The 411 on Toddler Communication: Milestones, Red Flags & Tips (w/ Dr. Ari Brown)

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Two Parents & A Podcast 58 min 3 speakers 8 chapters transcribed

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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Unknown 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of Two Parents in a Podcast, you guys. Today is an episode that we've been looking forward to for two months, maybe. We have Dr. Ari Brown back on the pod, and we had you on, how many episodes ago was it?

What do toddlers understand before they can talk?

Unknown 0:17

I can't pull that one off. We had her on at some point and you guys were DMing me saying, thank you for having her on because you gave such clear and concise answers.

What are the critical speech and language milestones for toddlers?

Unknown 0:30

Um, I think part of that is because you're obviously a phenomenal pediatrician, but I think also because you've written the 411 series and in the 411 series, I was up reading it last night and it's just like question answer. Like short answer, no, and that's just what a parent wants. We just want a concise answer from a trusted source, and that is what you are. So the good news for the audience is we have you back now once a month, and we're gonna just chip away at different topics, which today we're gonna talk about communication, which is probably a top two, and the next episode's gonna be discipline, and I think that they go hand in hand of like, does my kid understand no right now, even though they can't talk to me in a full sentence, things like that.

Unknown 1:22

So we're so excited to have you back on. Thank you for coming.

Dr. Ari Brown 1:25

Oh, my pleasure. I'm so excited to be joining you guys and helping you guys and your audience.

Unknown 1:31

You are.

When should parents be concerned about their toddler's communication?

Unknown 1:32

You are very helpful. So we're going to do our questions, go through some of the things in the book, and then we're going to do you guys' questions that you submitted. Does that sound good? Awesome. Let's roll.

How can parents handle toddler tantrums and frustration?

Unknown 1:44

Okay.

Dr. Ari Brown 1:45

Will you credential yourself? Okay, so I am a Texas girl. I grew up in Dallas. I came down to Austin for my first tour of duty, went to University of Texas at Austin, did my undergrad degree in child development, which is important to chat about because I love talking about development and that's why we're gonna focus on communication today. I then went to med school at Baylor in Houston, and then I did my pediatric residency and fellowship training in developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. So I was at Boston Children's Hospital and then had a couple of kids. We lived in Baltimore. Our family was here in Texas. The grandparents were here.

What strategies can help toddlers communicate effectively?

Dr. Ari Brown 2:29

So we moved back to Austin about 27 years ago. And I practice in Austin. I am proudly one of the few independent physician-owned practices left in the country, maybe. That's amazing. But at least in Austin. So my practice is 411 Pediatrics and we love taking care of patients here in Austin. It's been a joy taking care of Austin's families and I really feel very honored to to join families on their journeys as part of my whole journey. career, I realized that parents really wanted more information. And they wanted to dig deeper and really understand the why, which I love. And so I didn't have enough time in exam room one to kind of share that knowledge. And so I thought, you know, maybe there's a book in here.

Dr. Ari Brown 3:24

And so Baby 411 emerged from that in the early 2000s. And I have updated that book every two years.

How does bilingualism affect a toddler's speech development?

Dr. Ari Brown 3:34

And we're about to roll out our 11th edition in a couple of weeks. Super excited about that. And then I have Toddler 411 and Expecting 411. So three books and lots of parenting advice.

3:51

Yeah.

Dr. Ari Brown 3:51

online now because that's where people get their information and they are you want to be where people are so they can learn so yeah amazing and these books the books are thick millions millions of copies sold they're full of information they're really really good but they are kind of like um you doing a quick chat gpt or google search like question answer you can find it very easily and um and it's

What are common red flags for toddler communication delays?

Dr. Ari Brown 4:16

I think the important thing is it's evidence-based. And it's also honest and real talk that people need to hear.

Unknown 4:25

Totally. Okay, so we're going to dive in. How much are toddlers understanding between, let's call it ages one and two, or before they are talking?

