In this Article
Your little bundle of joy is almost two years now and you may find it hard to believe that your baby is becoming more and more independent with each passing day. Are you wondering what is going on in terms of growth and development with your 23-month-old baby? If yes, then you are at the right place. Here in the following article, we shall discuss all that you may want to know about your 23 old month baby’s growth and development.
23 Month Old Toddler’s Development
Your baby is on the verge of reaching the next big milestone and that is his birthday milestone. You may notice your baby starts opposing and may have become a little rebel in his own way and parents may wonder what may be going wrong. Here the problem is not with your parenting but the developmental stage that your baby is in. Your baby may just become inconsolable and fuss over anything and within no time he will be fine and back to normal. It is very important for you as a parent to keep your calm. Your baby is learning from you and how you react to your baby’s tantrums and temper issues is also a lesson for your baby. Dealing with your toddler’s temper issues at this stage can be daunting for the parents and it is very important that you maintain your peace. Here are some developmental milestones or 23 month old milestones that your baby may achieve by this time:
Physical Development
Your baby grows at a much faster pace in the first year after birth and in the first year alone your baby’s weight may be twice his birth weight. However, the 23 month old baby weight of your baby may only increase by 3 to 5 pounds. Here are some other physical changes or know how your baby is physically developing at this stage:
- Your baby is able to climb up and down the stairs, though he may still need to hold your hand.
- Your baby may be able to dress and undress himself.
- Your baby’s back and leg muscles are stronger and thus he may bend down and lift the objects from the floor.
- Your baby may even stand on his toes.
- Your baby is able to drink and eat on his own. The arm muscles are stronger too, which means lesser spills and mess while eating and drinking.
Social and Emotional Development
There are many social and emotional skills your baby is developing at this stage. Here are some of the skills that your baby may have acquired:
- Your baby wants to play with other children.
- Your baby may copy and imitate other kids.
- Your baby knows how to gain affection and thus may offer his toy or a cookie to a sibling or a friend.
- Your baby may amuse other people by making funny faces or by doing funny actions.
- Your toddler may feel anxious if you are not around him. This is the time when his separation anxiety may peak.
Cognitive and Language Development
Here are some cognitive and language skills that your baby may develop by this age:
- Your baby has his own taste and preference by this age.
- Your baby is able to understand and follow your simple two-word commands such as, come here, sit down etc.
- Your baby enjoys drawing and scribbling and may even draw straight lines and circles.
- Your baby is able to make full sentences and may make use of pronouns.
- Your baby may remember the names of people close to him.
- Your baby may imitate your tone and way of speaking.
- Your baby is able to tell you if he is hungry, feeling sleepy or wants to pee.
Behaviour
Your baby is constantly on move and he is running around all day long. Whatever your baby has been practising since birth, he is able to do all that in terms of gross motor skills. You cannot make your little toddler sit quietly as all he wishes to do at this age is run around. You may find it impossible to do the daily chores such as shopping, cooking or cleaning, that you could comfortably do with your baby a few months back. This is because now you cannot make him stay in one place for long and your toddler would keep running around. Your baby enjoys his newly found independence and skills.
Where some babies would behave like little jumping-jacks, others would just like to act all clingy and needy. Toddlers at this age do not understand what is going around them and a simple sound of a vacuum cleaner or grinder can scare or intimidate them. You may find such fear a little irrational but it is advised that you empathise with your baby and soothe his feelings. You have to understand that your baby’s 23 month old speech or vocabulary is limited but he has a vast imagination. You should acknowledge and help him understand his fears rather than dismissing them. Though your baby has a limited vocabulary if your 23 month old not talking much or fewer than five words, you should seek medical advice for the same.
