1. Child Development
One to two years old

2. Erikson (psychosocial)
Defines toddlerhood as a time of autonomy versus shame and doubt:
Toddler ready to give up dependency and assert his sense of control.
Toddler may easily change from happy and pleasant to crying and screaming
Exertion of independence results in favorite response: “NO” even when he means “Yes”
Negativism: “NO” is a normal part of healthy development

3. Piaget (cognitive) Sensorimotor stage (12-24 months)
Domestic Mimicry: Delayed imitation (household task)
Dramatic Play (Imitate life with appropriate toys: bowl: eat/hat
Starts to think before acting
Capable of following simple directions

4. Social/Emotional Development
Child will be curious and energetic but depends on an adult’s presence for reassurance
Child is very attached to and dependent on parents and likely afraid of separation from parent
Child will imitate actions and games of others
Child enjoys playing with an adult and likes repetitive games
Start being choosey about what he/she eats
Child will want to get things right and can experience unbearable frustration if they can’t achieve mastery over a task.

6. Developing Understanding
Toddlers have no concept of time and distance
Can sort objects into understandable groups
Little understanding of time so they can’t understand what tomorrow means
Recognize similarities and differences in things
Remember and copy past events – Improvement in memory

7. Physical Skills
Rapidly increasing movement from scooting along, crawling, teetering, to walking confident

9. Language Development
Number of words used increases greatly; between 18 months to 2 years toddlers use as many as 100 or more words
Language understanding improves so toddler can remember two things at a time
Toddlers begin to use words to say how they feel
By two years toddlers begin to tell people what he/she wants them to do
Toddlers often get frustrated because they can’t say as much as they want to – or because you don’t understand what they are saying
Repeat back what they say in your replies

11. Toileting
Many parents are eager for children to start being potty- trained
There is not one “right” way or one “right” age to learn
Children around the age of 18 months to 2 years old start to become aware of when they need to use the bathroom
Most children are potty trained by the age of 3 to 3 1/2

12. Play Time Hand-eye coordination starts to improve
Match and fit simple blocks and puzzles
Simple make believe play
Throw and kick balls
Listen to music and dance

13. Parenting Read to your child every day
American Academy of Pediatrics says it’s better if children under 24 months don’t watch any TV
Ask child to name body parts or name/find objects
Basic puzzles
Allow child to do new activities

14. Water Safety
Never leave your child alone around water, even for a moment
Bathtubs, pools, lakes
Make sure that child cannot get to nearby sources of water
Fence and locked gate around pools
Don’t underestimate child’s curiosity. If you leave child unsupervised for even a short amount of time, child may open door and wander out to nearby pool or pond.

15. Safety Around the House
With movement and independence child will begin to explore widely, pulling open every handle, and twiddling every knob
Put things up high that you don’t want child to get into
Use safety locks
Medicines, chemicals, appliances
Sharp objects such as scissors, pens, knives
Cover outlets

16. Safety in the Car
Keep child in rear-facing car seat for as long as you can
Until child gets to height/weight limit for specific seat
Once your child outgrows rear-facing seat, use a front facing seat that has a harness
Never leave a child in a car by himself, or herself, even for just a few seconds!

17. Healthy Eating Give child water or milk instead of juice or soda
Juice and soda are unhealthy because they have a lot of sugar
Relative to their size, toddlers eat less than infants because they are not growing as quickly
Don’t fight with child over food. Punishing a toddler when he or she does not eat what you want can make it even harder to get child to eat good things
Give some healthy options and let child chose
Remove distractions while the toddler is eating.
Continue to offer child new foods. It takes children a while to get used to some foods.

18. Things to Remember
Children grow at different rates and different times
Toddlerhood is a time of great growth, development, and exploring
Emotions and mood can change quickly from happy to frustrated to angry
Have a strong attachment to parents/likely to be afraid of strangers
Children love to copy others