Babies start to communicate from a very early age, those sweet baby sounds, gurgles and cries are the beginning stages of communication. In the first few months babies vocalize different cries giving specific signals to the caregiver. A more urgent cry may signal hunger or discomfort from a dirty diaper, a less urgent cry may signal the need for comfort. Typically by the age of 6 – 8 months an infant has uttered his first word, i.e. “mama,” “dada.” At around 11-12 months a toddler will use these names to call a caregiver by name. First words continue to develop from this stage and by one-and-a-half years a toddler should use between 10 and 20 words. However, you may notice your child’s vocabulary has leveled off or she is not using many new words. If this happens take notice of your child’s other developmental skills. It is very common for toddlers to slow down in one skill area while they are flourishing in another. For example, perhaps your child was saying a new word every few days and now hasn’t said a new word in a week. You may also notice during this time that your youngster has aced walking and is now able to get up and walk across a whole room with no falls. In this case the communication skills slowed down while the motor skills kicked in. If you have concerns about your child’s communication skills please check with your pediatrician, he/she can help you discern what is typical development or if there is a need for further evaluation.