Your baby, 20 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

Parents and children form special bonds and should have a close and loving relationship. Children that feel secure, protected and cared for are more likely to display good behavior. When your child shows signs of distress, tend to their needs. This shows your child that you love him and care for him.

Children at this age enjoy learning about the world around them. Allow your child to play in the sand, water, dirt and even mud. Yes, it can get messy-but that is okay. Provide your child with a clean sandbox and keep it covered when not in use to keep dogs, cats and other pesky critters out. While bathing, give your child containers that he can pour water into. Allow her to play with measuring cups and spoons, sponges, washcloths, funnels and collanders during this time also. While you are outside, you may choose to give your child a bucket of water and let her `paint` the house, car and other thins with the water. Remember that children should not be left alone with water for any amount of time.

You may notice that your child is beginning to have temper tantrums. She may cry, hit, bite, kick, yell and throw himself on the floor. Sometimes, you may not even know what caused the ourburst. Sometimes children learn that by throwing a tantrum, they can get what they want. Other times, tantrums are simply your child's way of venting frustration or showing that she is hungry, tired or bored. Although there are no magical ways of handling tantrums, you can help your child (and others!) by remaining calm, keeping your child from hurting herself or others, removing your child from an audience and not giving in to the tantrum. Once she is calm, talk to her and let her know that even though it is okay to be upset, her behavior was unacceptable.

Your child might be ready to begin playing with other kids his own age. Keep your child's playgroup small-no more than four children for every one adult. Ask other parents to stay and play. Not only is adult conversation good for you, but the other children will feel more secure with a familiar face nearby. Allow the children to choose their own activities and do not force them to interact. Provide duplicates of toys, if possible, to eliminate arguments. Encourage sharing, but do not expect it. Try to ignore minor conflicts and respond tp bigger conflicts quickly and calmly. The key to a successful playdate is to keep the children busy with simple and interesting activities.

Developmental Milestones - 20 Months Old

Physical

• Climbs up stairs well
• May climb downstairs with some help
• Runs well
• Hops around
• Can stand on one foot while holding on

Intellectual

• Can say 15 words
• Likes nursery rhymes
• Asks questions
• Can draw lines
• Understands what they are used for
• Can feed herself well
• Goes to bed without complaining (too much

Emotional

• May be afraid of strangers
• Stingy with toys
• Loving and then rude at times
• May be mean to adults

Age Appropriate Toys

• Art supplies
• Books
• Ride on toys
• Pretend play
• Blocks
• Lincoln logs
• Puzzles
• Stringing beads
• Shape sorters
• Interactive educational toys
• Sand and water table
• Wagon

Comments:

Comments 26-50 of about 7170 for month 20
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Luv2Bamama - Wednesday, 12 Oct
Thank goodness our little one isn’t talking enough to repeat anything she may hear. What she has picked up on is hitting when she is angry. I guess the fact that it has taken 20 months for this to come up isn’t half bad. The first time she did it, she was mad at me because I took her off the kitchen table and she slapped me in the face and said “NO”. I held her arms down and as sternly as I could say it I said “WRONG, you do not hit mommy” and I stared at her (hoping my eyes showed anger) for about 30 seconds until she looked away (like showing who is alpha dog). I then stood up and walked away from her and went into another room. I was sorta hoping I was “mean” enough to hurt her feelings and maybe make her cry, but apparently not. After a few minutes, I came back into the room and tried to explain that hitting is wrong and we don’t do that. She now keeps attempting to hit, but she waits a few seconds before she actually strikes, so I pull her arms down to her side and again say “hitting is wrong and mean and we don’t do it”. This still hasn’t seemed to work, so last night she got mad at me for pulling dominos out of her mouth (because the stain was turning her mouth black) and she pulled her hand up to hit, instead of lecturing, I said, “Colleen, do you want to go look in the mirror and see why we don’t eat dominos?”…she put her hand down and excidedly said “yeah” and we went into the bathroom to look at her black mouth. It made me realize I had been taking the wrong approach by trying to be angry. I think because kids are seeing us get riled up over their language (or hitting in my case) they keep doing it because it gets a reaction which in turn makes them want to do it more. The lesson I learned last night reinforces my theory that the more we can divert their attention or ignore the bad words/behavior and offer alternatives each time (“Remember, we say xxxxx when we get frustrated”) the quicker they are going to stop the behavior we don’t like.