Dr. Ari Brown 4:36

That is a great question. And I think I want to break this down a little bit so we're all understanding the toddler mindset. And so there's three different

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Chapters

8 chapters

1 What is the main topic discussed in this episode? 0:00–0:17 2 What do toddlers understand before they can talk? 0:17–0:30 3 What are the critical speech and language milestones for toddlers? 0:30–1:32 4 When should parents be concerned about their toddler's communication? 1:32–1:44 5 How can parents handle toddler tantrums and frustration? 1:44–2:29 6 What strategies can help toddlers communicate effectively? 2:29–3:34 7 How does bilingualism affect a toddler's speech development? 3:34–4:16 8 What are common red flags for toddler communication delays? 4:16–58:43

Speakers

3 identified

Dr. Ari Brown 34 min Unknown 20 min Jules

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Topics in this episode

Austin 1 Dallas 1 Chime 1 Baltimore 1 Skims 1 Harvard Medical School 1 Tate 2 Baylor University 1 Boston Children's Hospital 1 Winnie 1 Ari Brown 5 Toddler 411 1

Source

Recorded12 Jan 2026

Publisherfeeds.megaphone.fm

Transcriptspeaker-named · 100+ languages

Handlerec:15262482

Show notes

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, we’re joined again by Dr. Ari Brown — board-certified pediatrician and author of the bestselling 411 series — for a conversation all about toddler talking and communication. You guys loved her last episode, and we’re so excited to officially bring her on as a RECURRING GUEST once a month!! Dr. Ari breaks down what toddlers actually understand before they can talk (spoiler: a lot), what counts as a real “word,” and the core language milestones between 12–24 months. We get into receptive vs. expressive language, nonverbal communication, and the difference between “they don’t understand me” and “they’re choosing not to listen,” which… hits home. We also cover the big “is this normal?” questions — pointing and waving, only repeating you, not responding to their name, mixing languages — and when it’s worth checking in with your pediatrician. Dr. Ari explains why early intervention leads to the best outcomes, and gives simple tools parents can use at home (talk time, books, songs, naming emotions, and turning off our own screens). And because communication and behavior are so connected, we talk through the toddler frustration cycle — the pointing, the grunting, the meltdowns, the boneless moments — and how to help kids feel seen and understood even before they have the words. We’ll go deeper on discipline NEXT MONTH, but this episode gives the foundation every parent needs to understand what’s happening in that little toddler brain!! Timestamps: 00:00:00 Welcome back to Two Parents & A Podcast 00:01:20 Reintroducing Dr. Ari Brown 00:03:45 How much toddlers actually understand before they can talk 00:05:10 The speech and language milestones from 12–24 months 00:06:35 Do toddlers really understand the word “no”? 00:10:55 What counts as a “word”? (mispronunciations, animal sounds, sign language) 00:13:10 What toddlers don’t understand at this age 00:15:55 When to bring communication concerns to your pediatrician 00:17:05 How pediatricians evaluate & support a child who isn’t speaking 00:18:30 Rewarding early communication 00:20:55 Why it’s so confusing and frustrating to be a toddler 00:23:58 Handling tantrums and “boneless” moments 00:27:45 Why “no” becomes their favorite word 00:29:50 What toddlers can understand when it comes to discipline 00:34:20 Audience Question: Babbling but no pointing/waving — when to worry 00:38:35 Audience Question: 1-year-old ignores “wait/come here/stop” 00:42:42 Audience Question: Only repeating words — does that count? 00:43:33 Audience Question: Discipline with a speech delay 00:44:27 Audience Question: Multilingual or bilingual schools 00:45:23 Audience Question: Do bilingual kids talk later? 00:46:47 Audience Question: Helping kids feel seen and understood 00:50:10 Understanding communication red flags & early intervention 00:53:45 Summary of communication red flags 00:54:55 Top 3 things parents can do at home for language development 00:57:30 Thank you for listening! Thank you to our sponsors this week: *Chime: Join the millions banking fee-free. Visit https://www.chime.com/TWOPARENTS *ZipRecruiter: Find the best people for your roles at https://www.ziprecruiter.com/ALEX *Skims: Shop at https://www.SKIMS.com and select “podcast” + our show in the survey *GOODLES: Available nationwide at Target, Walmart, and major grocery stores Find our guest: Website | https://www.draribrown.com/ Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/aribrownmd TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@aribrownmd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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