Your baby, 17 months 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 and older

Toddlers at this age are learning about expressions and feelings. More than likely, you have seen your toddler happy, sad, mad, frustrated and everything in between. Children will learn about their feelings best if you put a name with the feeling. If you notice that your child is sad, tell him that you are sorry he is feeling sad. Your child will soon learn that feelings have names and you understand how he is feeling. Help your child deal with and accept his feelings. If he is frustrated, help him. He will learn that you care about his feelings and that it is okay to show how he feels.

Children at this age are very curious about the world they live in. Keep your child's environment safe and help her to learn what is appropriate and what is not. Most seventeen month old toddlers love to put things in their mouths. This can be very dangerous and you must teach your child that is is not safe.

Children at this age can become spoiled. Parents can spoil their children if they do not set and enforce limits and rules. When limits are set and enforced, children learn that there are rules to follow and generally will succeed at following them. Your job as a parent is to set realistic expectations that can be enforced.

Your child likes to drag things around and can climb stairs at this point. She still has long babbling conversations with herself. Your child will understand more of what you say than she can actually say. If you ask her to do a simple task, she probably will. Continue to encourage her vocabulary by using clear descriptive words and reading to her.

Toddlers need discipline. Catch your child being good and praise him. Instead of telling your child what he shouldn't be doing, tell him what he should do. Often times, spanking teaches children that hitting is okay and a way to solve problems. Do not threaten your child with empty threats or promises. Do what you say or your child will learn that he does not have to listen.

Developmental Milestones - 17 Months Old

Physical

• Can walk upstairs if one hand is held
• Runs, but bumps into things
• Likes to drag items around
• Enjoys dancing

Intellectual

• Understands more than he can say
• Imitates sounds and actions
• Will do what you tell her to do
• Has babbling conversations

Emotional

• Self-centered
• Greedy and selfish
• Stubborn
• Bossy
• Likes to hug and kiss

Age Appropriate Toys

• Nesting toys
• Stacking toys
• Shape sorters
• Art and crafts
• Push toys
• Ride on toys
• Balls
• Books
• Musical instruments
• Dolls
• Cars and trucks
• Bean bag toss game

Comments:

Comments 26-50 of about 8293 for month 17
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next

Luv2Bamama - Wednesday, 27 Jul
Jenn—Yeah, fresh veggies are hit/miss around our house. She loves asparagus, peas and the occasional raw carrot, but other than that, she isn’t a big veggie fan. I still use the baby food veggies every so often and mix with plain yogurt. I was planning to talk to the ped about it next month at our 18 month appt. I think it is normal for kids not to love the greens until they get a little older. We just keep offering them daily in hopes that one of these times she will actually go for it. Heck, over the weekend she ate tuna casserole, pork chops, and corn on the cob which are all items she has previously ignored.

mommy2mason - Wednesday, 27 Jul
jenn - The only time I give Mason baby food is when I mix a jar of veggies in with something else (applesause, pasta, etc). He is a very picky eater so I still have mask the veggies.

jenn-in-socal - Wednesday, 27 Jul
Spoons! Evan, all of a sudden, totally on his own, has demanded that he feed himself with his spoon. I'll get one scoop in before he takes the spoon from me and feeds himself. It took a few days, but now he's pretty skillful with the spoon. Still messy, but we just take off his shirt and let him go for it. That makes me wonder, is anyone still giving their LOs baby food? Evan refuses to eat fresh veggies, so I still give him his veggies via baby food =/ We try fresh veggies a few times a week but most of the time he won't let us come near him with them!

jenn-in-socal - Wednesday, 27 Jul
As far as the nail clipping, Evan squirms and hates it. I'm like Karen, I do a few here, a few there.. whatever I can get in. I also sneak attack his toes when he's in his high chair cuz he can't really fight much... and if he's busy eating, he doesn't seem to mind that I'm clipping his toe nails!

