Learn what social communication milestones by age can look like, from early infant interaction to toddler gestures, shared attention, and social use of sounds and words. If something feels off, you can answer a few questions to get personalized guidance for your child’s stage.
About this assessment
Use the assessment to compare what you’re seeing with common social communication development in infants and toddlers, including eye contact, gestures, babbling, shared attention, and early social language.
Social communication is how babies and toddlers connect with other people before and during language development. It includes looking at faces, smiling back, taking turns with sounds, responding to voices, using gestures like pointing or waving, sharing interest, and later using words in social ways. Parents often search for social communication milestones checklist information because these skills build gradually and can vary by age. Looking at the full pattern over time can be more helpful than focusing on one moment by itself.
In the first year, many babies begin turning toward familiar voices, making eye contact, smiling socially, enjoying back-and-forth sounds, and showing interest in faces. If you’re wondering when do babies start social communication, it often begins with these early interactions long before clear words appear.
Around social communication milestones 12 months, many children respond to their name, look where a parent points, use gestures such as reaching, showing, or waving, and babble with social intent. They may try to get your attention to share interest, not just to get help.
By social communication milestones 18 months, many toddlers use more purposeful gestures, imitate actions and sounds, bring things to show caregivers, and use words or word-like sounds socially. Toddler social communication milestones often include pointing to share, checking in with adults, and joining simple back-and-forth interactions.
Some parents notice their child does not consistently respond to their name, facial expressions, or playful interaction. This can be one of the early concerns related to baby social communication milestones, especially when it happens across settings and over time.
A child may not point to show interest, wave, reach up to be picked up, or look back and forth between an object and a parent. These social communication milestones in toddlers are important because they show a child is trying to connect and share experiences.
Parents may also worry about limited babbling directed toward others, less imitation of sounds or actions, or lost skills they used to see. Social communication delay signs in babies can look different from child to child, so it helps to review the whole developmental picture.
It’s common to compare your child with other children, but milestones are most useful when viewed in context. If your baby or toddler is missing several social communication milestones by age, seems less interested in people than expected, or has lost social skills they previously used, it may be worth getting a closer look. Answering a few questions can help you organize what you’re seeing and understand whether your child’s pattern fits common developmental expectations.
This assessment is designed around the exact concerns parents have about social communication development in infants and toddlers, including eye contact, gestures, shared attention, babbling, and social use of language.
Because social communication milestones checklist items change over time, the guidance is more useful when considered alongside your child’s developmental stage, such as 12 months, 18 months, or later toddler years.
You’ll get personalized guidance that helps you understand whether what you’re noticing may fit typical variation, whether to keep monitoring, and when it may make sense to discuss concerns with your pediatrician or an early intervention professional.
Social communication begins early in infancy. Many babies start by looking at faces, calming to familiar voices, smiling socially, and taking turns with sounds. These early interactions are the foundation for later gestures, shared attention, and social language.
Around 12 months, many children respond to their name, use gestures like waving or reaching, look where others point, and try to share interest with a caregiver. Social communication milestones 12 months may also include babbling with social intent and checking in with familiar adults.
Around 18 months, many toddlers point to show or request, imitate actions and sounds, bring items to share, and use words or word-like sounds socially. Social communication milestones 18 months often include more purposeful back-and-forth interaction with caregivers.
Possible signs can include limited eye contact, not responding consistently to people, fewer gestures, reduced shared attention, limited social babbling, or loss of previously used social skills. One sign alone does not always mean a delay, but a pattern across several areas may deserve closer attention.
Look at how your child connects with people, not just whether they know words. Useful signs include eye contact, smiling back, turn-taking with sounds, responding to name, using gestures, sharing interest, and using sounds or words socially. An age-based assessment can help you compare these skills with common developmental expectations.
Personalized assessment
Answer a few questions about your baby or toddler’s social interaction, gestures, shared attention, and early language use to get personalized guidance tailored to your concerns.