Life with toddlers

Thoughts on life with a toddler from some familiar faces. What a typical day’s like, what’s to love, the challenging stuff, and musings in hindsight, from those who’ve been there.

The physical abilities of a toddler

As the name suggests, children this age are doing just that… toddling! But they’re also mastering a whole heap of other skills that will stand them in good stead in the years to come.

The growing independence of a toddler

It takes the whole first year for your child to realise they’re a separate person from you. This can be a confusing time for children and parents as toddlers swing between being super-independent and clinging to you.

Home safety

Children need to be free to explore their world and our job as parents is to create an environment where they can do this safely. We need to be especially vigilant around driveways, poisons and water. About two children a week die from accidents and a classroom of children each week is admitted to hospital. Falls, burns, choking, and cuts are some of the main culprits so it pays to take a look around your home to ensure it is as safe as possible. Getting down on the floor and seeing the environment from your child’s level will help you recognise dangers.

Ears

We all want our children’s ears to be healthy – and most importantly, to protect their hearing – but unfortunately ear infections are very common in children, particularly between the ages of six months and two years. Most infections are caused by viral infections or colds.

Being the parent you want to be

Unless we’ve consciously thought about it beforehand, we’ll tend to switch to ‘default mode’ in challenging situations and mimic our parents’ behaviour; we’ll parent as we were parented unless we decide otherwise.

So before your children start pushing the boundaries, it’s helpful to take a step back and ask yourself: what kind of parent do I want to be? This is known as ‘Conscious Parenting’.

Eating what the family eats

Life becomes much simpler when children start eating a chopped, mashed-up version of what the rest of the family eats. For most children, this is around the 12-month mark. As well as waving goodbye to the liquidiser and masher, this is a great opportunity to reassess your family’s meals and ask yourself: are they balanced, varied and nutritious?