Babies typically say their first words around 12 months of age, though it can vary from about 10 to 14 months. The first words might be simple and familiar ones like "mama," "dada," the name of a family pet, or common objects and favorite toys. Before speaking, babies often communicate through babbling, cooing, gestures, and sounds. By around their first birthday, babies usually begin to say two or three recognizable words, using them with meaning and context. Babies also start babbling between 5 to 10 months, combining vowel and consonant sounds in a playful way that leads up to actual words. By 12 to 14 months, many children have a small vocabulary of words and continue to rapidly learn new ones afterward. It’s important to remember that every baby develops at their own pace, and first words can sometimes come a little earlier or later than the typical range. The emphasis is on meaningful use and consistent recognition of sounds as words rather than perfect pronunciation at first.