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Understanding baby talk

It starts with the squeaks and sighs of the newborn; a few years later your toddler will be regaling you with endless chatter.

There are many mysteries surrounding the way humans develop language skills.

Here's a guide to what you can expect from your baby:
Newborn

Crying is your baby's main form of communication. That's how she lets you know she's tired or hungry, unhappy or uncomfortable

She gurgles contentedly after a feed

May whimper before crying

It's never too early to start talking to your baby, she'll love the sound of your voice and it's the first step in her learning to speak.

3 months

Makes simple vowel sounds like "oh" and "ah", known as cooing

Gradually, she works out the rhythm of conversation and will "reply" to your talking with a sound of her own

She will turn her head to seek out the source of talking.

6 months

Says "ba", "da" and "ka"

Starts to babble

Chuckles and squeals when happy

She will "practice" talking on her own, making more and more different sounds

From around 7 or 8 months, she starts to say two- syllable words like "baba"

May recognise her own name.

9 months

Babbles tunefully, imitating the rhythms of speech

Makes lots of consonant sounds with double syllables. Makes two syllable exclamations like "imi!"

Understands some basic words (like "bye-bye")

Tries to imitate noises

Will shout to attract attention

Sings a simple tune of a few notes

Starts to develop her own words or sounds for familiar people or objects. These generally bear no resemblance to the real word.

12 months

She starts to join her syllables together to form "sentences", such as "Dee-dah-ah-ma-oooh"

The form of her babbled sentences becomes more complex. You'll hear different variations in her tone and emphasis, so it might sound as if she's speaking a foreign language, with all the jokes, chatter and exclamations that would entail

May say her first word (usually "dada" before "mama")

Babbles loudly

Understands simple instructions ("give me your cup", or "come to mummy").

18 months

Uses about 20–50 words, but her vocabulary will be growing weekly, or even daily in the second half of the second year. Remember that she understands many more words than she can say

Might make two-word phrases

Her pronunciation is still not perfect. Some letters, like "r" and "k" are difficult to say and your baby might be saying "tat" instead of "cat" for quite some time

She is gaining experience in two-way conversations, and the way we take turns talking and listening.

2 years

Her vocabulary takes a big leap and she probably uses between 50 and 300 words.

She learns new words every day

Uses two or three word sentences in a format known as "telegraphic speech". She relies on nouns and verbs, and tends not to use past or future tense, and words like "a" or "the"

Uses her own name

Will try to join in familiar songs and rhymes

Asks names of objects

2 1/2 years

Knows about 200 words, or more. Her vocabulary is focused on her family and home, her pets and friends, food, toys – in short, the things that are core to her world.

Starts to use "I", "me" and "you" correctly

Knows some nursery rhymes

Asks "what" and "where?" Be prepared to answer loads of questions!

She has sorted out object naming more precisely. For instance, instead of using the word "cat" to describe dogs and cats, she now knows that the there are different words for the two

She understands the basic rules of language, for instance, that if something happened in the past, she must add "-ed" to the word, so "walk" becomes "walked", "like" becomes "liked". Over-regulation means that for a while "hit" will become "hitted" and "go" will become "goed".

3 years

Carries on a simple conversation

Talks about her experiences

May know as many as 800 words

Understands and can talk about simple concepts of numbers, size and colour

Starts to understand some expressions relating to time ("afternoon", "tomorrow")

Loves to hear stories – and probably has favourite books

Her speech is increasingly about the wider world, rather than herself and her immediate world. You will start to hear about friends at playschool, and what she's done there, for instance

She's starting to grasp contractions, like "won't" and "can't"

She asks "why?" She asks because she wants to make sense of the world around her (and sometimes just to keep your attention). Try to give correct, concise answers where possible, and, hard as it may be, try not to get irritated

By the age of 3, she starts to understand the way word emphasis and voice intonation add meaning to her words. For instance, she will stress one word in a sentence to draw attention to it, eg "Not milk. Give me juice."

The basics of her language development are now in place. You've got so much to look forward to as she gradually learns to express abstract concepts, to talk about her feelings and to use language for pleasure, singing songs and telling jokes.

Late talkers
Just as some babies walk at 9 months and others at 15, babies develop language skills at different rates. This chart merely offers guidelines to the development you can expect.

Gender, genetics, prematurity, childcare situation, the age and closeness of siblings and even the personality of a child's parents will influence how and when a child learns to talk. Hearing problems can delay speech milestones. Have her hearing checked, especially if she has had repeated ear infections, as she may have reduced hearing. If your child is still not talking by 2, you should speak to your child's doctor.

Good reading
Baby Signs and Baby Minds by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn
Small Talk and Bright Baby by Dr Richard C. Woolfson
Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences, A Parent's Complete Guide to Language Development, by Julie J. Masterson Phd, Kenn Apel Phd, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association