Babies typically start to babble and make deliberate sounds around 4 to 6 months of age. This babbling includes syllables like "ba-ba" or "da-da," which are not yet real words but important steps in language development. By about 9 to 12 months, many babies begin saying their first simple words, like "mama" or "dada," often associating them with the right person. Most babies say their very first actual words sometime between 9 and 12 months, with variations depending on the child. By their first birthday, babies generally understand a good amount of language, though their expressive vocabulary may be limited to a few words. Between 12 and 18 months, vocabulary typically grows more rapidly, and by 18 to 24 months, children start combining words into simple phrases. In summary:
- Babbling starts around 4-6 months.
- First words usually between 9-12 months.
- Vocabulary growth and simple sentences develop gradually between 12-24 months.
Babies also use nonverbal communication like gestures and facial expressions from early on, and their understanding of language usually precedes their ability to speak it clearly.
