Toddler

Vincent van Gogh, First Steps, after Millet
Toddlers on a kibbutz

A toddler is a child between the ages of one and three.[1][2] The toddler years are a time of great cognitive, emotional and social development. The word is derived from "to toddle", which means to walk unsteadily, like a child of this age.

Developmental milestones

Learning to walk pushing a wheeled toy
Normal vital parameters of toddlers
Blood Pressure
(mmHg) 		Systolic 80–110[3]
Diastolic 50–80[3]
Heart rate (BPM) 90–140[3]
Respiratory rate 20–40[3]

Toddler development can be broken down into a number of interrelated areas.[4] There is reasonable consensus about what these include:

Physical: Refers to growth or an increase in size.

Gross motor: Refers to the control of large muscles which enable walking, running, jumping and climbing.

Fine motor: Refers to the ability to control small muscles; enabling the toddler to feed themselves, draw and manipulate objects.

Vision: Refers to the ability to see near and far and interpret what is seen.

Hearing and speech: Hearing is the ability to hear and receive information and listen (interpret). Speech is the ability to understand and learn language and use it to communicate effectively.

Social: Refers to the ability to interact with the world through playing with others, taking turns and fantasy play.

Although it is useful to chart defined periods of development, it is also necessary to recognize that development exists on a continuum, with considerable individual differences between children. There is a wide range of what may be considered 'normal' development.

One year old

12-month-old toddler sitting in a bucket

At one year of age, the typical toddler will be able to display the following skills:[5]

Physical and motor skills

A typical one-year-old toddler's body proportions

Sensory and cognitive development

Learning to eat independently

Two years old

Two and half years old

Learning to ride a toy car

Motor development

Running and falling

14 months

18 months

Two years

Vocalization and socialization

15 months

18 months

Two years

"If I want it, it's mine.
If I give it to you and change my mind later, it's mine.
If I can take it away from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine it will never belong to anyone else, no matter what.
If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks like mine, it's mine."
—Burton L. White in his Raising a Happy, Unspoiled Child[1]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Burton_L._White_1995 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

2½ years

Major learning events

Toilet training

  1. Psychological readiness
  2. Process training
  3. Parental response

Play (parallel play)

Games: throwing and retrieving objects

Suggested toys:

Squatting

Main article: Squatting position
Young child playing at ease in a squatting position

Young children squat instinctively as a continuous movement from standing up whenever they want to lower themselves to ground level. One- and two-year-olds can commonly be seen playing in a stable squatting position, with feet wide apart and bottom not quite touching the floor, although at first they need to hold on to something to stand up again.[7]

Language

Talking is the next milestone of which parents are typically aware. A toddler's first word most often occurs around 12 months, but again this is only an average. The child will then continue to steadily add to his or her vocabulary until around the age of 18 months when language increases rapidly. He or she may learn as many as 7–9 new words a day. Around this time, toddlers generally know about 50 words. At 21 months is when toddlers begin to incorporate two word phrases into their vocabulary, such as "I go", "mama give", and "baby play". Before going to sleep they often engage in a monologue called crib talk in which they practice conversational skills. At this age, children are becoming very proficient at conveying their wants and needs to their parents in a verbal fashion.

Emotions and self-image

23-month-old crying girl

There are several other important milestones that are achieved in this time period that parents tend not to emphasize as much as walking and talking. Gaining the ability to point at whatever it is the child wants you to see shows huge psychological gains in a toddler. This generally happens before a child's first birthday.

This age is sometimes referred to as "the terrible twos",[8] because of the temper tantrums for which they are famous. This stage can begin as early as nine months old depending on the child and environment. Toddlers tend to have temper tantrums because they have such strong emotions but do not know how to express themselves the way that older children and adults do. They also throw tantrums to let others know that they are free and can do what they want. The toddler is discovering that they are a separate being from their parent and are testing their boundaries in learning the way the world around them works. Although the toddler is in their exploratory phase, it is also important to understand that the methods used by the parents for communicating with the toddler can either set off a tantrum or calm the situation.[9] Research has shown that parents with histories of maltreatment, violence exposure, and related psychopathology may have particular difficulty in responding sensitively and in a developmentally appropriate manner to their toddlers' tantrums and thus may benefit from parent-child mental health consultation [10] This time between the ages of two and five when they are reaching for independence repeats itself during adolescence.

