Welcome to Day 4 of the Kid Blogger Network ABC series. Here at Home Learning Journey, we are exploring the ABC’s of raising toddlers! Today includes letters P through T.
P: PottyTraining
Potty training might be one of the biggest things accomplished during toddlerhood. I feel like I was pretty lucky with my older toddler. She was 2 years old when she potty trained pee/poop day/night all at once. We are trying my 20 month old son in undies next summer, which he will be a couple months over 2 at the time to gauge how ready he is.
Here is what I did with my daughter and what I am doing now with my son.
- Introduce potty at 18 months for them to explore it, try to flush it, see what the toilet paper is all about, watch mommy go potty, sit on it if they want, etc. I feel like this kind of lax introduction to the potty is so beneficial in just getting them acquainted and comfortable with the potty around. My daughter had a separate potty seat, whereas my son has an insert that gets placed on top of the toilet. He is only 20 months and will pat my arm, run to the bathroom, take his diaper off, grab his insert, put it on the toilet, and wait for me to help him get on the toilet. Most of the time he just sits there and other times he pees. I just let him do whatever he wants right now since we are just in the introductory stages of the potty.
- Around 2, we practice taking on and off our pants. We switched over to trainers for my daughter because it was easier for her to learn how to pull them up and down instead of having to take a diaper on and off. We did not use it as an actual potty training tool, just to learn how to pull up and down. We will do cloth trainers with my son around the same time to practice this skill.
- The summer after 2, we put our daughter in panties because by this time, she was wanting to try to pee on the toilet even more consistently. I put her in panties and within days, she was trained! We are going to put my son in undies in the later half of summer (end of July/beginning of August) and see how it goes. If after a week of consistently trying, it does not happen, we will try again a couple months later. No big deal.
Q: Questions
Another big part of raising toddlers is how curious they are and how full of questions they are! Even non-verbal toddlers will ask questions with body language, like pointing and looking at you to hear what you have to say about that. As they get older and talk, their questions are a little more specific. My almost 4 year old will ask what we are having for meals, what we are doing that, if she can do something, why she cannot do something, what does this word mean, and much more.
R: Running
Like jumping, running is an exciting milestone for toddlers to accomplish. Similar to jumping, running first starts out pretty awkward until they do it more and more and their movements become more fluid. My kids love to run!
In fact, living in the Pacific Northwest, it is not always the best of weather outside, so yeah, I let my kids around the house. We have even had fun “exercise classes” inside the house to get them running and moving around having fun!
S: Smiles
I love my children’s smiles! I do not know if it is all toddlers or just my toddlers, but I love when they smile with their nose all scrunched up. Even on my worst days, they can always brighten my day!
T: Toys!
Toys are an important part of raising toddlers. After all, there are so many ways they can learn through play. For example, playing with blocks teaches them spatial awareness, colors (if colored blocks), counting (how high can I stack them?), construction skills, shapes (squares, rectangles, triangles, etc.), and so much more! You can take every single toy in your house and call it educational because there is always something to teach or learn while playing!
Not only are they a learning experience, but toys are fun! I do not know about you, but I love playing with my toddlers with their toys!
Right now my almost 4 year old daughter’s favorite toys are fake food, toy kitchen accessories, and other toy household items. My 20 month old son’s favorite toys are trains, cars, and he also is obsessed with books!
Here are some great toy suggestions for toddlers:
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For more ABC series with mom tips, check out the list below!
Being a Hands on Mom from hands on : as we grow
Connecting with your Kids from One Perfect Day
Family Field Trips with Kids from Edventures with Kids
Fun Healthy Snacks for Kids from Juggling with Kids
Kids Party Ideas from Mama Pea Pod
Mama Survival from The Dizzy Mom
Organized Home from Mamas Like Me
Printables from Mama Miss
Raising Boys from Boy Mama Teacher Mama
Raising Eco-Friendly Kids from Kitchen Counter Chronicles
Raising Girls from Mess for Less
Raising a Healthy Kid from Living Life Intentionally
Raising a Thinking Child from The Outlaw Mom
Raising Toddlers from Home Learning Journey
Raising a World Citizen from All Done Monkey
Simply Celebrating Holidays as a Family from Inspired by Family Magazine
Teaching Kids about Money from Carrots are Orange
The Family Dinner Table from Connecting Family & Seoul
Trying A New Experience with Your Children from 52 Brand New
Values for Children from True Aim Education
Do not forget to check out some of the other bloggers participating in other categories for their own ABC series by clicking the button below!
See you tomorrow with letters U-Z!
The post The ABC’s of Raising Toddlers: P-T appeared first on Home Learning Journey.