Your Baby's Communication Development What to expect from 6 months to 2 years All babies and young children develop at different rates.
Following are some general guidelines to help you identify when to be concerned about your child's development.
If you think your child has difficulty with the following steps of development please consider contacting specialists in child health and development.
At six months does your baby:

• Often look around for speakers?
• Follow a moving object with his or her eyes?
• Copy the sounds that you make when you talk to him or her?
• Make babbling sounds with a consonant and a vowel (e.
  g.
  'pa' or 'goo').
  
• Make any sounds apart from crying.
  

At nine months does your baby:

• Recognize his or her name or those of close family members?
• Makes sounds to people as if he or she wants to talk to them?
• Use strings of babble like 'mama mama', 'baba baba'?
• Enjoy interactive games like 'Peek-a-boo'?
• Show interest in noise-making toys?

At twelve months does your baby:

• Look around for familiar objects, such as his or her hat, when he or she hears you talk about them?
• Turn towards a speaker when his or her name is called?
• Use lots of tuneful babble?
• Initiate games like 'patacake'?
• Follows your finger as you point?

At sixteen months does your baby:

• Take turns with you in making sounds to each other?
• Respond by looking in the right direction to questions like 'Where's your hat?'
• Babble with lots of different sounds so it sounds like he or she is talking?
• Show interest in starting lots of games with you like 'patacake'?
• Maintain his attention on one thing for a few seconds?

At twenty months does your baby:

• Use any single words?
• Understand and follow directions like 'your shoes are in the kitchen'.
  
• Wants lots of attention from you and wants you to play with her?
• Often look around to see where sounds are coming from?