Toddler Tips: Taming the Savage Beast

We talked about tempering toddler tantrums earlier and while you will learn very quickly what works with your little one, here are a few other tips for taming some of the behavior your toddler may exhibit. It’s important to remember, even when you are verging on ripping your own hair out, that toddlers do not necessarily know right from wrong. That’s what we are teaching them. So with that in mind, here are some toddler tips for taming them and teaching them at the same time: Scribbles – Your toddler loves to draw, on paper, on furniture, on their toys, … Continue reading →

Tempering Toddler Tantrums

When your baby becomes a toddler, it’s really a very exciting period for both of you. You will discover that your baby is much more interesting as a personality in their own right. But you have to take the good with the bad. Your toddler maybe developing their very own personality and becoming more intrigued with the world around them every day, but at the same time – they are more likely to have meltdowns where screaming hissy fits are made to look tame. It’s important to recognize the triggers of a toddler tantrum and to preempt them if you … Continue reading →

Why Are Toddlers Afraid

This may seem like a stupid question, yet it is one that may confront a parent when they are coping with something that seems perfectly normal to them – yet it terrifies their toddler. So it’s important to understand why toddlers may feel fear. Your Experience is Not Your Toddler’s What may seem silly to an adult is not in the same category with your toddler. They are afraid of the dark because they cannot comprehend that light will chase it away. They may be afraid of strangers because of the differences in their voices and their size and their … Continue reading →

Toddler Dilemmas: Let them Make Choices or Not?

I have heard both sides of this argument. My husband doesn’t like to give the little ones many options, in fact – he’s more inclined to say this is how it is and this is what you get rather than allowing them any independence. Being a parent to a toddler isn’t easy, especially when your little one is determined to explore the world at large at high speed. I like to give them choices, particularly because it offers them a measure of control that they can then us to apply to other problem solving techniques later in life. Here are … Continue reading →

My Toddler Ignores Me

There is nothing more frustrating for a parent than to say something they know their baby understands, but that their baby just seems to blithely ignore. From the: don’t touch that to the bring that to mommy to the play nicely to the stop doing that – when your toddler isn’t listening to you, you may wonder what you are doing wrong. Before you start banging your head against a brick wall in frustration, keep the following in mind: Actions speak louder than words to your toddler, if you want them to stop doing something, remove them from the activity … Continue reading →

Murphy’s Law of Toddlerhood

Your toddler loved to eat oatmeal and ate it for three meals out of four in the day. Now you can’t pay her to eat it. She went through an apple juice trend, refusing all other drinks if it wasn’t apple juice. Now she just turns her nose up at the offering. In our house, it was treasure. That’s what the midget called chocolate chip mini muffins. She developed an obsession with them. We couldn’t swap them out for any other food when she wanted treasure for a snack. Then one day, she just stopped eating it altogether – leaving … Continue reading →

Pay Attention to Me: Toddlers & Telephones

One of the great mysteries of life is why is it your perfectly content toddler wants your attention the minute you pick up a telephone whether you are dialing someone or they are calling you. When my daughter was a baby and toddler, I always said she had a sixth sense about when mommy was either preoccupied or arriving home. For example, if I went to class or had to run errands, my husband said she would sleep soundly from the moment I left until the moment I returned. I didn’t even have to come into the house, she would … Continue reading →

The Things Our Toddlers Do To Drive Us Crazy

Toddlers are people, too or so we tell ourselves whenever they exhibit unique personality traits. What do I mean by unique personality traits? I mean the things they do that help define their personality as well as their outlook on the world around them. They aren’t really trying to make you crazy, despite all appearances to the contrary. So what are the things that our toddlers do that drive us crazy? Food Toss – Your toddler enjoys eating their food, for sure – but they also love throwing it around because they love the texture of it and they love … Continue reading →

Rote and Repetition – Your Key to Toddler Learning

Repetition is one of the primary keys in teaching your toddler. While they may very well enjoy exploring the world around them, teaching them various things including their schedule, their ABCs and even the names of things is done by repeating it over and over and over again. Your 2 year old may very well be able to sing their ABCs and other nursery rhymes, not because they have an intellectual grasp on what they mean, but because they have heard them over and over and over again. This is why getting your baby and toddler into a routine is … Continue reading →

Teaching Your Toddler: What’s Respect?

I read this great phrase in a book once, it said: the British Empire have nothing on toddlers. The sun rises and sets on them. Truer words have never been written. To a toddler, the world belongs to them and it’s theirs for the taking. Everyone belongs to them and everyone is there for them. This can make your toddler a tyrant at times and it’s important to understand that while your toddler believes the world revolves around them – it’s important to teach them that they cannot make decisions for other people. One of the greatest gifts you can … Continue reading →