Luv2Bamama - Wednesday, 27 Jul
Mommy2—Colleen has been properly using a spoon/fork since about December/January (10 or 11 months old), but from most people I talk to, that is pretty unusual. She certainly still drops food if it is small (like rice or cous cous), but she does really well with her utensils. She also really likes using plates and bowls. We are lucky; when she is done eating, she picks up all the food that has dropped onto the highchair tray and puts it back on the plate/bowl then puts her utensils and sippy cup on it and hands it to me. Don’t know where she learned that one, but I’ll take it!

mommy2mason - Wednesday, 27 Jul
How many of your LO's are using spoons/forks?

thuy - Tuesday, 26 Jul
Hi ladies, my daughter turns 16 mos at the end of July and still has no interest in walking. I know she can do it, she has taken a few independent steps here and there but other than that, refuses to walk. She has been cruising since 8 mos and she can walk as long as she can hold on to a hand, a finger, or some object. Any advice on how to get her walking independently??? Or do i just wait it out and let her go on her own???

Luv2Bamama - Tuesday, 26 Jul
We learned the water bottle technique well before Colleen came along when we found our puppy and took her to obedience classes…3 years later, my husband and I occasionally use it on each other, typically with the word “WRONG” when one of us is not complying with the other one’s wishes (“shoes on in the house… WRONG”! or “Tofu again? WRONG!”). Not sure if I’ll use it on Colleen yet, but then again lets fast forward a few years and “Short Skirt WRONG!” or “Home past curfew WRONG!” this could be a useful little trick! Gretch; Thanks for the suggestion. I just finished “The girl with the dragon tattoo” and it was quite disturbing, so I need something lighter and happier.

gretch - Tuesday, 26 Jul
Luv2BMama - a great read is Wallace Stegner's 'A Crossing to Safety'. Fabulous story of marriage and friendship between two couples.

Luv2Bamama - Monday, 25 Jul
Wow, only once since birth on Mason’s toes! You LUCKY duck you! I have to cut Colleen’s toes once a month; I technically need to do it more but she fights the toe nail clipping the most (she is super tickelish like her mom). Since birth, I have to do her fingers every week, sometimes every 5 days because they grow so quickly. I guess it means she is getting good nutrition?? Thanks for the suggestions Karen—I try to have her watch me clip my fingers and toes when I do it, but much like E, she gets grabby. I also try giving her special toys, but she drops them and squirms. I like the idea of setting a small goal and adding all other fingers/toes as a bonus, but I think I would be cutting nails daily!

mommy2mason - Monday, 25 Jul
Now that I think about it, I have only ever had to clip Masons toe nails once and that was a few weeks after he was born. Is that strange? I always clip his nails while he is semi sleepy and watching a program. Otherwise it would be impossible. I just checked out 'the toddler whisperer' book from the library in hopes of finding a new tantrum cure. I will keep you ladies posted!

jwalden - Monday, 25 Jul
Lill- I cracked up about the water bottle. I actually considered it a couple months back. It may not be for all parents but I believe you need to do what you feel is right. Good luck. Lets hope our little ones pass this stage quickly.

beebee16 - Monday, 25 Jul
About a month ago I posted on here about cutting out Caitlin's daytime nap hoping that it would help her waking so early in the morning. Well I took the advice of you lovely ladies and left things as they were and she's got out of the early rising habit. Anyway Caitlin has taken matters into her own beautiful little hands and cut out her nap all by herself. She will not, no matter what I do, go to sleep. And as a result she's actually sleeper a lot sounder at night, I can go into her room and she doesn't stir no matter how much noise I make. She's continuing will the later wake up times, which is heaven for me!!

beebee16 - Monday, 25 Jul
Lil - Caitlin took really well to her big girls bed, I can't believe she's been in it for 3 months now. I've only found her asleep on the floor once :0)

Luv2Bamama - Monday, 25 Jul
Anyone have little ones who battle getting their nails trimmed? Princess is NOT a happy camper when I try, and fights me the entire time. Its hard enough to see the nail when she is holding still; a completely different story when she is yanking away and squirming! Do you just battle, or do you have some magical trick to make it easier??

