How the time flies; your toddler is now ready for his eighteen-month-old developmental milestones! If he seems to love shouting whenever you are talking to others or working on other chores, worry not. What he wishes is just to get your undivided attention.
Other than seeking attention, he would love to practise his independence at times through daily activities and verbal expressions. What other milestones should he experience at this age of one and a half year old? Read on to discover what you can expect.
Eighteen-Month-Old Developmental Milestones
18-month-old Sleep
As getting adequate amount sleep is essential for growth and brain development, you can follow the following sleep schedule for your 18-month-old:
- 11 to 12 hours of night time sleep
- 1.5 to 3 hours of day time nap
Thus, your toddler should sleep around 13 to 14 hours daily for optimal growth.
However, there might be some challenges in getting your toddler to sleep during the night time. Worry not, here are some common challenges and handy solutions that you can apply to resolve each one of them:
At times, it might be frustrating to deal with your little one who refuses to struggles to sleep. However, things will eventually get better if you set up and follow a consistent bedtime routine and put your toddler in bed early.
18-month-old Feeding
Your little one should continue having three main meals with two snacks daily with the serving size of a quarter of an adult’s.
For each meal and snack time, strive your best to offer your toddler a variety of healthy food options. And never feel frustrated or annoyed if your toddler keeps on saying ‘no’ to eating. This is just how he tries to practise his newfound independence and more importantly, his growth rate is not as quick as in his first year.
Thus, simply offer more healthy food options and modal healthy eating behaviour to your 18-month-old. When he is given some options, he would eventually pick up at least one from the options to try even he is in the process of picky eating.
Want some specific meal suggestions? Here are some meal-by-meal healthy food ideas for your toddler:
Always feel free to add in a little twist to these ideas above to attract your toddler or to suit his preferences.
If you wish to explore more about nutrition for your toddler, click here.
Key Milestones In Growth
How should your 18-month-old toddler grow in terms of weight and height? Here are the averages that you can expect from your eighteen-month-old toddler.
- Weight: Around 10.61 kg for a 18-month-old baby girl and 10.93 kg for a 18-month-old baby boy
- Height: Around 80.77 cm for a 18-month-old baby girl and 82.30 cm for a 18-month-old baby boy
By 18 months of age, your little one is starting to lose the ‘baby’ look. Though his head is still large in proportion to the rest of his body, you might notice that his face is not as ‘chubby’.
You will also hear people around you telling you that your toddler is starting to look like ‘a little boy or girl’.
Key Milestones in Skill Development and Senses
Key Milestones in Movement
- can walk alone
- can help to undress himself
- can drink and eat with utensils
- may start walking up stairs
- pulls toys while walking
- likes to press buttons, move handles and turn knobs
As your 18-month-old is able to manipulate objects between his thumb and index finger better, you would notice that he enjoys turning the door knobs around the house and even putting pegs into the matching holes.
Besides focusing on his gross motor skills, you should also look into enhancing his fine motor skills. Mastering fine motor skills enables him to hold a pencil and a pair of scissors steadily and even to use silverware well during meal time.
You may try out these interesting activities to develop your little one’s fine motor skills:
Key Milestones in Five Senses
- recognises everyday objects
- can point to show interest or to indicate what he wants
- can point to body parts
- can follow one-step commands without gestures
- can say the word ‘no’ and shake his head
- can use 10 to 25 words
- likes to play by handing objects to people
- like to imitate what others do
- may have some tantrums
- clings to parents in new situations
- likes pretend play activities (feeding a stuffed toy with a toy cup)
- tries new things with familiar adults nearby
Around this age, your toddler knows very well that pointing can help to express his needs. Whether it is to get you to grab his favourite toy or to show what interests him at that moment, this is how he communicates with you besides saying short sentences.
Nonetheless, your toddler is going to portray some weird behaviour such as saying ‘no’ to new situations and throwing tantrums seemingly out of a sudden.
Worry not, these behaviours are common and normal among toddlers. They will eventually stop acting in this bizarre manner as they grow up. Some other weird behaviours that you might notice in your toddler include:
Mind that you should never overreact over these weird behaviours. If the behaviour is not acceptable, show your toddler that it is inappropriate and offer other alternatives. Then, be patient with him as he would figure things out as time passes.
18-Month-Old Baby Activities
Needless to say, your 18-month-old is going to be a very fun playmate. Ranging from reading books to dancing together in the living room, you can spend some quality time bonding with your toddler besides helping him to learn.
Besides playing with toys and hide-and-seek as the previous months, you can now look more into stimulating your toddler’s imagination through pretend play.
Whether it is about dressing up in superheroes costumes or sailing in a cardboard ship, both you and your toddler is going to have some great time in the realm of limitless imagination.
Patience Is the Key To Ease Through the Eighteen-Month-Old Developmental Milestones
Having your toddler to be more mobile and social can be both exciting and demanding at times. Therefore, it is essential for us as parents to be understanding too. Sometimes, our toddler acts in certain way just to explore and experiment with different objects and people he encounters.
Simply stay calm in every situation and explain patiently to our toddler on what’s appropriate and inappropriate. Do expect that you need to repeat a few times until he fully understands the limit.
For more interesting stories and fun recipes, stay tuned to Motherhood Story!