ana23pink - Wednesday, 12 Oct
maybe i should try that method, since it is aggrevating beyond belief how she does not listen to me

lillhill79 - Wednesday, 12 Oct
pink - I'm a bit old school in my thinking and I know not everyone will agree with this, but my older DD said a curse word (or at least a word I don't think children should say) once and only once. She said 'damn it' it me when I told her to do something. I promply took her to the sink and washed her mouth out with soap - to "wash that dirty word away". That must have left an impression on her bc she's now 3.5 and still doesn't say any bad words and when she hears another kid say one she says 'his/her mommy needs to wash that dirty word away' LOL

ana23pink - Tuesday, 11 Oct
ggretch i know what you mean, my little one says 'oh shit' as well sometimes but what i am currently dreading and very frusterated about is that she picked up the word 'bitch' from her older cousin who uses it nonstop, and she loves to imitate and say whatever he says, i have yelled, slapped her whenever she says it but she still continues when something doesn't goes her way...i am so scared she will say it in public or when i put her to daycare, for example she said it to a little boy today at the park when he was getting in front of her in the slides and she felt annoyed that he was always on the way, so she belted out 'bitch' i turned red, oh god, dont know how to stop her, you girls have any idea?

Luv2Bamama - Tuesday, 11 Oct
So mommies; if you need some inspiration out there; take a look at this amazing 2nd time mom. All I can say is, 'WOW!': http://moms.today.com/_news/2011/10/10/8256458-woman-gives-birth-7-hours-after-finishing-marathon

gretch - Monday, 10 Oct
RickettsRules - my husband and I swear we have heard Rory say 'oh, shit' three times. In appropriate context. We have cleaned up our language and are terrified he'll do it in daycare.

lillhill79 - Monday, 10 Oct
Back from our long weekend to San Fran, and it was fabulous (with only a couple of glitches) If you haven't taken a trip just the two of you in a while, I totally recommend it, exactly what I needed. Yesterday when we got home, Cort spotted me and came running as fast as her little legs would go. She gave me the biggest hug ever and said 'love my mommy' Perfect welcome home!

RickettsRules (blue) - Sunday, 9 Oct
LOL mybabysuprise, yep, my little Jenny can say shit. Luckily it doesn't come out very clear and only I know what she's saying. I did tell a white lie - I told Daddy it was 'just a noise' she was making..........

gretch - Friday, 7 Oct
I flipped that car seat the second Rory was twenty pounds! That was a huge help. At least when he is crying or completely silent, I could do a health check of sorts. Glad I am not alone. Rory is a good boy 80 percent of the time. But the car ride home from work is definately not fun for either of us. I will look into a CD selection and I love the Putamayo line. I check for the kiddie stuff. At wits end.

mrsjmickens1 - Friday, 7 Oct
jolies first dentist appt this morning! hope it goes well!!! she has a little milk buildup on her bottom teeth

Luv2Bamama - Thursday, 6 Oct
Oh Gretch, I feel your pain. My sister and I drove from Portland, OR to Dothan, AL with a three year old and a 1.5 year old. Her theory is if you lock them up long enough, they will eventually give in and submit to the car seat, then being in the car for 45 min. won't seem so bad...maybe a long car trip will do the trick? ha ha :-) I think they are not naturally good in the carseat, they just need to grow into it. Also, not sure if you've flipped the carseat forward yet, but when we did a few weeks ago, our daughter did better (but we also did a 3 hour road trip).

gretch - Thursday, 6 Oct
I have a 45 minute to one hour commute. Rory hates it. Screams and whines. Tried snacks, toys and all work for a vrey short time. Anybody have advice for keeping a toddler happier in a car seat? I dread the ride home at night and that is not good.

