18 Month Milestones
At 18 months, your child...
- Recognizes pictures of familiar persons, objects, and pets
- Starts to combine 2 words, such as "mommy bye-bye"
- Uses words to make wants know, such as "more," "up"
- Imitates words and sounds more clearly
- Points to own toes, eyes and nose
- Knows and says the names of 5 things
- Points and gestures to call attention to something or show wants
- Follow simple commands
- Uses 10 to 20 different words
- Practices words and word combinations
- Brings familiar object from another room when asked
- Turns pages of a book a few pages at a time
- Occasionally mixes real words with jargon
- Develops a play routine
To stimulate your child's speech...
- Read books to you child frequently
- Talk simply, clearly and slowly to your child
- Look at your child when he or she talks to you
- Describe what you child is doing, feeling and hearing in short, 3-word sentences
- Let you child listen to children's music and book recordings
- Respond to your child's attempts at communication in a meaningful way