Milestones · 3-year-olds
Is my 3-year-old behind on talking?
At three, the speech gap between kids can look enormous — and parents are often told to "just wait." Here's what Australian speech pathologists actually look for at age 3, and what to do if your child is on the worried side of normal.
What to expect at 3-year-olds
- 500+ words; sentences of 3–4 words
- Asking "what's that?", "where's Daddy?", "why?"
- Telling you a short story about something that happened
- Strangers understand ~75% of what they say
- Most early sounds in place (p, b, m, n, t, d, w, h, k, g)
Red flags worth checking
- Strangers can understand less than 50% of what they say
- Not using 3–4 word sentences regularly
- Doesn't ask "what" or "where" questions
- Many speech sounds still missing (e.g., never uses /k/, /g/, /f/, /s/)
- Avoids talking around unfamiliar adults or in childcare
- Gets visibly frustrated trying to be understood
If you're worried — what to do
- Don't fix every mispronunciation. Instead, recast — your child says "tat" for cat, you reply "yes, that's a cat with a fluffy tail." They hear the right sound without being corrected.
- Get hearing checked. A surprising number of 3-year-olds with speech delay have undiagnosed glue ear (otitis media with effusion) that fluctuates with colds. A GP referral to an audiologist is free under Medicare.
- If childcare educators are also flagging concerns, take that seriously — they see 30 three-year-olds a day and have good calibration. Worth a speech pathology screen.
- Book a free 15-minute consult if you have three or more red flags. We can usually distinguish "developmental delay that needs therapy" from "normal variation" within one assessment.
What makes the 3-year gap so confusing
Three is the age of biggest variability. Some 3-year-olds you meet sound 5. Others sound 2. Both can be entirely typical — language development is the most variable of all developmental milestones.
What's NOT typical at 3:
- Speech that's hard to understand for people outside the family. "Family ear" is real — parents understand their own kids better than anyone else. If grandparents or childcare educators struggle, that's a clinical signal, not picky listeners.
- Frustration around being understood. Tantrums when they can't get their message across, abandoning attempts, going non-verbal in some settings. This is communication frustration, and it's a real reason to act.
- Pattern issues. Missing whole categories of sounds (e.g., no back-of-mouth sounds at all — no /k/, /g/), or using one sound for many ("tat" for cat AND hat AND that).
What happens in a speech assessment for a 3-year-old
A standard assessment is a one-hour session online with your child sitting with you on the couch. Half the session is structured (the speech pathologist plays games to elicit specific sounds and language). Half is observation as you and your child play.
By the end, we tell you one of three things:
- You're fine — check in again in 6 months if anything changes.
- Borderline — we'd suggest 2-3 sessions to give you home strategies, then re-assess.
- Worth starting therapy now — here's the goal and a recommended schedule.
NDIS plans cover this. For non-NDIS families, the assessment is private-pay; ask about our rates.
Related conditions
Worried? Talk to a speech pathologist.
One free 15-minute consult — usually enough to tell you whether to wait or start. We reply within 1 business day.