Let’s talk about baby and toddler’s attention span. When it comes to managing expectations for toddler speech therapy, let’s look at what we should truly be expecting when it comes to toddler’s attention span. Remember when we talked about keeping toddlers attention in speech therapy sessions? This post is going to elaborate more on why that happens.
0-8 Months: Do Infants Pay Attention?
Yep! Attention develops from birth. Actually there are studies that show babies recognize and attend to sounds inside a mother’s womb too. Attention during infancy tends to focus more on developing social skills. Babies will begin to look in the direction of caregivers, begin to babble and interact, and will begin to notice and play with toys purposefully. We also know that in terms of development, babies startle to loud noises and begin to pay more attention to the sounds in their environment. We would never expect babies to keep their full attention on us or their activities, right? Of course not, they are babies and just exploring their world.
Sooo.. why does that change when it comes to toddlers and even preschool age children?
8-15 months: 1 minute
Around a year old, babies should be able to engage in a preferred toy or activity for about 1 minute before switching to another activity. Sometimes attention to task is shortened because the babies become distracted by a noise that disrupts their play.
16-19 Months: 2-3 minutes
Anyone who’s spent enough time with an 18-month-old knows they don’t spend much time on a specific task before becoming distracted. That being said, when they are really interested in something, between 16 and 19 months old, they can engage in the activity for up to 3 minutes! Just don’t interrupt their train of thought by making noise or saying something. (ha!)
20-24 Months: 3-6 minutes
At 2 years old, toddlers attention span increases up to 6 minutes. Now, they are still going to become easily distracted by sounds in the environment. However, you might begin to notice that your words don’t seem to interrupt their play. (which is my nice way of saying they’re starting to ignore you… yay for growth & development!)
25-36 Months: 5-8 minutes
By 3 years old, toddlers can attend to a task for up to 8 minutes. They also begin to show the ability to shift their attention from an adult talking to them back to their activity. For example, when you say something like “Come see me!” they may look up at you, respond, then go right back to playing. Next time you find yourself frustrated they aren’t listening- it’s actually a milestone! Yay progress!
3-4 Years: 8-10 minutes
At 4 years old we can expect an average toddler to attend to a task up to 10 minutes. Still not a very long time, right? At this point, they may pay attention to you and their activity without being prompted (you calling their name or saying “hey!”). They may be engaged in a task; notice your existence, offer a response, and never miss a beat on the activity they’re engaged in.
Toddler’s Attention Span
Here’s the big take away from this- the longest span of attention for this age group: 8-10 minutes! And that isn’t expected until a toddler turns 4 and has no other developmental delays. If you take an already delayed toddler experiencing difficulties with communication and place an expectation of their attending to a task for an extended amount time? Friend, you’re not setting yourself up for success. Keep in mind attention to task isn’t as important as improving their communication and other developmental areas; as those areas improve, attention will naturally improve too.
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