3 Reasons Raising a Toddler is a Unique Challenge
Toddler life is like no other life you have lived before. There are specific reasons that make raising a toddler a unique. Even if you have previous toddler experience, this current toddler will be different that the last one. It is hard to explain how different it is. But it will be different. Transitioning from that infant stage to toddler stage is a lot of times like going down hill on a scooter. It should be fun and enjoyable, but you keep thinking about how dangerous it can be. Even with all the safety precautions.
A toddler is defined as a child who is “one to three years in age. Your child is advancing from infancy toward and into the preschool years. During this time, his physical growth and motor development will slow, but you can expect to see some tremendous intellectual, social, and emotional changes.”
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/Pages/default.aspx
Toddlers have preferences
Gone are the days where you can have your child follow your desires: clothes, food, places to go, bed times. They have opinions on everything. Even on things they have not had any exposure to. When you first enter this stage, it is shocking. Let’s do this: NO. Let’s try this: NO. Let’s go over here: NO. The simplest requests are met with resistance. This is the stage when toddlers are becoming more independent in thought and they want to exhibit those thoughts with their own actions.
Toddlers have sleep disturbances
Newborns have varying sleep schedules. Toddlers return to these schedules at various times when they are growing. You may have conquered the sleep routine one month only to have it upended during the next month. Variability makes it difficult for you to feel like you can get a rest for yourself and also makes you feel like you are always trying to convince someone to go to bed whether it is nap time or bed time. An additional challenge is presented when you have other children who may be infants at the same time as you are dealing with a toddler.
Toddlers reflect who you are- positive and negative
Watching my children grow has always amazed me as a parent.
Depending on the child, their behavior is different based on the situation. They are all very much individuals. But in the toddler stage, children are just raw emotions whether they are happy or sad or upset or excited. They have no filter. They also have no limits. All of these restricting characteristics are things that you instill in your child. At this point, you are still working hard on developing those restrictions.
Toddlers are who you are without restrictions. They have watched your responses to things as they have grown. At this point, they have a body, mind, and mouth that can display all the lessons they have learned.
Answering the Toddler Challenges
Preferences
Raising an independent confident child takes consistent days of hard work. Sometimes you want to quit. Sometimes you want to not have to keep reinforcing those rules you set. But setting boundaries is a great way of letting your toddler become more independent in a safe way. Toddlers are able to learn right from wrong by your example. Maintaining a consistent example that allows for your toddler to have personal development creates a great environment for their individuality to shine without it being a power struggle.
Sleep
There is no easy answer for sleep challenges. Go back to what worked before. It is more difficult if you are in the position and say that nothing has ever worked before. How do you get over that hurdle during toddler life?
Setting a rigorous schedule and being consistent with the schedule will help. This is not easy but it will eventually pay off.
Ways to establish a sleep routine
- Start early
- Set expectations of what should happen at sleep time. “Mommy wants you to lay down with your eyes closed to rest.”
- Use a timer for activities and to let toddler know when they will be transitioning to sleep time
- Create a routine: bath time, tooth brushing, toileting, reading a story
- Perform the routine around the same time each day
- Be consistent with the routine
Here is a resource that goes over needed hours of sleep for infants, toddlers, and children.
Find more sleep resources here:
https://www.happiestbaby.com/blogs/toddler/how-much-sleep-do-toddlers-need
A great part of a sleep routine had a component of book reading as a part of it. Check out the following information about the importance of reading at an early age:
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-your-child
Reflection
Strive to be the person that you want your child to model themselves after because they are already doing that. They watch how you interact with your spouse, your family members, your friends, and people in the community. They listen to how you talk and what you talk about. They see what you do when you have the most fun and what things are challenging for you. It starts early.
Really enjoy toddlers or want to find out more about them. Check out this post I wrote about life lessons you can learn from a toddler.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment about your own toddler. Share this post with another mom who needs to figure out more about this unique time of toddler life.
Be you, be focused, be well! Find Your Flourish! |Shanna|
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