Speech, Swallowing, & Voice Specialists of Hawaii
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7-12 MONTHS OLD
Typical milestones during this age range
Speech/Language
Turns & looks in direction of sounds.
Looks when you point
Turns to own name when you call
Recognizes words for familiar objects and people
Begins to respond to simple words & phrases, such as "No", & "Come here"
Plays games with you such as peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
Listens to songs & stories for a short time
Babbles long strings of sounds, like mimi upup babababa
Uses sounds & gestures to get and keep attention
Points to objects & shows them to others
Uses gestures like waving for "bye", reaching for "up", and shaking head for "no"
Imitates different speech sounds
Says 1 or 2 words, like hi, dog, dada, mama, or uh-oh. Happens around the first birthday, but sounds may not be clear.
Speech/Language skills involve a great deal of motor and sensory components. For this reason, motor and sensory milestones for this age group are also listed below as a delay or disturbance in either could influence your child's speech/language development.
Motor
Sits independently for short times without support
Sits and reaches for toys without falling
Moves from tummy or back into sitting
Starts to move with alternate leg and arm movement (i.e.; creeping, crawling)
Crawling
Picks up head and pushes through elbows during Tummy Time
Turns head to visually track objects while sitting
Shows more control while rolling and sitting
Picks up small objects with thumbs and fingers
In simple play imitates others
Pulls to stand
Stands, holding on
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(Closer to 10-12 months)
Releases objects into a container with a large opening
Uses thumb and pointer finger to pick
up tiny objects
Gets into sitting position without help
Pulls to stand and cruises along furniture
May stand alone
May take a few steps without holding on (first steps typically around 12 months)
Moves in and out of various positions to explore environment and get desired toys
Maintains balance in sitting when throwing objects
Claps hands
Assisting with spoon
Sensory
Explores and examines an object using both hands and mouth
Turns several pages of a chunky (board) book at once
Experiments with the amount of force needed to pick up different objects
Focuses on objects near and far
Investigates shapes, sizes, and textures of toys and surroundings
Observes environment from a variety of positions, while lying on back or tummy, sitting, crawling, and standing with assistance
Enjoys a variety of movements, bouncing up and down, rocking back and forth
Enjoys moving to explore the environment when placed on the floor
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(Closer to 10-12 months)
Enjoys listening to songs
Enjoys playing/banging musical instruments
Explores toys with fingers and mouth
Crawls to or away from objects baby sees in the distance
Cries and notices when hurt
Usually able to calm self to fall asleep