The 18-month speech checklist

What the CDC asks for at 18 months

Since the 2022 revision, the CDC's checklists describe what 75% or more of children can do by an age, rather than the halfway point. A miss puts your child in the last quarter, which is a prompt to ask, not a diagnosis.

• Tries to say three or more words besides "mama" or "dada". The word "tries" is doing real work here. "Ba" for ball counts if it means ball every time. It does not have to be clear.
• Follows one-step directions without any gestures, like giving you the toy when you say "give it to me". No pointing, no hand held out. This tests understanding, which usually runs ahead of speech.
• Points to show you something interesting. This is listed under social skills but it is the most important communication item on the whole page.
• Copies you doing chores, like sweeping with a broom.
• Moves away from you but looks back to check you are still there.

What counts as a word at 18 months

Count over a week, not a day. Most parents who sit down and list them find more than they expected, and the exercise is worth doing before an appointment because the doctor will ask.

What comes next, so you know the direction of travel

The gap between eighteen months and thirty months is where vocabulary usually goes from a handful to about fifty, and that jump is fast and messy. Our 2-year-old checklist is the next one to read, and the full milestones page lays out every age in one table.

When to call now rather than wait for two

In the United States you do not need a doctor's referral to get an evaluation before age three. Your state's early intervention programme takes calls directly from parents and the assessment is free, and our insurance guide covers what happens after that.

• No words at all. Not one consistent sound for one thing.
• Words that have gone. A child who had five words and now has two has lost skills, and the CDC names loss of skills as a reason to act early at any age.
• No pointing, no showing, no bringing things to you. Not sharing attention at all.
• No response to their name in a quiet room, or inconsistent response to sound. Ask for a hearing check, which is the first thing any decent assessment starts with anyway.
• No gestures. No waving, no reaching up, no shaking their head.

What helps between now and two

Individual speech sounds are not a concern at this age. Nobody expects an eighteen-month-old to say S or R, and those do not arrive for years. If you want to know when each one is due, our speech sound pages list the typical age for all 30.

1. 1Name what they point at, then stop talking. Point, one word, pause. The pause is where their turn goes.
2. 2Cut the questions. "What's that?" tests. "Big dog!" gives them a word. Aim for four comments to every question.
3. 3Repeat and add one. They say "ball", you say "big ball". One word more than they gave you, no more.
4. 4Make them ask. Put the snack where they can see it and not reach it. A reason to communicate beats any activity.
5. 5Read the same book over and over. Repetition is what makes a word stick, and an eighteen-month-old is asking for the same book for a reason.