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12 MONTH BABY DEVELOPMENT |
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12 MONTHS DEVELOPMENT: Baby has just celebrated its first birthday. More and more baby will be interacting with others and will be beginning to acquire socialization. Remember though that many babies will still have a degree of stranger anxiety which is still normal and expected. Thus some babies will warm up to non-family members quicker than others, and some babies will slowly begin to play and share quicker than others. Many children are already walking, and the rest will be walking soon. Your baby is no longer a baby, but now is becoming a toddler. Toddlers are very quick and you will begin to have trouble keeping up with them. You must think ahead. Arm coordination isn't too good yet so don't expect to play catch quite yet. The ability to talk is a new found tool. Most one year olds have 2 to 5 words in their vocabulary in addition to mama and dada. They can follow simple commands and begin to understand "no" but probably not "time out" yet. Remember to praise children when they are engaged in appropriate activities. Toddlers enjoy learning words and names. Reading to your child is both educational and a bonding activity. Start explaining everything. Even if it's not understood, this will help in gaining language skills. Before toddlers are ready for potty training, they need to recognize they have a dirty diaper and have the coordination to pull down pants. These skills are seldom present before 18 months of age so don't try to train them before they are ready. But do develop a family word for "potty" that they can understand. FEEDING: You may continue breast feeding if you desire, but now is the appropriated time to begin to change to whole milk from formula, and begin the transition from a bottle to the cup. Toddlers need the extra fat in whole milk (not 2% or skim milk) for appropriate brain development until 2 years of age. Continue to offer a well balanced diet of home-cooked food and limit milk intake to 24 ounces per day by offering some juice and water intermittently. You can attempt to teach your child how to use a spoon, but your success may be limited. Finger feeding will be fine. PREVENTION: Make sure you have checked the POISON CONTROL NUMBERS PAGE, verified your local poison number, and printed out your sheet that you can post by your phone. Think fast and ahead of where your toddler is going. Fence and lock any swimming pool or fish pond. No toddlers should be swimming or bathing alone. Gate the stairs. Lock up the guns, knives, electrical tools, medicines, and cupboards. Keep the poisons out of reach of even yourself as toddlers could learn to crawl up chairs, stack up boxes, or get onto counters to reach for whatever they want. Put outlet caps in all unused electrical outlets and try to avoid prolonged use of extension cords. Watch out for burns especially in the kitchen You may want to review some other ACCIDENT PREVENTION measures.. WELL BABY CHECKUP: Don't forget to take the 12 MONTH MILESTONES ASSESSMENT for your toddler and take your answers with you to facilitate discussions with your doctor. Many states may require blood be drawn for lead level testing and hemoglobin check for anemia. Some areas may want tuberculosis skin testing to be done. Hepatitis B or any shots not yet done should be brought up to date. Please see the IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULE and assure your child does not get far behind in getting their shots. Some doctors may choose to give a MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and VARICELLA (chicken pox) shots at this time. Again side effects of these shots are mild and may include swelling and redness at the shot site as well as a mild rash in about 7 days. If anyone at home is getting chemotherapy or has other immune system problems, let you doctor know before your child gets immunized with VARICELLA or MMR. Written by Greg Clark, MD and Mark Ludes, DO |
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