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