Communication and Oral Language Development in Infants and Toddlers

This article provides information regarding “serve and return” which is the back and forth interaction between adults and children that helps build a strong foundation in a child’s brain for all future learning and development.

This article provides ways to help your child learn to understand and use words.

This page contains information on how children communicate and how care providers can encourage communication in 1-2 year old children.

This page contains information on how babies communicate and how care providers can communicate with 1-3 month old babies.

This page contains information on how babies communicate and how care providers can communicate with 4-7 month old babies.

This page contains information on how young children communicate and how care providers can communicate with 8-12 month old children.

This page contains information on how babies communicate and how care providers can communicate with newborns.

This 7-minute video by Lisa Shulman, M.D., uses video of babies and toddlers to show the communication milestones expected in typically developing children. She also discusses what parents should do if they suspect their child is developmentally delayed.

This tip sheet describes, from a child’s perspective, the development of communication skills from birth to 36 months.

This document provides information on how to support baby, toddler and preschooler’s oral language and vocabulary development.

This booklet summarizes the research on children’s language development and presents themes about how to help children build their oral language skills during the preschool years. 

This document is a guide that provides information on promoting language development and communication skills in infants and toddlers, including 10 key practices.

This page offers a free download for the Understanding Children: Language Development document. This document aims to help care givers learn typical language skills and how to nurture those skills in age categories from newborns up to age six.

This article presents an overview of the process and mechanics of language development, along with implications for practice.