The Toddler - Developmental milestones

Developing their motor skills

In the beginning, toddlers learn to grip objects with their pointer finger and thumb (“pinch grip”), and can securely stand up by using their hands to keep steady. Generally speaking, when toddlers are around 18th months of age, they should be able to walk freely and without much difficulty. During this time, they are able to make a tower out of building blocks and can also place objects into containers and get them out again.

Within the course of their third year, toddlers should begin to run safely, dodge obstacles and climb stairs. Their fine motor skills are now developed enough to turn single pages in a book and easily unwrap sweets. In the following year, children usually learn to ride a tricycle and start drawing people, animals and trees. At the end of this stage, a toddler’s motor skills and coordination mature enough that they can climb staircases hands-free. In addition, children of this age can also use children's scissors and start to do craft activities such as paper folding.

Language skills

During the toddler stage, the foundation for linguistic development is laid down. Even if there are large individual differences, children around the age of 12 months start to use double syllables with an "a", such as "mama" or "dada". During the following months, they build up a simple vocabulary, using "one-word sentences".

Between their 2nd and 3rd birthday, children start to understand the function of individual word groups and they begin to combine words. By changing the intonation, questions are asked for the first time. In their third year, they can form simple sentences and subclauses, and the pronunciation of difficult phonemes also becomes possible. One characteristic trait of this stage is the beginning of intense questioning. The use of pronouns, tenses and correct grammar starts during their fourth year, so that they can talk freely about topics from their own life and experiences. At the end of the toddler stage, they can use correct syntax to tell whole stories logically and correctly, and sibilants can be fully pronounced.

Socializing

During the course of their second year, toddlers will try to imitate the gestures and sounds of their parents. Similarly, the initially strong emotional attachment to their caregivers lessens and permanent contact is no longer needed. The child also begins to play alone, as long as they know that their caregiver remains within their vicinity. During this age, children also begin to obey simple rules and understand what is forbidden.

In the third year of life, children copy the behavior of adults and try to help with various activities. They are also progressively seeking contact with their peers. Their social interaction with other children becomes increasingly more frequent during their toddler years and they can understand and follow game rules as well as complex roles and construction games. In addition, they are able to recognize and adequately answer to other people’s emotional expressions. As it is quite relevant later in life, it is essential to control the physical and mental development of a toddler on a regular basis. In particular, the parameters of size, weight and head circumference play an important role.

Seca offers a wide range of scales, length measuring systems and head bands for the use on small children. With a division of only one millimeter, the stationary infantometer seca 416 or the mobile measuring board seca 417 can be used up to a size of 100 cm for a precise measurement of length and size. During later stages of development, adult length measurement systems can also be used for older toddlers. Closely controlling the weight of small children is also quite crucial. A slight decrease in weight can indicate a deficiency or developmental disorder, however on the other hand, the percentage of overweight children continues to rise, which can increase the risk of developing obesity and accompanying diseases during adulthood.

The head circumference is also an important indicator of the child’s brain development during their first years. For regular check ups, seca offers precise and hygienic head measuring tapes, seca 212 and seca 218. In order to simplify and optimize regular weight and size check-ups, the wireless ultrasonic measuring station seca 287 dp is particularly suitable. It performs all measurements entirely automatically, guided through a speech control process. Afterwards, the seca 287 dp transmits the data wirelessly to a computer or printer. With the aid of such accurate check-ups, a toddler’s development can be closely monitored, making it possible to identify health risks that they can be treated at an early stage.