Babies start making noises from the moment they’re born. Crying is the very first vocalization, but beyond that, newborns produce a range of reflexive sounds like grunting, sighing, sneezing, and coughing during their first two months of life. The sounds that most parents are really wondering about, the coos and gurgles that feel more like communication, typically begin around 2 months of age. From there, vocal development moves quickly through a series of stages that lay the groundwork for first words.
Birth to 2 Months: Reflexive Sounds
The earliest phase of vocal development is called reflexive phonation. During the first two months, the sounds your baby makes are mostly automatic: crying, coughing, sneezing, hiccupping, and quiet grunting. These aren’t intentional communication. They’re the result of your baby’s body adjusting to breathing, feeding, and digesting. Crying is the dominant sound in this period, and it’s your newborn’s primary way of signaling hunger, discomfort, or the need for closeness.
Even in these early weeks, though, something interesting is happening. Babies are already listening closely to the voices around them. From day one, they begin absorbing the patterns of language by hearing and interacting with caregivers. This listening phase is critical, even though it doesn’t produce much in the way of interesting sounds yet.
Around 2 Months: Cooing Begins
At about two months, most babies begin cooing, repeating soft vowel sounds like “ahh-ahh” and “ooh-ooh.” These open, round sounds come from the back of the throat and often happen when your baby is calm, content, or looking at your face. Cooing is the first vocalization that feels social rather than reflexive. Your baby is experimenting with their voice on purpose.
This is also when protoconversations emerge. Babies become sensitive to the back-and-forth rhythm of interaction around 2 months old, and they start participating in conversation-like exchanges with caregivers. You talk, pause, and your baby coos in the gap. Both parents and outside observers interpret these vocalizations as intentional and effortful. The exchanges alternate between your voice and your baby’s, separated by pauses, mimicking the structure of real conversation long before any words are involved.
4 to 6 Months: Early Babbling
Between 4 and 6 months, babies shift from vowel-only cooing to babbling that includes consonant sounds. You’ll start hearing sounds that begin with “p,” “b,” and “m,” combined with vowels in a speech-like way. Your baby will babble when excited and when unhappy, using their voice to express a wider range of emotions. The sounds become more varied, louder, and more playful.
This period marks a leap in vocal control. Your baby is learning to move their lips, tongue, and jaw in coordination, which is why those early consonants tend to be the ones made with the lips (like “ba” and “ma”). They’re the easiest mouth movements to produce.
6 to 10 Months: Canonical Babbling
Somewhere between 5 and 10 months, most babies hit a major milestone called canonical babbling. This is when syllables start sounding truly speech-like, with a vowel and consonant smoothly linked together in a rapid, adult-like transition. Think “ba,” “di,” or “nunu.”
Within this stage, you’ll likely hear two patterns. The first is reduplicated babbling, where your baby repeats the same syllable over and over: “dada,” “mamama,” “babababa.” The second is variegated babbling, where different syllables get strung together in longer sequences. Canonical babbling onset in typically developing infants has been observed between 5 and 10 months, so there’s a wide normal range. Some babies hit this stage early, others take a bit longer, and both are fine.
7 to 12 Months: Complex Sound Strings
From about 7 months to a year, babbling becomes more elaborate. Babies produce long and short groups of sounds like “tata,” “upup,” and “bibibi.” The rhythm, pitch, and intonation of these strings start to mimic the patterns of the language they hear every day. Your baby may sound like they’re having a full conversation in a made-up language, complete with rising questions and emphatic statements. This stage bridges the gap between babbling and first true words, which typically appear around 12 months.
How Hearing Affects the Timeline
All of this vocal development depends on your baby being able to hear the language around them. Hearing loss can affect a child’s ability to develop communication, language, and social skills, and it often isn’t obvious. It can go unnoticed for months or even years without screening.
That’s why all infants should be screened for hearing no later than 1 month of age. Babies who don’t pass should see a specialist for a full evaluation by 3 months, and those diagnosed with hearing loss should be enrolled in intervention services by 6 months. CDC-funded research shows that children with hearing loss who are identified before 3 months and receive services before 6 months develop better vocabularies than those identified later. If your baby isn’t cooing by around 3 months, or isn’t babbling with consonant sounds by 6 to 7 months, a hearing evaluation is a good first step.
How to Encourage Your Baby’s Sounds
You don’t need special tools or techniques. The most effective thing you can do is respond. When your baby makes a sound, look at them, make the same sound back, and pretend to have a conversation. This vocal mirroring teaches your baby that their sounds have meaning and that communication is a two-way exchange. Try saying simple syllables like “ma,” “da,” and “ba” and see if your baby tries to repeat them.
When your baby does vocalize, build on it. If they say “mama,” you might respond with “Here is mama. Mama loves you.” This kind of expansion gives your baby more language to absorb without overwhelming them. Respond to laughs and facial expressions the same way, making the same faces back. The goal is to reinforce the idea that sounds lead to connection. Babies who get consistent, responsive interaction tend to vocalize more and progress through these stages with confidence.