For the first time in nearly two decades, the CDC has lowered developmental milestones for toddlers. This means that “normal” standards of development that were reserved for children of two years old have now been extended to 2.5 years old. Age 2 has always been a pivotal year in children’s speech development. Many kids make major speech strides between 18-24 months, which is why Early Intervention services typically start at age 2. Accordingly, 2-year-old milestones warrant special focus. The announcement has been met with a diverse set of reactions online, from speech-language pathologists to pediatricians. We took a look at the updated guidelines to examine what they are, why they are important, and what this could possibly mean for your child.
The CDC describes developmental milestones as: “Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye” are called developmental milestones. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, act, and move (crawling, walking, etc.). How your child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves offer important clues about your child’s development. Developmental milestones are things most children (75% or more) can do by a certain age.”
Developmental milestones offer important clues about a child’s developmental health. Reaching milestones at the typical ages shows a child is developing as expected. Reaching milestones much earlier means a child may be advanced compared with his or her peers of the same age. Not reaching milestones or reaching them much later than children the same age can be the earliest indication that a child may have a developmental delay. The CDC recommends that you check the milestones your child has reached by the end of 2 years by completing a checklist with CDC’s free Milestone Tracker mobile app, or by printing the checklist pdf . The CDC recommends that you take the checklist with you and talk with your child’s doctor at every visit about the milestones your child has reached and what to expect next.
Simply put, the CDC changed the milestones and thresholds by taking milestones that were previously assigned to 2 years, and extending them by six months (or, 2.5 years old). Before, the milestone guidelines said that at 24 months (or two years of age) a child should be able to say more than 50 words. Essentially, these new milestones put kids back by six months, which, in the context of early childhood development, is a tremendous extension. Additionally, the latest changes introduced a 30-month milestone, which didn’t exist previously.
Pre-pandemic, two-year-olds were typically repeating words and speaking two- to four-word sentences as well as “knowing names” of familiar things.
Today, the updates milestones are heavy on pointing and gesturing, and typical 2-year-olds are only expected to say two words together.
To provide high-quality speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, evaluations, accent modification, and educational psychology services to clients of all ages.