Food and nutrition
Your growing toddler requires his daily dose of adequate food and nutrition. Though you may find it a great struggle to feed your little one it is important that your baby eats properly at this stage. It is a good idea to make your baby sit with rest of family members for his meals. He may seem a little impatient and may not like to wait but still, it is a good idea to instil eating with the family members at an early age. If your baby starts fussing around or does not seem interested in his meal, you should take the cue and stop feeding him. It is never a good idea to force-feed your toddler as he may resent eating altogether. Make sure you try and experiment with food as your little one may feel bored too soon. Try and feed him three main meals and two to three snacks in a day. Most babies love to drink milk and maybe meeting most of their calcium requirements from milk only. However, if your baby does not like milk you can try offering him curd, cheese or soy milk. You can also try giving boneless fish and other green leafy vegetables to meet the calcium requirements.
Sleeping
Your toddler is on the roll all the time and therefore it is very important that he gets good sleep too. Most babies around this age have a set sleeping schedule and sleep comfortably at night. But it is very common for the kids this age to wake up at night. If he gets up and whimpers, do not react as he may go back to sleep on his own but sometimes you may have to help your baby to go back to sleep. It is very important to follow a sleep-schedule for your toddler. Your baby gets the best sleep from 8 to 12 at night, thus you should encourage your baby to go off to sleep early. Refrain from any late night sessions with your baby as this could make him restless and cranky. Create a nice and comfortable sleeping place without any distractions. However, if your baby fusses and refuses to go to sleep, do not force him to do so. Keep your calm and understand what may be bothering him. It may sometimes be due to a certain illness or your baby requires comforting and attention.
Play and Activities
This is the best stage to have fun with your baby. You can involve your toddler in many games and activities. Here we shall discuss some fun and exciting activities that you can play with your little one:
- Playing With Mud: As messy as it may sound but this activity is great for your toddler. This activity not only helps your baby develops better motor skills but it also helps him develop a better immune system.
- Bubble Game: You may take soapy water and blow bubbles from it. Ask your toddler to chase the bubbles and pop them. This is a fun activity with water that can help your toddler work on his leg muscles.
- Painting With Fruits And Vegetables: Give your baby fruit and vegetable cutouts such as orange and ladyfinger and help your baby paint various patterns and shapes on a paper. Toddlers love to play with colours and anything vibrant gathers their attention. This activity can keep your baby occupied for a long time.
- Crawling Fun: You can create various obstacles on the floor and ask your baby to cross them crawling. Your baby is big now and crawling lays stress on his arm and leg muscles and this helps him build stronger leg and arm muscles.
- Flour Dough: You can give a ball of dough to your baby and help him make various shapes out of it. This is a little messy activity but your baby is going to love it.
Tips for Parents
Every parent does their best when it comes to taking care of their children. In an endeavour to further help the parents, here we shall be sharing few tips that may help your toddler achieve the developmental milestones:
- Involve your toddler in activities that require grouping, staking or matching the objects.
- Read and sing to your baby, he is learning to talk and understand. This will help your baby to have enhanced vocabulary.
- Pay proper heed to your baby’s diet and nutrition.
- Your baby likes to explore everything and keeps moving all the time. It is advised that you get your house child-proofed.
- Make a sleep-schedule for your baby and stick to it.
- Do not tend to all your baby’s demands and tell him NO once in a while.
- Appreciate your baby whenever the need arises.
- Tell and teach your baby to be close to you whenever you step out of the house. Though he may not agree with what you say you should keep telling him, till he actually understands it.
- Your toddler may say or act funny at various times; it is a good idea to maintain a journal for all such activities of your baby.
Consult A Doctor If?
It is very important that you take your toddler for regular health check-ups to the doctor. Sometimes parents may wonder that their kid is lagging behind in achieving certain developmental milestones, such as your baby
- Is not able to walk without support.
- Is unable to recognize people he meets regularly.
- Is unable to climb the stairs, even with help.
- Has a vocabulary of few words only.
- Is not able to understand simple two-word commands.
The above-mentioned delays are an indication that there are some issues in your toddler’s development. It is suggested that you get it touch with your doctor regarding the same.