lillhill79 - Tuesday, 4 Oct
Karen - I wasn't planning on starting Cort right now either, but when she woke up dry last week I thought I'd put her on the little potty just to see what happened. I (and she)was shocked shen she actually went and has gone both morning and night every day since. I just hope she doesn't get too off track staying with my MIL this weekend.

lillhill79 - Tuesday, 4 Oct
I think Cort inherited her dad's 'camel bladder'. He literally can go 8 hours without peeing and then go for like 2 minutes straight (crazyness) and this morning, Cort was dry again (yeah) and then she filled her potty chair all the way up to the rim. I was shocked how much pee came out of that little body.

LiamsMummy(babyplum.no.1) - Tuesday, 4 Oct
Karen, hope u and emmett feel better soon. X

mybabysuprise - Monday, 3 Oct
Ricketts, mason turned 21 months yesterday and will not repeat words or ask questions pretty much. If I use foul language, he picks that up

RickettsRules (blue) - Monday, 3 Oct
Thanks Karen :-) I can count 6 words that she uses on a regular basis, and other random ones that she uses in context then never says again! She definately understands everything I say and can follow instruction very well. She was last to do everything in our mothers group (except she was the first to get teeth) I didn't mind much with the other things but I really wish she could tell me she's hungry or thirsty or whatever instead of wingeing and me having to guess at what it is she wants or needs.

lillhill79 - Monday, 3 Oct
So starting last Thursday morning, Cortlyn has been waking up dry and going to the potty first thing. She's also going in the potty last thing at night before reading books! As for the rest of the day, she couldn't care less, but I think it's a great first step that she's going twice a day. Once she's mastered that (and I get home from San Fran) we'll look at expanding it to more during the day. Yeah for Cort! I can see a glimmer at the end of the diaper tunnel and I want that light! (Now watch, I just jinxed myself and we'll end up having another baby and I'll have to start all over again :))

LiamsMummy(babyplum.no.1) - Monday, 3 Oct
Hey everyone, so we have reached the 20month milestone today.... Crazy..... Liam is such a little character, I swear in the last week he has changed, I actually cant count how many words he can say now, just the other day he dropped something and said 'mommy I dropped it' I couldn't Belive it, I'll be teaching him to be quiet soon, he doesn't stop nattering to himself... It's cute... Were now TTC a little brother/sister for liam, so it's all very exciting... Hope everyone's well and all your Lo's are too x

RickettsRules (blue) - Monday, 26 Sep
Just wondering ladies; who's child is NOT saying 15 words r asking questions? My daughter has more like 5 words.

SuperMomTo3 - Friday, 9 Sep
ahhh. Sorry to hear that rls. Alright ladies time to move on up to 21. See you there.

rls- I♥mythreebabies - Thursday, 8 Sep
I hate pregnancy insomnia :( so tired and just can't sleep!

SuperMomTo3 - Thursday, 8 Sep
Update on hottie. Still single he's picked himself up and moving on. Our conversations are 98% school related. It feels nice to have a friend to help out with school work

rubes - Thursday, 8 Sep
How nice, rls!!! Bet you feel well relieved. :) I bet they enjoyed it more, spending lots of time with the grandkids!!! my parents are pretty awsome too. My dad paid £100 to my catalogue the other day coz I missed one payment of £30 and he was worried Id get in the red. :) I honestly dunno what id do without them. Im not the mummy, i have a mummy haha we just watched rise of the planet of the apes and it was really cool. im craving popcorn badly right now.

rls- I♥mythreebabies - Thursday, 8 Sep
I love my folks so much! I must be the luckiest person ever. Since hubby had his op last week they have driven up three days in a row to help out while I am at work, looking after our three little ones, doing school runs, cooking, cleaning and my mum even did my ironing today and managed to find my lost charm from my charm bracelet. :) off to bed for an early night, with an empty ironing basket and a full tummy!

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