Why isn’t my child talking?

Before a child reaches one year old, he should be able to coo and babble. It is also normal for a toddler to mimic different sounds and words he hears, much to the amusement of parents who have no idea yet of what is being said. The child would also use gestures to communicate such as waving and pointing. When you call his name, he would turn around to look at you. He would understand names of common items like ‘ball’, ‘milk or ‘shoe’.

Between one to two years old, toddlers should be able to follow simple instructions, identify a few body parts, use single words consistently, starts using some two-word phrases like ‘no milk’ or ‘mommy go’. They can also ask simple questions such as ‘what is that?’. When they reach two to three years old, they can follow two-step instructions like ‘take the book and give it to daddy’. They would also understand concepts. They use two- to three-word utterances like ‘daddy shoe blue’. They understand simple questions.

At three to four years, they can identify colors. They can also use four to five-word utterances. They can answer ‘where’ questions. Most importantly, their speech is easily understood by listeners who are unfamiliar with the child’s speech. Upon reaching four years and above, they can follow longer and more complex instructions. They can even tell a simple story, and use conjunctions such as ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’, in order to connect phrases and sentences.