A guide to help develop and nurture your child’s developmental milestones…

A child at 15 months…

Every day your child attempts as well as accomplishes something new. At 15 months, experts consider this period as a milestone period. During this time, most babies are walking already. In fact, about 90 percent of babies at this age have already taken their first few steps without any support. Your child will most likely want to sit at the dinner table, stand on the chair and not use his or her high chair. Your little explorer becomes more and more curious as the days go by. Your child becomes more confident as he or she stands on his or her own two feet. Moreover, your child becomes very keen on experimenting on different ways to navigate like trotting, jumping, running, and climbing.

Physical development and activities that your child loves

Since your child will become pretty good at walking, he or she will find it amusing to push and pull toys while playing. Your child is also confident enough to stand and stoop to pick up his or her toys. If you have stairs at home, your child will also find this interesting and may tackle the stairs happily.

At 15 months old, your child will enjoy both small and large toys. This is also the time when your child’s ability to concentrate improves significantly. This would mean that your child will not lose interest in small toys quickly. In fact, your child will most likely be able to entertain him or herself for extended periods of time.

The things that you probably have inside your bag like keys, lipsticks and phone will become fascinating objects to your child’s eyes. Your child knows that these things are important to you. He or she will want to examine them and hold them using his or her hands. Since letting your child play with the things inside your bag may be harmful in some ways, you should consider putting together a set of your child’s own important things. You can place a set of plastic keys, a hairbrush, and a wallet inside an old bag that your child can call his or her own.

There are several ways how you can keep your child interested and his or her hands occupied. For instance, you can place interesting things like plastic containers, blocks, wooden utensils, and other safe things. Your child will most likely become interested in these things. He or she will examine these objects using his or her hands.

Language development: Helping your child develop his or her talking skills

At 15 months old, your child is learning to put some expression in everything that he or she says. In fact, this is the time when you will hear that your child’s intonation will go up when he or she asks a question. Moreover, you will also notice that your child will use his or her hands to complement what he or she is saying.

During this time, your child is favoring one word which is ‘No.’ As your child asserts his or herself, he or she will continue to say ‘No.’ To reduce the chance of your child saying this word, you should make sure that you refrain from saying ‘No’ as well. In fact, you can try altering your responses. Instead of saying No, you can actually offer choices to your child.

A typical 15 month old child can already speak several words. Moreover, they are able to follow simple commands. In addition, your child already understands the meaning of simple phrases like ‘Come here.’ To encourage your child to keep on talking, you should listen to him or her. Even if you do not understand what your child is saying, you should make eye contact whenever your child communicates with you. It is also important to respond as well as acknowledge your child’s comments and questions. When you do this, you are motivating your child to keep on trying.

If you feel that your child is taking his or her time learning to talk, you should consider spending time together reading. In fact, it is helpful if you use picture books and pointing out familiar objects and saying the name out loud for your child to follow. You should avoid using baby talk, as this can actually become rather confusing to your child. Since this is the age when children become interested in picture books, you should invest in using them to help your child’s language development.
 

Helping your child develop through the use of tools and imaginary play

A 15 month old child is already able to understand that a spoon is used for eating. Thus, you can see children at this age trying to use the spoon for its intended purpose. In addition, you will notice that your 15 month old child will be able to use a broom to sweep the floor. When handed with a brush or comb, your child will most probably use this to comb or brush his or her own hair. At this age, your child is able to understand how objects are used. Your child’s ability to understand how different objects are used relates to his or her ability to use words and express his or her ideas. Moreover, he or she is starting to think about how different things work and the results of his or her actions.

When using imaginary play to help your child develop, you are encouraging your child to make use of his or her imagination. For instance, you can have your child pretend that he or she is a chef. You can provide your child with plastic utensils that he or she can use during your imaginary play. Once your child is finished cooking something for you, you can let him or her help you set up the table and pretend to have a meal together. At this age, playing pretend will closely mirror your child’s real behavior.

Fussy eating habits of a 15 month old child

It is important that parents accept and understand that fussy eating and toddler stage go hand in hand. In this case, you should consider giving your child options. For instance, your child will only eat the same foods at each meal. For this case, you can actually try giving your child new foods together with his or her current favorites. This way, the plate you serve your child will still look familiar. However, if your child refuses to eat a certain type of food, you can try again in another week. Your child’s reluctance to eat different foods is considered a normal development at this age, as your child tends to become suspicious of new textures and flavors.

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