When should a child start to talk? - Dr. Namrata Pai

Usually children start communicating right from 1 year to 9 years of age. But even if we are looking at younger children, they are communicating by gestures. Do if a child is not using 16 gestures by the age of 16 months, then we say that the child is delayed. If a child is not using 50 words by 2 years of age, even then we say the child is delayed in speech. Children use the first word between 12 to 15 months, and they usually start naming their parents like mamma or papa or they might refer to their favourite object like “ball”. Every time they use a word consistently, for that person or object, that word is called a true word and that word is between 12 to 1 months.