Toddler Month 25-27 — Growth and Development

Your toddler has now entered his 25th month. The upcoming quarter is going to be full of new skills learn and new challenges to tackle. But with mom’s support and guidance, the little tots will grow up just fine!

Physical Development

• It’s time for your tot to jump – and a big jump at that! In this timeframe, toddlers learn to take a big jump forward with both the feet together. Their coordination and body control is much better than before. Try out these jumping activities to help boost this skill further.
• Your child has also developed more expertise with the tricycle. Now, he will be able to propel himself forward using his feet on the ground on a tricycle. Watch out for curious expeditions all over the house and backyard!
• Finally, this is one physical development milestone that’s going to make you really happy. Your little one will now be able to make vertical, horizontal and circular strokes using a pen! He is actually learning to handle a pen better and this is a great leap forward for both his physical and writing skills in the future.

Social and Emotional Development

• You will now notice signs of conscientiousness in your toddler. He will be able to recognize the difference between ‘good’ behaviour and ‘bad’ behaviour as defined by you. So, for example, when you tell him that pulling his elder sister’s hair is bad behaviour, he will actually try and listen to your instructions!

Cognitive Development

• This quarter is an eventful time for your toddler’s cognitive development. He now has clearer ideas about time and even begins to understand what ‘today’ and ‘tomorrow’ means. Try and help him understand this better by using today and tomorrow in your conversations more often.
• Your precious darling has now become quite ingenious! He loves playing with tools such as a toy rolling pin, shovel, buckets, etc. In fact, every household item he can lay his hands on can double up as tool with dozens of possibilities!
• If you have been following storytelling and bed-time reading rituals regularly, you are up for a pleasant surprise now. Your child will be able to relate real life objects with pictures in a book. Help him by pointing out things around the house such as an apple as red as the apple in the book or your family pet.

Linguistic Development

• This time period also marks noticeable development in speech. Toddlers should be able to use words to pose simple questions. For example, when he is tired out after playing in the park, he could ask you-“Going home now?” Have lots of question-answer sessions with him, tiring as it may be, to boost his linguistic skills further. Follow this guide to teach kids to ask simple questions.
• Not just in speaking, your child is also gaining confidence in reading. He will be able to easily read words with simple consonant sounds such as m, n, p, b, t, d, etc. A few ideas are dog, nose, man, etc. Have him practise reading now to establish both a love and a knack for reading as he grows up.
• Yet another language milestone he will reach is being able to follow simple multi-step instructions. For example, if you ask him to “Come, sit with me and we’ll read this book together”, he is likely to follow what you said!

Contact your Paediatrician If/When you Notice:

During this quarter, you need to be careful about the following conditions in your child. Aside from periodic check-ups, these situations warrant an immediate consultation with the paediatrician:

• Most tots this age are able to follow multi-step directions. However, some kids can have trouble with this because of poor working memory or ADHD. Try these ideas to help them with instructions and consult your paediatrician if it doesn’t seem to help.
• Some children have trouble with simple consonants owing to a speech or language defect. Sometimes, this could simply be a sign of delayed grasp over speech sounds which can be rectified by these steps to teach kids to understand consonants. If this doesn’t help, you should consult the doctor.

The next quarter will see your toddler hitting even bigger milestones of development! Take a sneak peek at all the momentous developmental changes you can expect to see then.