Luv2Bamama - Monday, 25 Jul
Lill—Congrats on the transition to big girl bed~ That is a great accomplishment! We aren’t planning on doing the switch until we need the crib for the next kid, which isn’t even in the TTC phase yet! Tantrums/Disipline—I’m with Beebee; we just leave her alone and let her work through them and wait until she is over the anger phase and in the sad crying phase. Once she is in the crying phase, she finds us for hugs and we “talk” about the issue. Fortunatally, she doesn’t do anything “wrong” (hitting, biting etc.), but mostly gets angry and throws the fits when we redirect her attention away from something. We did have an uncontrollable fit once, but after about 5 minutes I picked her up and took her outside to snap her out of it.

mommy2mason - Monday, 25 Jul
Hey ladies! It’s been so long since I’ve been able to get on here. I just read about four pages of previous comments and it sounds like your LO’s are doing well. Time is flying by and I’m just eating up every second I can with Mason. He is so much fun now and is really starting become a little boy. He gets into everything now and is so darn fast that I have to run to keep up with him. Yesterday he locked himself in the bathroom for over 20 minutes by opening a drawer that blocks the door. I was ready to bust the door down when he finally closed the drawer himself. Lesson learned there on my part. He is fascinated with trucks and wheels. All he wants to do is play outside and he doesn’t want anything to do with his millions of toys – he would rather splash in puddles and examine rocks and bugs, typical boy. Here is an update on Mr. Mason – He is 28 lbs and in mostly 2T clothes – he is really thinning out fast now though :o( His wrist-rolls are disappearing :o( He feet are so tall and wide that I am having a really hard time finding shoes that fit him. He is still a very picky eater. His diet usually consists of fruit of all sorts, yogurt, pb&j sandwiches, any kind of sausage (brats, breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, etc), waffles and chicken. He turns his head to anything else and on the rare occasion that he decides to try something different he literally gags and spits it out. He wont eat pasta of any sort, not even mac & cheese. I assumed all kids loved mac & cheese! Hopefully he’ll grow out of this soon. I’m so afraid of him developing bad eating habits. I don’t allow him to eat much in junk food and he doesn’t get juice. I still give him whole milk with breakfast and dinner and then water for the rest of the day. I’m definitely open to advice on this topic. Words: He says mommy, daddy, car, Broby, eat, outside, hi, chalk, bubble, love you, thank you, you’re welcome…. He really likes watching Bubble Guppies and Team Umi Zoomi. He has been sleeping from 7:30/8pm to about 8:30am. He usually takes a nap a one-hour nap in the morning and a one-hour nap in the evening. However, I think the two nap days are quickly coming to an end. He gets very grumpy when he’s tired or over-stimulated. His tantrums are becoming worse by the day. If he doesn’t get his way he throws himself on the floor and screams at the top of his lungs. I try to walk away from him and give him a minute to cool down. If I try to help him through it he usually gets even more upset. He also like to hit and pinch. When he does that I take his hand and rub it over the spot he hit/pinched and say “Be nice Mason, that hurts mommy.” Overall he is a very happy and energetic little man.

lillhill79 - Monday, 25 Jul
On a different note, Cortlyn has adjusted amazingly to her big girl bed. Friday night she cried for about 30 seconds and woke a little early on Saturday, but overall great for her first night. Saturday's nap was interesting, partly my own fault. All of her life I've put her in her crib and walked out, letting her put herself to sleep. Well, Saturday I altered that by rubbing her back and sitting with her trying to keep her in bed. I soon realized that I was only stimulating her more by being there so I left the room. She cried about 5 minutes and ended up sleeping on the floor in front of her door (kinda sad and cute all at the same time) But she woke up happy and yesterday she napped in her bed with no help from mom for 2 hours! So much better transition than I had planned.

lillhill79 - Monday, 25 Jul
Ok, on tantrums - I know this will probably upset some of you, but it is what it is. Cortlyn has a horrible temper. Not only does she scream and hit anytime she doesn't get her way, she's also started holding her breath when she gets mad. So this weekend I started a new way of stopping it. Whenever she throws a fit like that - and keep in mind I'm talking a simple temper tantrum, not when she needs something, I've started spraying her in the face with a water bottle. I understand some people may think that's no way to parent a child, but it doesn't hurt her at all and it's simply not safe for her to get so mad that she holds her breath simply because she doesn't get her way. Not to mention the longer I let it go the more out of control she'll get.

