CDC Milestone Category

Language/Communication

Milestone Name	Expected Age
Coos, makes gurgling sounds	2
Turns head toward sounds	2
Begins to babble	4
Babbles with expression and copies sounds he hears	4
Cries in different ways to show hunger, pain, or being tired	4
Responds to sounds by making sounds	6
Strings vowels together when babbling (“ah,” “eh,” “oh”) and likes taking turns with parent while making sounds	6
Responds to own name	6
Makes sounds to show joy and displeasure	6
Begins to say consonant sounds (jabbering with “m,” “b”)	6
Understands “no”	9
Makes a lot of different sounds like “mamamama” and “bababababa”	9
Copies sounds and gestures of others	9
Uses fingers to point at things	9
Uses simple gestures, like shaking head “no” or waving “bye-bye”	12
Makes sounds with changes in tone (sounds more like speech)	12
Says “mama” and “dada” and exclamations like “uh-oh!”	12
Tries to say words you say	12
Responds to simple spoken requests	12
Says several single words	18
Says and shakes head “no”	18
Points to show someone what he wants	18
Points to things or pictures when they are named	24
Knows names of familiar people and body parts	24
Says sentences with 2 to 4 words	24
Follows simple instructions	24
Repeats words overheard in conversation	24
Points to things in a book	24
Follows instructions with 2 or 3 steps	36
Can name most familiar things	36
Understands words like “in,” “on,” and “under”	36
Says first name, age, and sex	36
Names a friend	36
Says words like “I,” “me,” “we,” and “you” and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats)	36
Talks well enough for strangers to understand most of the time	36
Carries on a conversation using 2 to 3 sentences	36
Knows some basic rules of grammar, such as correctly using “he” and “she”	48
Sings a song or says a poem from memory such as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or the “Wheels on the Bus”	48
Tells stories	48
Can say first and last name	48
Speaks very clearly	60
Tells a simple story using full sentences	60
Uses future tense; for example, “Grandma will be here.”	60
Says name and address	60