Average Age of a Baby's First Word
Typical Span of Infant Language and Communication Milestones
Infants communicate through a variety of means before speaking their first words. The average age a baby says his first word is between 10-15 months.
Babies communicate with their caretakers through a variety of methods before they can speak: first through crying and later through cooing and babbling. Babies begin understanding different sounds and language at only seven months and begin using gestures shortly after to indicate desires for object. At this time, infants understand many words, though they do not usually speak their first word until around their first birthday.
How Babies Communicate Before Speaking
- Crying: From moment an infant leaves the mother's womb, he communicates through crying. This is the most basic form of communication that eventually is controlled once other methods of communication are developed through nurture and nature.
- Cooing: Around one to two months, babies begin to coo. These cooing sounds are created in the back of the infant's throat and are usually a way for babies to express happiness while interacting with caregivers.
- Babbling: Around the age of six months, infants begin babbling, which is a sound made by connecting repeating consonants and vowels to make sounds like "la, la, la, la" or "dah, dah, dah."
Baby's Comprehension of Words and Use of Gestures
- Understanding Different Sounds in Language: Between seven and 11 months, babies can recognize different sounds within a language, regardless if the language is their native one or not. They also understand the different in consonant sounds with same vowel sounds like "la, la" versus "dah, dah."
- Use of Gestures: Around the age of eight to 12 months, infants begin using gestures like pointing at something that interests them, making a reaching motion to indicate a desire for an object, or waving goodbye.
- Comprehension of Words:Between the age of eight to 12 months, infants indicate initial understanding of words. Infants use gestures or facial expressions to indicate understanding of certain words.
Baby's First Word and Beyond
- First Word Spoken: One of the most eagerly-awaited moments of parenthood is when a baby says his first word. This moment usually occurs between 10 to 15 months, and the average age an infant says his first word is 13 months. A baby's first word is something important in his life and can include a variety of things: an important person (mama), a pet (puppy), a favorite toy (bear), a body part (nose), a household item (chair), or a greeting (bye).
- Vocabulary Spurts: Once a baby speaks his first word, he begins identifying other understood words by saying them. By 18 months, the average baby can speak close to 50 words, and a vocabulary spurt begins until the toddler is two, in which an average of 200 words are spoken.
- Two-Word Utterances: From 18 to 24 months, babies begin combining words (usually subjects and verbs or adjectives and nouns) to create two-word phrases to communicate. These two-word utterances leave out parts of speech and are direct: "Want cookie," "Sara mean," and "Fat cat" are examples of two-word utterances.
Although babies cannot communicate through speech until past one year, infants communicate many ways, and caretakers must take into account the baby's tone and gestures when speaking only one or two words. Though babies' spoken vocabulary might be limited for the first year of speaking, infants understand hundreds of words.
The copyright of the article Average Age of a Baby's First Word in Infants & Toddlers is owned by Megan B. Wyatt. Permission to republish Average Age of a Baby's First Word in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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