Babies start talking, that is, attempting to express themselves in words with meaning, anywhere between 9 and 14 months. Most babies say their first word sometime between 12 and 18 months of age. However, babies will start to hear the early stages of verbal communication shortly after birth, and they will experiment with different sounds right before the 1-year mark. After age 1, parents should watch for yearly speech milestones. Here is a timeline of how babys speech will typically progress:
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By the end of month 4: Babies often say their first word around the age of 1, but it can vary from child to child. Some perfectly normal babies don’t say a recognizable word until 18 months, whereas some babies begin to communicate in word-sounds (like "ba-ba" for bye-bye, bottle or ball and "da-da" for dog, dad or doll) as early as 7 months.
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By 9 months: Baby will probably start stringing together "ma-ma" and "da-da" sounds without necessarily knowing what they mean.
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By 12 to 18 months: Baby says single words.
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By 18 months: Baby says several simple words and can point to people, objects, and body parts you name for them.
Parents should not worry if their baby is not forming complete words by age 1, as sometimes the babbling continues well into the next year of life, with pointing and gesturing. It is important to note that speech and language skills usually develop from a very early age, and some children don’t develop the early skills they need. Parents should speak to a GP, health visitor, or speech and language therapist if their child has not started to babble to communicate by 12 to 15 months, they are not saying their first words by 18 months, or they do not respond well to language, such as not following simple instructions like "kick ball".
