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Once born, your baby begins tuning in to your voice and sentence patterns to work out what you're saying. He is also starting to learn about more complicated concepts such as love, trust, time, and cause and effect.
When will my baby begin to understand words?Learning to understand what others are saying and doing starts before your baby is born. In the beginning, he won't know the meaning of the words you use, but he'll recognize and be calmed by your voice (ICAN 2007, Sheridan 2008).
Your baby will soon pick up on your emotions, such as love, concern, anxiety, and anger. He'll be able to respond to them by the time he's a few months old (Sheridan 2008).
By time your baby is about seven months he will use hand gestures (and other signs using his body) that have meanings. For example he may raise his arms to signal he wants to be picked up (ICAN 2007).
When your baby reaches nine months old, he will recognize and respond to his own name (ICAN 2007, Sheridan 2008).
When your baby is about 12 to 15 months old he'll understand simple requests such as "stop", "give it to daddy" or "come here" (ICAN 2007).
By the time he's three he'll be able to follow two-step commands such as "go in the kitchen and get your shoes" (ICAN 2007). He'll have a vocabulary of several hundred words, and will understand many more (ICAN 2007).
How will by baby's understanding of language, behaviour and concepts develop?Newborn to one month
Every waking moment, your baby is taking in new information about the world. He doesn't yet have the information that adults and older children use to make sense of what they take in. But he's building up his store of information every day.
As a survival skill, your baby is emotionally attuned to the people around him. He can tell by your facial expression, tone of voice and body language, how you feel.
Your baby is beginning to work out that you respond to him differently depending on what he does. You pick him up when he cries, gaze lovingly into his eyes, and feed him when he's hungry.
Two to three months
Your baby continues to soak up everything in his environment. His favourite activity is watching what goes on around him (Sheridan 2008). He understands that you will soothe, feed, and play with him when he needs you.
His first genuine smile pops up when he's around six weeks old, bringing you joy (Sheridan 2008). He'll also enjoy the response he gets from you with his grin and it won't be long before he tries again.
By three months, your baby will add some gurgling sounds to his smile, his first attempts at having a conversation with you. Be sure to respond to his efforts and then give him a chance to respond to you. His gurgles are a way of practicing the sounds he'll need to use for speaking (ICAN 2007, Sheridan 2008).
Four to seven months
Your baby is tuning in to your tone of voice (Sheridan 2008). When you sound friendly, he'll react joyfully, and if you speak to him sharply, he'll probably cry (ICAN 2007).
He's also beginning to tell the difference between strangers and familiar faces. When he's around six or seven months old, he may cry when you put him in the arms of someone he doesn't recognize (Sheridan 2008).
Eight to 12 months
Your baby's beginning to understand simple requests. So when you ask him if he'd like more dinner, he may let you know.
Your baby is also learning about objects in his every day surroundings. One minute his plate of food is in front of him, he throws it off the highchair, and then it's on the floor! He is testing out the idea that an object can be in one place and then another.
Later on he'll throw food on the floor just to see what you do, noting your reaction for future reference. Later he'll test the waters again to see whether you react the same way. Prepare to spend some time cleaning the floor after mealtimes!
By nine months, your baby will recognize his name and know when you are calling him (ICAN 2007, NHS nd, Sheridan 2008). He'll even respond by turning towards you.
12 to 18 months
By 18 months, your baby can understand 50 words and use around 20 of them (ICAN 2007, NHS nd). Your baby will also use gestures with words and sounds to show you what he wants. And he'll be able to follow more simple instructions, such as, "pick up those building blocks" or "find mommy's shoes" (ICAN 2007, Sheridan 2008).
19 to 23 Months
Your child is beginning to understand that his wants may not necessarily converge with yours. He'll try to assert himself, folding his arms when you want him to hold your hand for example.
Your toddler can probably put together a basic puzzle now. He is working out how objects relate to each other. For example he knows the difference between a triangle and a square and can place each shape in its appropriate spot in a shape-sorter when asked.
Your baby has been playing with cause and effect for some time. For example he knows that when he pulls the lever on his jack-in-the-box, a clown pops out (Sheridan 2008). Your child's understanding of cause and effect is important when it comes to potty train him.
For potty training to work, your child needs to recognize the physical sensations that mean something is on the way. He may pull at his diaper, stop what he is doing for a few seconds to concentrate, or even tell you that he is having a pee or poo.
24 to 36 months
By now your child has a pretty good understanding of language. Most two-year-olds use at least 50 words and understand many more (Sheridan 2008). By the time he's two and a half, he'll probably be able to use 200 words or more (Sheridan 2008). He will also be able to put two or three words together to form short sentences (ICAN 2007, Sheridan 2008).
Your child will now be able to remember simple stories and pictures. He will also understand longer instructions, such as "make teddy jump" or "where's mommy's coat?". He will also understand simple "who", "what" and "where" questions (ICAN 2007).
Between the ages of two and three, your child will understand love and trust, the basic building blocks of relationships. He knows that you and the rest of the family care for him and are on his side, and he can show affection (Sheridan 2008).
Your toddler has learned these important concepts by the way you've treated him in the first few years of his life. Your showering him with affection, responding to his needs, and keeping him safe have helped him become a secure and basically optimistic child.
He's beginning to comprehend more complicated aspects of everyday life. He has learned about food shopping, telling time, and house-cleaning, by watching you go about your day-to-day activities.
Your toddler is also gaining a deeper understanding of how he should treat others, which is helped by watching you. The easiest way to ensure he grows up to become a kind and helpful person is to make sure you treat others, especially him, that way.
Beyond the age of three, the number of words your child can understand and say will continue to grow rapidly. By the time he's six, he may have a vocabulary of nearly 13,000 words (Anglin 1993). He will also understand increasingly complex concepts, ideas and situations, for example basic maths, telling right from wrong, and what will happen in the future.
How can I help my baby to understand words?Talking and reading to your baby, however young, will help him learn good communication skills. In general he'll understand a word before he is able to say it himself. When he starts to say words, such as "caca" for car it's important to repeat the word back to him as it should be said. So respond with, "That's right. It's a car".
Playing with him will help him learn more about the way the world works. In this respect you are his best toy. Challenge him with toys suited to his age and games to encourage his mental and physical development. Look at books together which have bright colourful images that you can talk about to help his language development.
Be affectionate, and consistently show your child how much you love and care for him. That's the best way to teach him about important emotional concepts such as empathy.
My child is three and doesn't seem to understand me. What should I do?If your child seems to have problems understanding simple directions and suggestions by the time he's three, talk to your doctor.
You may also want to consult your doctor if your child seems genuinely perplexed when you ask him do something simple. For example, if you've shown him how to open a box countless times and he still can't understand how to do it. This could mean he has a cognitive delay that should be explored further.
Last reviewed January 2012
Anglin JM. 1993. Vocabulary development : a morphological analysis. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development . 58/10 serial 238
DeCasper A and Fifer W. 1980. Of human bonding: newborns prefer their mothers' voices.Science 208(4448): 1174-6
ICAN. 2007. Stages of speech and language development: a guide for early years practitioners. www.ican.org.uk [pdf file, accessed May 2011]
Kisilevsky BS, Hains SM, Lee K et al. 2003. Effects of experience on fetal voice recognition. Psychol Sci 14(3):220-4
NHS. nd. Birth to five development timeline. http://www.nhs.uk/tools/pages/birthtofive.aspx [Accessed May 2011]
Sheridan M. 2008. From birth to five years: children's developmental progress. London: Routledge