Developmental milestones of a 19 month old toddler…
In dealing with a 19 month old toddler, you should consider giving him or her plenty of time as well as space to do his or her thing. This is the stage of your child’s life when his or her energy levels and desire to explore are extremely high. Since this is a normal event in your child’s life, it is important that you provide various opportunities for your child to engage in safe and secure physical activities, both indoors and outdoors. While there are some children at this age who like slower and quieter activities, you should embrace your child’s wants on his or her individuality. You should not force your child into anything that he or she is not interested in doing.
Some toddlers at this age already are very talkative. However, there are also others who are late talkers. Parents should not be worried as this is normal. Toddlers who are late talkers do not bloom in terms of language until 24 months old. If you are worried, you can always seek consultation from your child’s health care provider.
Update your childproofing efforts
Since your child is learning a lot of new skills when he or she reaches 19 months old, you need to update your childproofing efforts. Your child at this age can now open cabinets and climb stairs. He or she will become more curious. In addition, he or she will likely explore and wander and touch things within his or her reach. It is best to ensure that your home is safe and secure for your child to wander and explore. Always make sure that there are safety locks on cabinets that contain harmful chemicals and other things that should be kept away from children. You should also consider investing in garden gates to ensure that your child will not wander far from your home when you let him or her play outdoors.
Asserting independence
Your child at 19 months old will understand a lot more of what you say. However, this does not mean that everything you say will get through to her. In fact, getting your child to listen to you will become a struggle that many parents will experience at this age. This happens a lot when your child tries to assert his or her independence.
The most effective way to get your child to listen to you is to treat him or her the way you want to be treated. For instance, you should consider comprising instead of giving out commands. Your choice of words will matter, too. You should offer options to your child. For instance, instead of simply saying that your child cannot go outside right at the moment, you can offer to read a book with him or her with the reassurance that he or she can go outside later.
Being silly
At 19 months old, your child’s sense of humor is emerging. In fact, he or she will laugh at something that is obviously wrong. Your child will love it when you are being silly. You should become rather playful to your child during these times. Pulling a funny face or perhaps placing a pair of pants over your head will surely have your child in fits.
Encouraging your child to talk more
There are actually a lot of things that parents can do to encourage their child to talk more. In fact, one effective way to do this is to provide as many opportunities for your child to chat or talk with you. You should speak with your child as you go about your daily activities like eating breakfast, bathing your child or washing dishes. You should consider pointing out the different things that you see when you are doing your daily activities. For instance, if you are walking with your child in the park, you can point out the dogs, trees or flowers that you see around you. You should also try asking questions to your child. When you do, you have to make sure that you provide your child with lots of time to reply to your question.
When your child talks to you about something, you should offer encouragement and reassurance. Despite being able to understand only half of what your child is talking about, you have to do your best to try and understand him or her. If you are able to get the idea of what he or she is trying to say, you should repeat it back to your child using the correct words. This way, your child will be able to say the correct words eventually. You should not worry much about how your child pronounces his or her words. During this age, it is more important that your child feels that he or she is included in the conversation or that he or she has been understood.
Encouraging your fussy eater to eat
When dealing with nutrition of a 19 month old child, parents should consider getting inventive with the food that they offer their child. For instance, most toddlers at this age love spreads and dips. Instead of providing the unhealthy dips, you should provide your child bread sticks or vegetables to dunk into nutritious dips like cheese sauces or mashed avocado.
You should also consider offering fruits with different colors to keep him or her interested. Aside from this, you should prepare cut out sandwiches. You can invest in pastry cutters as they can transform dull and plain sandwiches into dinosaurs, animals, stars and other shapes. If your child is a picky eater, you should try hiding cooked vegetables in sauces. You can combine them strategically in blended pasta sauces with lean meat. Chances are your child will not even notice that the vegetables are there since he or she will be interested in simply eating spaghetti.
Another option to boost your child’s nutrition at this stage is to give your child his or her vitamin supplement. Your child at this age will need a variety of vitamins to grow healthy and strong. If you are not sure what to give your child, you can seek help from a pediatrician. They are experts when it comes to providing the right nutrition for your child.
Vitamin A is important and you should make sure that your child takes this vitamin. This can help with your child’s vision. Moreover, this can keep your child’s skin healthy. Vitamin D is also important as this is important for bone growth and health. Lastly, you should give your child vitamin C supplements as this helps absorb iron from the food that your child eats. Moreover, this vitamin is important in ensuring bone and teeth growth and development. In addition, this should also boost your child’s immune system.
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