Aren’t toddlers gorgeous? I love watching the way they toddle around and the magic of seeing their communication skills unfold. Here’s a picture of B2 as he exited toddler-dom: on his 2nd birthday.
Before looking at these milestones, you should read this.
By 24 months your child should:
Listening and Understanding
- Follow some simple instructions using familiar words – eg. “stop that!”
- Understand “no” and “not”
- Point to pictures in a book when you name them
- Point to some body parts when you name them
- Answer simple “where”, “who” and “what” questions – eg. “where’s the cat?”
Speech Sounds and Talking
- Begin to use their own name and refer to self as “I”
- Be able to name many familiar objects
- Combine 2 words by 24 months – eg. “Daddy go”, “Drink gone”
- Imitate some words
- Combine words, sounds and gestures to help you understand him
- Be able to be understood by parents 25% of the time by 18 months and 50-75% of the time by 24 months
Social Skills
- Draw your attention to something using pointing and word (eg. “Whazzat?”)
- Show affection towards familiar people
- May cling to parents in new situations
Play
- Play mainly beside other children, but begin to include other children
- Play pretend games, eg. feeding a doll
** A word is a word used consistently by the child for the same thing; the sounds need not be correct, as long as they use that word consistently to refer to the same thing. A word may include animal noises such as “baa”.
For more information
- What is a Speech Pathologist?
- Speech Tools Services
- Learning Two Languages by ASHA
- Find a Speech Pathologist with Speech Pathology Australia
