Dr. Rica Vizarra-Villongco

Start talking to your child as early as possible, says Rica Vizarra-Villongco, M.D., a developmental pediatrician at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center."Hearing develops before birth, so from the moment they are born, start talking," she urges, adding, "the more you talk to them, the more you see a response."It's better than television, Dr. Vizarra-Villongco says."Talk your way through activities.Reading is a big thing, too," she says.Dr. Vizarra-Villongco urges parents to have their children finish the ends of sentences in books."Talk, read and interact so you can pick up problems early and be able to address them at critical points," she says."If you notice any problems, you can intervene and eliminate a lot of frustration that occurs when a child can't communicate."

Is your youngster up to speed?By age 1, children should start pointing and should be saying their first word other than "mom" and "dad", Dr. Vizarra-Villongco says.By age 2, she says, they should be able to have two-word conversations, with a vocabulary of a minimum of 50 words."If a 2-year-old comes to the clinic and only says five words, that needs evaluation," she says.A 3-year-old should speak clearly and use three-word phrases, and a four-year-old should be 100 percent clear, she says.If there is a problem, many programs, including federally-funded ones, are available to help children speak and communicate clearly.Talk to your pediatrician who can point you in the right direction, Dr. Vizarra-Villongco says.