Toddler

This is the stage in your and your childs life where you might want to pluck your hair out at times, but fear not, we will do our best to prepare you for this stage, and show you the positives that come with it as well, providing helpful tips and facts along the way.

Let us begin with a common misunderstanding – the fact that your toddler is misbehaving, or gets mad at you sometimes, doesn’t mean that he is ill mannered, in fact, it is a very natural development stage for kids.

When our little one shows us his new learned ability, we usually feel very proud. Especially when we feel that it was our raising methods that tought him that, and he seems to be growing to be a smart and clever kid. The problem only begins when the newfound behaviour can make the child unbearable at times, like when he becomes stubborn or mischievous, and tries to achieve something by screaming and refusing to behave.

However, as unbelievable as it might sound to you now, such behaviour often means that the child… is growing up proper. As many psychologists will tell you, it is a very common behaviour. However, as with most things, enough can be enough, and we will tell you when you should react and when to leave it alone. Below we will show you some of these examples.

Around others

Don’t be alarmed when your toddler (usually around 8 months) begins showing distrust around others, especially people he sees for the first time. Children usually recognize only the closest people to them at first like mom and dad. It is important not to push the child into recognizing new people until they feel ready. After some time accommodating, there is no harm in trying to reach out and make contact.

However, you should react if your child shows a strong sense of fear towards others, especially people he is closest with. If he is passive and non responsive, it is best to contact a psychologist just to be safe.

Mess-making and naughtiness

Between 10th and 15th month the child curiosity rises drastically, they can be constantly messing with stuff, opening containers, shelves. They have just realized the many wonders they can do with various items. To distract them from doing that it is good to provide other curiosity satisfying tools, like buying blocks appropriate for his age (for example DUPLO). It is nonetheless wise to lock hazardous and important to you containers and shelves.

You should react if your child doesn’t show any activities that could satisfy his curiosity, it might mean that he lacks the urge to know and explore his surroundings.

Making a fuss out of nothing

It is quite normal when kids around two years old realize that they have an impact on reality. They slowly begin to know that they can do some things all by themselves. They don’t realize yet, however, that only they know what exactly they mean to do. You have to teach your toddler that – if he plans on something – he must tell you about it first. Otherwise you will face constant scenes like “I wanted to do it myself, you didn’t let me!” etc. You can satisfy the childs independence urges quite easily however, for example teaching how to it by himself, or helping with minor things around the house.

You should react if your child doesn’t show any independence urges. Believe it or not, but a perfectly proper, non-fuss making child might have some dependency issues, always relying on your help a little bit too much.