Babbling is a rich and complex skill for babies! It’s a skill they must develop before they can begin to talk.

And because it’s such an important step, parents often have questions about it, like: When do babies start babbling? What’s typical and what’s a concern? When should my baby see a speech therapist?

As pediatric speech-language pathologists, these are questions we have the answers to. And we’re sharing them in this post.

We’re so glad you’re here and we hope this helps!

FREE LANGUAGE MILESTONES CHECKLIST

Babbling is an important pre-talking skill—also known as a milestone. And milestones are what developmental specialists like us use (among other things) to track whether or not a child’s development is on track.

Want to know if your baby’s communication development is on track? Download a free copy of our baby milestones checklist and find out.

Whether you’re worried or just curious, it’s the best place to start.

GET THE FREE CHECKLIST

When Do Babies Start Babbling And Cooing?

The quick answer: It’s quite a range. Babies can start babbling and cooing any time between 4 to 9 months of age. But let’s be real. “It’s a range” and “It depends” are the least satisfying answers ever as a parent, right? So we’ll break it down and get more specific.

BABBLING & OTHER FIRST-YEAR MILESTONES

Talking is a developmental skill which means it builds up over time. Instead of just waking up and talking one day, babies and toddlers master smaller, “pre-talking” skills one at a time. These skills always develop in order, and there’s no such thing as skipping steps. So if we want to understand talking, we must first understand babbling. And to understand babbling, we have to go back to birth!

FROM Newborn to 3 Months

During the first months of your baby’s life, as you know well, crying is your baby’s primary method of vocalizing. And, if you’re in this stage right now, you know your baby so well that we bet you can distinguish between their cries: hungry, tired, gas pain, and reflux (this one is real at Katie’s house!).

But toward the end of this phase, they start to coo and laugh. This is such an exciting time! And it starts to feel like you have more of an outward connection—like you can communicate on a new level.

Milestone: Cooing (Vowel sounds like “aaaaa” or “ooooo”). These are the first non-crying sounds your baby makes.

FROM 4 to 6 MONTHS

Between 4 and 6 months of age, we expect you’ll hear the beginnings of babbling! Often, it’s just a single syllable to start, like “bu” or “ga” or “da”. Even though these sounds seem simple, this is a BIG stage of development for your baby who is now engaging in what we call vocal play: experimenting with the way their tongue, teeth, and lips all work together! You might hear raspberries or tongue clicks in this stage. It’s all a result of your baby being a little scientist and experimenting with what they can do.

Milestone: Vocal play (Experimenting with how the tongue, teeth, and lips work together.)

FROM 7 to 9 Months

Between 7 and 9 months, your baby’s simple babbling becomes more complex as they repeat the same syllable multiple times. The fancy word for this is canonical babbling. It sounds like “bababa” and “dadada”.

Milestone: Canonical babbling (Repeating the same syllable multiple times.)

FROM 10 to 12 months

Around 10 months of age, you should start to hear “variegated babbling,” which happens when a baby puts different syllables consisting of different consonants and vowels together. This babble is longer and varied in intonation so it almost sounds like a sentence! Examples are things like “Dabuga!” and “Babegado?”

Milestone: Variegated babbling (Combining syllables made up of different consonants and vowels.)

12 Months AND UP

Around 12 months you can expect the moment you’ve been patiently awaiting. This is when you’ll likely see babbling become your baby’s first words!

Milestone: First words!

WHEN SHOULD I BE CONCERNED IF MY BABY IS NOT BABBLING?

Babies who do not babble are more at risk for speech and language delays and disorders down the road, so it’s something to keep an eye on. If something affects your baby’s ability to babble and you and your doctor catch it quickly, early intervention can make a big impact!

If your baby is not babbling by 12 months, talk to your pediatrician, as most babies babble between 6 and 10 months. But remember that there is always a range for what’s typical and that no two babies are the same.

FREE DOWNLOAD: SONGS THAT ENCOURAGE BABBLING

Want to get your baby babbling more? We recommend reading, singing, playing, and talking together as much as you can. And this free baby song video makes that easy.

Enter your email below and we’ll send you a free baby song you haven’t heard before—with a live demo of us singing it with our babies at home! Watch and learn exactly what it looks like when we engage intentionally to encourage communication so you copy what we do!

Free Baby Song Video!

When Do Babies Start Babbling? Breaking down the babbling milestone