Toddlers: Development
What age is regarded as being a toddler?
There is a dictionary definition that says a toddler is a small child that takes little, uncertain toddling steps. When children start to do that will vary. Some children are actually up on their feet before they're one, but in general it's more likely to be about fifiteen to eighteen months before they're walking well without support. There's a whole range of behaviours that are also associated with being a toddler, and they can start around about one or sometimes a little bit later. It's a little bit of a difficult question to be exact about.
What are the typical behaviours of a toddler?
There are a set of behaviors that we associate with toddlers. One is being very negative. One is having tantrums. A lot of it is really about a small child beginning to want independence, to want to show that they're a separate person from Mom and Dad. Of course, a lot of it is quite hard for parents to deal with. These shouldn't be thought of as naughty behaviors. These are very normal stages in toddler development that every parent will recognize.
What should I do to stimulate my toddler's emotional development?
Just as with babies, the way to deal with toddlers is in a loving way - cuddling them, being kind to them, saying positive things to them, and giving them praise when they get things right. That's the best way to shape their behavior, not wait until you think they're naughty and coming down on it. And that love and attention, listening to them when they have things to say to you. Talking to them about everything that's going on is the best way to go ahead.
My toddler seems excessively dependent on me, what should I do?
The clingy phase that starts with babies, just clinging to the people that are most important to them, is still very much there in many toddlers. Depending on your child's individual personality, some are more clingy than others, and some are quite independent and hardly go through a phase like this, but others right up until say, about three will still be very keen to keep parents close to them and not that keen on playing with strangers. This again is all part of normal behavior. From about three plus, children are usually able to manage longer periods without parents and will tend to be less clingy.
How do toddlers learn by following examples?
Children are more influenced by a parents example than anything else, and very much more by what you do than what you say. This is true in everything. If you are a person who gets into a rage when the milk boils over, don't be surprised if your child seems on a short fuse. If you shout and scream a lot, don't be surprised when your child shouts and screams a lot. If you're not very sociable because you find that hard, if you don't go out of your way to invite people over, and you don't chat to people when you meet them, then quite often children will copy that too. If you're not giving that example, don't be surprised if your child also looks like they are not trying to make friends.
