When is "wabbit" no longer cute?

For a mom when a child says "wabbit" for "rabbit" it may be endearing (for me it's when my son says "sowwy" for "sorry"...so cute!). However, when sound substitutions affect intelligibility and the child is too old to be making such errors it may be time for speech-language therapy.


Some speech sounds are mastered earlier than others. So if a 2 year old is not producing "r" or "th" I'm not as concerned as if the same were true of a 9 year old.

There is usually a range from when sounds emerge to when they are mastered. Also children vary from one another on when they master sounds.


Here is the list of sounds and the ranges of development:


"p", "m", "h", "n", "w"= 90% of children produce these sounds by age 3


"b", "k", "g", "d" = 90% of children produce these sounds by age 4


"f", "y" = 50% of kids start to have these sounds at 2 1/2 years and 90% by 4 years

"t" "ng" = 50% of kids start to use these sounds at 2 years and 90% by 6 years

"r", "l" = 50% of kids start to use these sounds at 3 years and 90% by 6 years

"s" = 50% start to use this sound at 3 years and 90% by 8 years

"ch", "sh" =50% start to use these sounds at 3 1/2 years and 90% by 7 years

"z" = 50% start to use this sound at 3 1/2 and 90% by 8 years

"j" = 50% start at 4 years and 90% by 7 years

"v" = 50% start at 4 years and 90% by 8 years

voiceless "th" ("bath") = 50% start at 4 1/2 years and 90% by 7 years

voiced "th" ("bathe") = 50% start at 5 years and 90% by 8 years

"zh" ("measure") = 50% start at 6 years and 90% by 8 years

more on this topic to follow...