Milestones
What children usually do.
Type your child's age in months. You will see what most children are doing around then, and when it is worth asking for help. Children vary a lot: this is a rough guide and it cannot tell you about your own child.
4 years
Four to five.
Most children, around now
- Uses long sentences and tells simple stories
- Most sounds are clear, though r, th and some blends may still be tricky
- Follows longer instructions in nursery or reception
- Plays and talks with other children
Worth asking for help if
- Hard to understand outside the family
- Struggles to follow what happens in class
- Does not join in with talk and play with others
At any age: ask soon if your child loses words or skills they had, if you are worried about their hearing, or if they are upset about talking. Your health visitor, GP or school nurse can help too, and NHS speech and language therapy is free.
A rough guide drawn from published milestones, not a diagnosis. Premature babies, and children learning two languages, can follow a slightly different path.
Five things that help, at any age.
- Get down on the floor, and talk about what they are looking at.
- Leave a long pause. Count to five. They may fill it.
- Say the word back the right way, without correcting them.
- Read the same book again. Yes, again.
- Keep using your home language. It helps and does not hinder.
Start with a free phone call.
Fifteen minutes, with no obligation. We listen and tell you honestly whether you need us, the NHS, or nothing yet.