How time flies! It almost feels as though it has only been a while since his or her last birthday and now you’re already planning for the third one. Gone are the days when your child would sit quietly in the stroller. Now he is happily running ahead of everyone with eyes gleaming with curiosity and excitement.
Will it finish with a bang or will they just be polishing up on their abilities? Let’s read on!
- Continue to support his budding language development by diligently reading to him every day.
- Make time to sing simple songs together and play rhyming games to encourage speech and better pronunciation.
- Do limit screen time to one hour a day and fill that time with quality educational programmes.
- It is likely that most toddlers would be able to speak in full sentences, however not all of it would be using correct grammar.
- Remember to answer his questions patiently. Aren’t you glad he is learning?
When to Talk to Your Doctor:
- If your child is unable to interpret non-verbal communication
- Inability to maintain or make eye contact with people
- If your child can’t talk in short sentences, identify body parts, or make words plural
Health and Nutrition
You can help reach your child reach their full potential — physically, emotionally, and mentally — by ensuring that he is getting proper nutrition and rest. Typically, the calorie intake for boys and girls of this age are as follows:
- Boys: 1,183.8 Kcal/day
- Girls: 1,147.31 Kcal/day
Your child should be getting 1,000 kilocalories per day (though you might want to increase this to up to an additional 400 kcal/d if your child is super active). Ideally, your child should have:
To build bones, muscles and blood, your child needs one serving of protein (in total, around 24g) each day. One serving equals three cups of cooked quinoa, 4.4 oz of salmon or four hard-boiled eggs.
Fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre, and your child needs about three (100g) cups every day. One cup of fruit equals one cup of fresh, frozen, or canned fruit, half (1/2) cup dried fruit, half (1/2) of a large apple, one eight- or nine-inch banana, or one medium grapefruit.
If your child wants to drink fruit juice, make sure it’s 100 percent juice without added sugars.
Your child needs plenty of vegetables with every meal, roughly around 1.5 cups (150g) of vegetables every day. One cup of vegetables equals one cup of cooked or raw vegetables, two cups of raw leafy greens, one large tomato, or two medium carrots.
Your toddler needs three ounces of grains each day. One ounce of grains equals one slice of bread, one cup of ready-to-eat cereal, or half (1/2) cup of cooked pasta or cooked cereal.
Milk plays an important role in your child’s development, and your child should drink a minimum of 16 to 17 ounces of milk a day. You may also substitute one cup of milk with one cup of yogurt or soy milk , 1½ ounces of natural cheese (around the size of four stacked dice), or two ounces of processed cheese (around the size of five stacked dice).
In a nutshell, here’s what you child needs every day (refer above for what the amounts look like):
- Fruits: 3 cups for boys and girls
- Vegetables: 1.5 cups for boys and girls
- Grains: 3 ounces for boys and girls
- Proteins: 24g for boys and girls
- Milk: 16-17 ounces for boys and girls
- Water: 1,200mL for boys and girls
Of course, your child’s preferences and appetites may vary, so be sure to keep that in mind when preparing his food.
Vaccinations and Common Illnesses
There are no new vaccinations due this month. Apart from annual flu vaccinations, your child should be covered vaccine-wise for the meantime, though if they’ve missed some vaccines, you can catch up before he gets his next round of shots. To be sure, consult your doctor.
Your child will get the common cold pretty frequently. Instead of turning to cold medicines, use saline drops or spray to relieve your child’s nasal passageways and an aspirator to get rid of excess mucus. Your child should recover within five to seven days.
Other common illnesses include gastroenteritis, hand, foot, and mouth disease, fifth disease, pinworms, and the flu — which your child can get vaccinated against.
Tips:
- Since your child has become more active, he or she will also most likely be touching a lot of things. It is important to teach your little one how to wash hands properly to avoid catching disease-causing germs.
When to Talk to Your Doctor:
- A single episode of vomiting or diarrhoea is nothing to worry about. But if it lasts for more than a few hours, your child could become dehydrated. Call your doctor if your child’s symptoms become more severe.
- If your child gets a fever, don’t panic. A fever isn’t always bad — it means that his immune system is working to fight an infection. But if your child’s temperature spikes up to 40ºC (104ºF), call your doctor right away — especially if he has other symptoms (rash, trouble breathing, vomiting, etc.).
- A cold isn’t any cause for alarm, but if your toddler has trouble breathing, has an earache, or if symptoms last more than a week, call your paediatrician.
- Most rashes aren’t serious, but you should call your doctor if the rash is painful and goes deep into the skin, if your child doesn’t have energy, or if the rash doesn’t get better with over-the-counter treatments.
- If your child gets sick, it’s normal for him to have a loss of appetite. But if he hasn’t eaten properly for two days or longer, you should consult your doctor.
After these 2 year and 11 month old toddler development milestones, are you ready to handle a threenager? Don’t fret, the key point remains the same: continue to nurture his progress in a loving and patient way.
You might even be pleasantly surprised when your little one ends up teaching you a thing or two!
Source: WebMD, Choose My Plate, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
