Speech and Language Traits of the
18-Month-Old

At age eighteen months, your child will…

• Use 10-50 words, including names
• Combine two words such as “all gone,” “daddy bye-bye”
• Hear well and discriminate among many sounds
• Recognize pictures of familiar persons and objects
• Use words to make wants known, such as ‘more,” “up”
• Imitate words and sounds more precisely
• Point and gesture to call attention to an event or to show wants
• Bring a familiar object from another room when asked to do so
• Follow simple commands
• Hum and may sing simple songs or tunes

You can stimulate your eighteen-month-old child’s speech by…

• Talking simply, clearly and slowly to the child
• Providing experiences to stimulate development of speech and language in the child: taking walks, going shopping, planting a garden, picnicking, or cleaning the house or yard together
• Talking to the child about new situations before you go, while you are there, and again after returning home
• Looking at the child when he or she talks to you
  Imitating and identifying sounds with the child, such as animal sounds, birds singing, sirens on fire trucks, running water
• Making speaking and listening experiences pleasant, worthwhile, and fun for the child
• Allowing the child to listen to children’s records and tapes
• Praising the child’s efforts to communicate

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