Speech and Language Milestones for Toddlers (2-3 Years)

There is an explosion of vocabulary that happens during this developmental stage. The vocabulary of a typically developing child at 2 years old is usually 200-300 words. That number jumps to approximately 450 words by 30 months and 1,000 words by 36 months.

Children in this age group use words to communicate what they want and feel, and are also able to follow more complex directions. They’re able to sit and participate in more challenging activities and interact with their peers to start building social relationships. 

Receptive language refers to how we process and understand language. 

Receptive language skills for 2- to 3-year-olds

• Answering WH-questions. Your child should begin to understand and respond to questions that begin with who, what, when, where, and why. Examples include: “What’s that?” “Who is __?” or “Where is __?” They should also be able to point to objects when described, such as “What do you use to eat?”
• Pointing to body parts when named verbally
• Carrying out two-step related directions, such as “Go to your room and bring me your shoes.” 
• Pointing to at least 15 pictures of objects in books when named
• Understanding directional concepts, such as under, in, on, in front of, behind
• Starting to understand differences in sizes, such as big, large, small, little
• Comprehending “yours” and “mine,” as well as turn taking: “my turn” and “your turn”
• Understanding verbs and identifying them in pictures, such as jump, run, throw
• Recognizing family labels, such as dad, mom, brother, sister, baby, or grandma
• Listening to books and stories for longer periods of time, as well as pointing to objects of interest while listening to the reader

Expressive language refers to how we use sounds and words to communicate our wants and needs. At 24 months, we anticipate a child is using mostly words to express themselves. 

Expressive language skills for 2- to 3-year-olds

• Uses 2- to 3-word sentences around 24 months, which increases to 3- to 4-word sentences by 36 months
• Engages in short conversations
• Begins using pronouns, such as I, my, mine, you, your/s, she, he, and we
• Starts to use WH-questions, such as “Where is ___” and “What is ___ doing?”
• Uses prepositions, such as in, on, off, down, up
• Begins to communicate their feelings and emotions verbally rather than physically
• Uses more grammatical morphemes, such as plurals (socks), present progressive tense (crying), and possessives (baby’s bottle)
• Uses at least 50 words when speaking spontaneously and independently
• Names family members and peers
• Begins to play and experiment with their voice, such as whispering
• Initiates singing their favorite songs

Other important milestones for 2- and 3-year-olds

Beyond speech and language, there are many other important developmental skills that are generally acquired during this stage. For example, it’s common to see an increase in the development of a child’s play skills. Play skills are directly correlated to language skills. Their play-based activities become more complex as they begin to participate in pretend play and use toys for their intended purpose. You might catch your toddler playing house, talking on a pretend telephone, or dressing their dolls. They should also be able to do more complicated activities, such as completing age appropriate puzzles, or engaging in sensory play, such as Play Doh or kinetic sand.

Toddlers are just learning how to communicate using language, and engaging your child in simple pretend play enables them to expand these foundational language and social skills. The joint attention that occurs when sharing an experience, such playing kitchen, also helps with skills like the ability to pay attention, which is crucial in an academic setting. 

At this age children should also be open to exploring most age appropriate foods and textures. Kids should be independently feeding themselves with a fork or spoon, as well as using their pincer grasp (holding something between the thumb and pointer finger). They should begin to drink from an open cup or a straw and no longer use a bottle and pacifier. While they may have a strong preference for macaroni and cheese, they also will try new foods and, after a few attempts, may accept those new foods into their diet.

What should speech sound like in 2- and 3-year-olds?

While all children are different, here’s a general rule of thumb: By the age of 24 months, you should be able to understand about 50% of a child’s speech. That number should increase to about 75% by the time they reach their third birthday.

Your child should also be learning new speech sounds during this time. Between the ages of 2 and 3, we expect a child to have mastered /p/, /m/, /h/, /n/, /w/, and /b/ sounds. They should be close to mastering their /k/, /g/, /d/, /t/ and /ng/ sounds. They should also have started using the sounds /f/ and /y/.

By the time a child reaches their 3rd birthday, they shouldn’t be saying “nana” when requesting a “banana.” Nor should they be omitting the last consonant of a word, such as saying “da” for “dog.” During this year of development, they should also be using full words such as “bottle” instead of reduplicating a syllable, such as “baba.”

When does your child need speech therapy?

Language skills build over time, so when children don’t reach important foundational communication milestones early on, they’re often at risk of falling behind.

If your child isn't meeting age-appropriate milestones or doesn’t seem to be speaking as much as their peers, don’t panic! First step is to speak with a professional, such as your pediatrician and a qualified speech therapist. While it may be tempting to take the “wait and see” approach, research indicates that early intervention benefits children both socially and developmentally as they grow older. The earlier you can identify a concern and intervene, the more likely they are to reach their communication goals. 

Concerned that your child isn’t meeting their speech and language milestones, schedule an assessment now