Scharf et al. Pediatrics in Review 2016 Milestone Category

Expressive Language

Milestone Name Expected Age
Throaty noises 1
Coos 2
Social smile 1
Vowel-like noises 2
Chuckles 3
Vocalizes when talked to 3
Laughs out loud 4
Vocalizes when alone 4
Says “Ah-goo” 5
Razzes, squeals 5
Expresses anger with sounds other than crying 5
Reduplicative babble with consonants 6
Listens, then vocalizes when adult stops 6
Smiles/vocalizes to mirror 6
Increasing variety of syllables 7
Says “Dada” (nonspecific) 8
Echolalia (8 to 30 months) 8
Shakes head for “no” 8
Says “Mama” (nonspecific) 9
Nonreduplicative babble 9
Imitates sounds 9
Says “Dada” (specific) 10
Waves “bye-bye” 10
Says first word 11
Vocalizes to songs 11
Points to get desired object (proto-imperative pointing) 12
Uses several gestures with vocalizing (eg, waving, reaching) 12
Uses three words 13
Immature jargoning: inflection without real words 13
Names one object 14
Points at object to express interest (protodeclarative pointing) 14
Uses three to five words 15
Mature jargoning with real words 15
Uses 5 to 10 words 16
Uses 10 to 25 words 18
Uses giant words (all gone, stop that) 18
Imitates environmental sounds (eg, animals) 18
Names one picture on demand 18
Holophrases (“Mommy?” and points to keys, meaning: “These are Mommy’s keys.”) 20
Two-word combinations 20
Answers requests with “no” 20
Uses 25 to 50 words 22
Asks for more 22
Adds one to two words/week 22
Two-word sentence (noun +_x0001_ verb) 24
Telegraphic speech 24
Uses 50_x0001_ words 24
50% intelligibility 24
Refers to self by name 24
Names three pictures 24
Repeats two digits 28
Begins to use pronouns (I, me, you) 28
Names 10 to 15 pictures 28
Echolalia and jargoning gone 30
Names objects by use 30
Refers to self with correct pronoun 30
Recites parts of well-known story/ fills in words 30
Gives first and last name 33
Counts to 3 33
Begins to use past tense 33
Enjoys being read to (short books) 33
Uses 200_x0001_ words 36
Three-word sentences 36
Uses pronouns correctly 36
75% intelligibility 36
Uses plurals 36
Names body parts by use 36
Asks to be read to 36
Repeats six- to eight-word sentence 60
Defines simple words 60
Uses 2,000 words 60
Knows telephone number 60
Responds to “why” questions 60
Retells story with clear beginning, middle, end 60
Repeats 8- to 10- word sentences 72
Describes events in order 72
Knows days of the week 72
10,000 word vocabulary 72