.

Take the word ‘elephant’.

It’s a complex word but is often in childrens’ stories, like ‘Madagascar’. Even if pronounced incorrectly, you should look for 3 clear syllable sounds.

Something along the lines of: ‘el’ — ‘eh’ — ‘funt’.

Parents can continue to help their toddler’s speech development by modelling the correct way of saying words, particularly when children make occasional sound errors.

However, if a toddler’s speech is very difficult for parents to understand, or if children are using gestures (and grunts) in place of words, parents should contact a speech pathologist for further advice.

If parents are concerned about their child’s speech development, they are advised to have their child’s hearing checked by an audiologist, as hearing is important in learning how to say sounds correctly.

Below average? Enrol in the Parents & Carers Course here

If you are worried about your child’s speech, if your child sounds different to the ages and stages outlined or if your two-year-old cannot be understood by adults, you may need to seek help from a speech pathologist.

A speech pathologist has been professionally trained to advise, diagnose and work with adults and children who have difficulty in communicating. Speech pathologists work in a variety of settings including schools, health centres, hospitals and private practice. Your child health nurse or GP can put you in contact with a speech pathologist.

Below average? Enrol in the Parents & Carers Course here

Often, parents are slow to seek help because they don’t want to believe their child has a problem.

We’re parents too, and completely understand why you feel this way. (It’s one of the reasons we created the ‘Parents & Carers’ course.)

The parents and carers course is to the point — with no fluff or filler — you can go through it within a few hours.

You will learn how to overcome the typical barriers to successful communication in young children.

Also, it’s exactly what a speech pathologist would want you to know before they provided speech therapy for you and your child.

As well as the course, you get access our live streams with a fully-qualified and highly-experienced Speech Language Pathologist (Carissa Gorman), who will answer individual questions.

Learn more about the parents and carers course here.