| Age | Speech-Language Skills | Feeding Skills |
| Birth-2 months | · Startles to loud sounds · Quiets/smiles to voice · Makes pleasure sounds (cooing) · Vocalizes/cries for different needs | · Takes 2 to 4 ounces of liquid per feeding; 6+ feedings per day · Sucks or suckles on a bottle (may lose some liquid from the mouth; tongue may be sticking out slightly) |
| 3-4 months | · Babbles · Pays attention to and looks toward music and sounds · Vocalizes excitement and displeasure | · Takes 4-7 ounces of liquid; 4 to 6 feedings per day · Improved coordination when sucking on a bottle, with up to 20 sucks in a row between pauses |
| 5-6months | · Babbles · Pays attention to and looks toward music and sounds · Vocalizes excitement and displeasure · Smiles | · Takes liquids and infant cereal and pureed foods · Takes 9 to 10 ounces of food or liquid per feeding; 4 to 6 feedings per day |
| 7-9 months | · Produces a variety of vowel and consonant sounds in their babble · Vocalizes during games and songs · Imitates duplicated syllables (e.g., “bababa”) · Attends to music, speech and pictures · Stops or responds to name or “no” | · Takes thicker purees (i.e., Stage 2 baby foods) and mashed table foods · Readily opens mouth to take food from a spoon · May suck liquid from an open cup, losing liquid from the mouth and/or occasionally coughing/choking with larger mouthfuls · Starting to munch on simple solids, and may move their tongue toward the sides if solids are placed on the molar regions |
| 10-12 months | · Says 1 or 2 words (e.g., bye-bye, mama, dada) · Vocalizes with intent frequently · Imitates more sounds · Gives objects upon request · Follows simple commands or routines with gestures/cues · Enjoys speech games, such as Peek-A-Boo · Starting to identify basic body parts | · Can take multiple swallows in a row from an open cup · Starting to bite into solid (e.g., soft cookie), breaking off a piece to chew · Begins independent hand-to-mouth feeding · May occasionally lose food or saliva from the mouth while chewing |
| 12-15 months | · Attends to pictures · Shakes head “no” · Says or imitates 8 to 10 words · Follows 1-step directions · Responds to name | · Takes liquids and ground, mashed, or coarsely chopped table foods (including easily chewed meats) · Can move solids from the center to the molar regions independently, using their tongue. |
| 18 months | · Says 15 to 20 words · Talks more than gesturing · Asks “What's That?” and “More?” · Understands 50 words | · Does a better job of chewing/swallowing without losing food from the mouth · Starting to move foods from side-to-side while chewing |
| 21 months | · Identifies a few body parts/clothing items on self · Uses at 25-50 words · Understands basic commands and questions (e.g., “Where's your shoe?”) · Listens to stories, songs and rhymes · Points to pictures in a book when named · Frequently uses single words · Occasionally uses 2-word phrases | · Uses controlled, sustained chewing |
| 24 months (2 years) | · Uses 50-100 different words · Uses 2-word phrases frequently · Refers to self by their name · Follows a 2-step direction (e.g., “Pick up your shoes and bring them to mommy”) · Can choose 1 object from a group of several items | · Able to drink from a cup without losing liquid from the mouth · Chews and swallows solids without losing food from the mouth · Regularly moves foods from side-to-side while chewing |
| 30 months | · Uses 3-word phrases frequently · Tells you their name · Asks for help · Uses negation, such as “no” or “not” · Uses action words · Understands “big” and “little” | |
| 36 months (3 years) | · Matches colors · Names a few colors · Answers simple “yes/no”, “what” and “where” questions · Counts to 3 · Uses sentences to communicate · Follows a 3-step direction · Correctly says the following sounds: m, n, ng, p, f, h, w, k, g, b, d, t. · Speech is 70-80% intelligible. | · Generally eats the same foods as the rest of the family |
| 4 years | · Speech is 90% intelligible · Sentences may range 4 to 8 words in length · Asks and answers a variety of “wh” questions · Accurately relays a long story · Starting to use complex sentences · Starting to use grammatically correct sentences · Counts to 10 | |