For parents, the first words uttered by their children are as beautiful as fairy music. But how do parents know how their child’s speech is developing? Children 3 months old: smile when they see their family; jump at loud noises; babble; quiet down or smile when spoken to; seem to recognize their family’s voice; cry differently when they encounter different problems. Children 6 months old: Giggles when playing by themselves or with adults; repeats simple syllables, such as “Dad”; uses sounds to express happiness or displeasure; uses eyes to find the source of sounds; responds to changes in the pitch of others; notices that some toys make sounds; notices music. Children 12 months old: Tries to imitate some words; says simple words such as “Daddy” and “Mommy”; understands simple sentences such as “milk”; understands that adults are saying “No”; turns head to look in the direction of the sound. Children 18 months of age: can point out correctly when an adult mentions something; can identify the names of relatives, objects, and body parts; can understand and echo adult commands with the help of gestures; can say 8-10 words. Children 24 months of age: refer to food by its name; use simple phrases such as “some milk”; begin to use words such as “my”; ask one or two questions, such as “Shall we go? “; can follow simple instructions without the help of gestures; learns more words each month; can say 50 words and understand more than 50 words; sometimes adults can no longer understand what he means. When should I see a doctor? If your child is not meeting the above criteria at most key points in time, it is time to take him to the doctor. There are many reasons why a child may be late in speaking, some may even be hearing impaired, and the decision to see an ear doctor or seek help from a speech specialist should be made on a case-by-case basis. In the meantime, encourage your child to talk, tell him/her stories, sing songs with him/her, teach him/her to do simple movements with songs, ask him/her questions and pay attention to his/her reactions, even if he/she does not understand, it is okay to communicate more.