Self-awareness is another milestone that helps parents understand how a toddler is reacting. Around 18 months of age, a child will begin to recognize himself or herself as a separate physical being with his/her own thoughts and actions. A parent can test if this milestone has been reached by noticing if the toddler recognizes that their reflection in a mirror is in fact themselves. One way to test this is the rouge test: putting lipstick on the child's face and showing them their own reflection. Upon seeing the out-of-the-ordinary mark, if the child reaches to his or her own face, the child has achieved this important milestone. Along with self recognition comes feelings of embarrassment and pride that the child had not previously experienced.

Overview

The toddler developmental timeline shows what an average toddler can do at what age. Times vary greatly from child to child. It is common for some toddlers to master certain skills such as walking well before other skills, like talking. Even close siblings can vary greatly in the time taken to achieve each key milestone.

Age Physical Mental Emotional
12–14 months
  • Walk alone well.
  • Drink from a cup (poorly).
  • Turn pages in a book (a few at a time).
  • Play ball by rolling or tossing it.
  • Uses one or two syllable words such as "ball" or "cookie"
  • Can follow a simple command with an associated gesture, such as: bringing a cup to you when you point at it and saying "Please bring me the cup".
  • Use gestures or words to convey objects, such as: Pointing at a book, raising arms to be picked up, or saying "cup".
  • Mimic actions such as covering eyes while playing Peekaboo.
15–18 months
  • Uses 10–20 words.
  • May be able to follow a command without a gesture.
  • Stack two blocks.
19–24 months
  • Feed self with a spoon.
  • Run.
  • Climb into a small chair.
  • Walk up steps.
  • Helps with dressing: Likes to dress and undress self.
  • Speaks 20–50 words; understands many more
  • Stack six blocks
  • Understands non-physical relationships such as turning on lights or pushing buttons.
  • Sorting toys.
  • Searching for hidden objects.
  • Problem solving through experimentation.
25–36 months
  • Advanced mobility and climbing skills.
  • Increased dexterity with small objects, puzzles.
  • Able to dress oneself.
  • Speaking in sentences.
  • Ability to be independent to primary care giver.
  • Easily learns new words, places and people's names.
  • Anticipates routines.
  • Toilet learning continues
  • Plays with toys in imaginative ways.
  • Attempts to sing in-time with songs.
  • Knows boys from girls.
  • Shows preferences, such as clothes and entertainment.
  • Knows how to play different games.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Barker, Robin (2001) The Mighty Toddler: The essential guide to the toddler years, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney, p1.
  2. ↑ Lieberman, Alicia F, (1993) The Emotional Life of the Toddler, The Free Press, New York, p1.
  3. 1 2 3 4 PEDIATRIC AGE SPECIFIC, page 6. Revised 6/10. By Theresa Kirkpatrick and Kateri Tobias. UCLA Health System
  4. ↑ Barker, Robin (2001) The Mighty Toddler: The essential guide to the toddler years, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney, p19.
  5. ↑ Feigelman S. The first year. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chapter 8 quoted in Developmental milestones record - 12 months MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
  6. ↑ Burton L. White, Raising a Happy, Unspoiled Child (Simon and Schuster [Fireside Book], 1995), 161.
  7. ↑ Slentz K, Krogh S Early Childhood Development and Its Variations (2001)
  8. ↑ "The Terrible Twos Explained - Safe Kids (UK)". Safe Kids. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  9. ↑ "Toddlers World". Archived from the original on 2011-02-07.
  10. ↑ Schechter DS, Moser D, Wang Z, Marsh R, Hao XJ, Duan Y, Yu S, Gunter B, Murphy D, McCaw J, Kangarlu A, Willheim E, Myers M, Hofer M, Peterson BS (2012). "An fMRI study of the brain responses of traumatized mothers to viewing their toddlers during separation and play". Journal of Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 7 (8): 969–79. doi:10.1093/scan/nsr069.

External links

Preceded by
Infancy		 Stages of human development
Toddlerhood 		Succeeded by
Childhood
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