mom2ryder - Saturday, 23 Jul
hey Ladies. I seen that you have been talking about disapline. I have recently just started to need this as well. My son has just started throwing fits. I have found that time out seems to be working. He has this little mat in his room right infront of his crib. When he starts to throw the fit, I take him into his room, sit him on the mat and explain to him that he doesnt need to throw the fit,he can talk to me, and that when he is done crying he can come out. Then I walk out and leave his door open. he usually follows me out right after, but by the time he makes it halfway down the hallway he is done crying. If he is continuing on, I ask him if he wants to go back to his 'mat' and he stops instantly. It even works when we are out and about. lol. I also didnt want to use his crib because he really loves it and its always been his space. happy space. I dont feel Im being harsh. He seems to understand that when he comes off his mat he can be a happy boy. As he gets older he can use his mat as a place to safely vent his frustration. I think at their ages they understand more than we sometimes give them credit for. lol

beebee16 - Saturday, 23 Jul
Jenn - Caitlin is generally a good girl, but really does have her moments. She'll start to throw a tantrum if she doesn't get her own way and when she does this she flings herself backwards onto the floor screaming. This really concerns me as we have tiles & wooden flooring downstairs in our house. When she does it I usually assist her into the laying on the floor kicking and screaming stage & then just leave her to it, just ignore it. She'll scream for a minute or two and then stop & come and find me. At which point, when shes calmed down I talk to her and explain what she's doing wrong etc, we have a cuddle and she's back to her usual self. I think a lot of the bad behaviour / tantrums is just to test us to see what they can get away with and also an attention thing. I try not to give her any attention when she's having one of her moments and they are gradually getting less. Only to return again in 6 months when she reaches the 'terrible twos'!!

jenn-in-socal - Friday, 22 Jul
Thanks, jwalden. I feel you.. Evan is such a good kid for the most part, I feel bad writing about the discipline issues... most of it stems from my fear of being a first-time-mom, I'm sure. I just want him to be healthy, happy, and well-rounded - I'm terrified I'm going to accidently miss the boat when it comes to him learning who's boss and end up with a terror forever. I know it's silly to think that way, maybe I should blame it on my job (dealing with all the naughty high school kids).. I'm constantly looking for where and when the parents missed that boat.. haha! But ultimately, I just want to find healthy ways to raise Evan. I think I need to remind myself that he's just a baby/toddler... he's going to test us! :) Thanks, again.

jwalden - Friday, 22 Jul
Jenn- I also agree with not putting my son in his crib and for the same reason. He is wonderful when it comes time to go to bed and I don't want him to associate that as negative. Someone mentioned to me as well about the pack-and-play but I haven't tried it. I have a strong willed child too. He yells, screams, throws tantrums, and does hit (usually just my Husband or myself) and a lot of times its when he is over stimulated or tired and not getting his way. I purchased an egg timer with the hopes of doing time out (1 min per age) but I can't get him to stay in one spot. I'm currently working on setting him down when he throws a fit and letting him have a few min. Even if he is screaming and rolling around in our driveway if need be. Sounds awful as I type this but I think you get the idea. After a min or so I go and try to talk to him calmly and see if he is ready to behave. If not I let him sit awhile longer and a lot of time he comes to me and we briefly talk about it and move past. He has been a great child and this has been honestly my only real difficulty but I hope that in time he'll grow either out of it or to a point that we can at least talk about it a little better.

jenn-in-socal - Friday, 22 Jul
To add to my last post, I'm just asking opinions and experiences with this. After diving into some more message boards, I found a mother who, like me, doesn't want their toddler associating bedtime (comfort time) with a naughty, time-out spot.. and she used a pack-n-play in another room (not the toddler's bedroom). This appeals to me a bit more, but still not sure if it's the correct route for us...

jenn-in-socal - Friday, 22 Jul
Thanks for the input on discipline ladies. I've been reading up a lot on disciplining toddlers, and time-out is a hot-button issue (are they too young, amount of time in time-out, etc..) I'm noticing a lot of blogs and boards are showing that moms put their toddler in their crib for a short time-out (usually the one minute per year of age rule). I've contemplated this as Evan won't stand in the corner, or sit on the rug, etc that we have as designated as the time-out spot. But putting him in his crib for the minute and half time-out just sort of rubs me the wrong way. On the plus, it's an isolated area that he can't escape or hurt himself.. and I do, definitely, think it would get the point across as we'd have to walk him upstairs, set him down, and leave the room.. but I'm afraid of turning his bedtime spot into a naughty spot... I don't want him to think he's in trouble when it's bedtime.. ? Am I over thinking this? Again, he's a good boy.. just strong willed and starting to push the limits. I want to be sure we can find an effective form of discipline early on so he always knows we mean business. What are your thoughts on putting babies in their crib for a time-out?

More comments: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next Latest comments from all months More months: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 and older