16-18 Months
Help me be healthy
At this checkup:
- I will be weighed and measured.
- I will be checked all over.
- I will show how I walk.
- I will have my teeth checked.
- I will have my eyes and ears checked.
Take my health journal with us to write down my height and weight. If I have missed any immunizations, I should get them now.
Play with me. It helps me learn.
- Read to me every day.
- When I point, tell me what I should say. If I point to the cat, say "It's a cat," so I can hear the words that I am trying to say.
- Let me help you. Let me take a spoon to the table or put dirty clothes with the clothes to be washed.
- Let me play in the bath to learn the skills of pouring and squeezing. I like to use plastic bowls and containers in the tub. Never leave me alone in the tub, please.
- Remind me again and again what is ok for me to touch and what is not okay for me to touch. I am just learning how things work. I will not remember what I should not touch yet.
- Teach me to take care of my teeth by helping me brush my teeth with a child-sized, soft bristled toothbrush and water. I am too young to be using toothpaste now.
Help me be safe.
Close the bathroom doors so I don't play in there.
I can feed myself, but it is still easy for me to choke on food. Don't give me small foods like peanuts, popcorn, marshmallows, or gum drops. Other foods that are not safe for me to eat are raw carrots and celery, grapes, hot dogs, and Vienna sausage. Always watch me while I eat and help me get into the habit of sitting quietly while I eat.
Now I can climb and get into trouble. I can push a chair to climb into the cupboards, over the porch railing, or to an open window! I don't know what trouble I can get myself into. Put screens in the window and make sure they are latched securely.
When you take me shopping, strap me into the shopping cart seat. If there isn't a strap, make sure that I stay in the seat.
Watch me carefully when I am around water. I like to play in water, but I can easily drown in a few inches of water in a tub, toilet bowl, pail, or wading pool.
Help me think about what I do.
- Time out is one way to help me learn that I should not do something.
- When I do something I shouldn't, tell me to sit in a time-out chair, on the sofa, or in my room for a short time.
When I do something I shouldn't, how long should I sit in a time-out chair, on the sofa, or in my room?
- Some parents use 1 minute for each year of my age. Because I am one, I would have time-out for 1 minute.
- After time-out is over, calmly explain what you want me to do.
- If I do the same thing again, I should have time-out again. In a while, I will learn. Hitting me and yelling at me doesn't teach me what I should do.
For ideas on how to help me behave, join a parenting class. Call the Smart Start Parent Resource Line at 1-800-367-2229.
Watch for me to:
- walk by myself! I have good balance. I don't tip from side to side and I hardly ever fall down.
- help around the house. I can put something on the chair when you ask me, I can get what you ask me to get, and I can put something away if you remind me.
- drink from a cup or glass by myself, perhaps spilling only part of it.
- say "no" and shake my head from side to side.
- roll a ball back and forth with you.
- say at least three words other than " dada" and "mama".
- scribble on paper with crayon and pencil. This keeps me busy for a few minutes. Watch me carefully because I might chew on the crayon.
I will learn things at my own pace. I need your help, though, to give me chances to learn new things. If you have questions about how I am learning and what I am learning, please ask the doctor, nurse, or call the Smart Start Parent Resource Line at 1-800-367-2229.
If I am going to be in a child care program, check out the section on quality child care.