Getting your toddler to give up their pacifier can be an emotional experience for everyone involved. For parents, it can be an exhausting battle of wills with a headstrong little person. And for kids, it can be traumatic — taking away their pacifier is taking away their comfort and security.

But one dad in Missouri figured out a way to make the transition away from his toddler's pacifier use into something that was anything but traumatic.

More from Mom.com: Mom Slammed for Letting 7-Year-Old Daughter Use a Pacifier: ‘It’s Not Inappropriate’

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A limited vocabulary coupled with an extreme curiosity of the world is the disposition of a toddler. Toddlers begin letting go of gurgles and grunts as they want to more formally express their opinion with words that are ever-so-popular, like “No!” Outside of that exclamation, toddlers will mimic the words they hear from their parents to start their journey with speech.

What is one way to support toddler communication, you might ask? Simply chatting with them with your everyday speech will go a long way toward helping them thrive.

The post Helping Your Toddlers Communicate Their Needs and Expand Their Budding Vocabulary appeared first on Mom.com.

Are my toddler’s speech and language skills delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic? As speech language pathologists (SLPs), this is one of our most frequently asked questions we get asked as of late, but the answer is not clear. We do know that millions of babies were born in the past two years amid lockdowns, mask mandates, daycare shutdowns, parents working from home, and many other lifestyle changes. While these lifestyle changes were crucial to curbing the spread of COVID-19, the question remains: Will our little ones pay a price developmentally because of these changes?

The post How Parents Can Identify Toddler Speech Delays Due to the Pandemic — and How They Can Help appeared first on Mom.com.

First smile. First food. First tooth. First haircut. First steps.

Every milestone in my son’s baby book is filled in. The date is marked, a photo was taken, and I cherish those moments. They’re special, of course, and probably the ones he will ask about when he is older. But, as it turns out, it’s the tiny, fleeting milestones that are most meaningful to me.

Unfortunately, I didn’t start writing these little milestones down from the get-go. They happened and I paused, soaking in the sweetness and attempting to lock them in my core memories. But, because there wasn’t a proper spot in his baby book for “first expression of sympathy,” I didn’t make a physical note. I just let it happen and then fall away, stored in my memory but never officially documented.

But these are truly the moments worth remembering. Who cares about teeth?! They all eventually come in!

So, I decided to fill in the baby book lines and partner it with a blank journal. This is where the real magic would be recorded. Like the time my toddler saw me crying and responded with a comforting hug and a “shhhhh.” He saw pain and cared. He was drawn to offer comfort. And his hug was balm to my soul. His whisper of reassurance and the tissue he offered dried my tears.

Then there was the other night. He had nursed in my arms while we rocked in our glider, and we sang our special goodnight song. And then, at the last moment, when he was drifting off to sleep, he reached out to hold my hand. A tiny gesture that said, “Mama, I see you. You are my everything. I know I’m safe with you.” And I felt so much of the same.

It happens more and more. These abstract, perfect milestones.

Now that I’m mindful to watch, I see them almost daily. Like when he first saw hail out the window and in awe called it “chunk snow.” His eyes grew wide and he just stared. Never had he ever seen something so loud and big fall from the sky. Honestly, I wish I could still experience weather so profoundly. Thank goodness I have him to reintroduce me to the world. A similar experience happened when he noticed a rainbow in the sky recently. He gasped in absolute wonder at the beauty of the earth. Life through his eyes is miraculous.

His baby book journal is now full of these stories:

The first time he replied “Thank you” to a stranger.

The time he met his baby cousin and gently kissed her head — more gentleness than I’d ever seen his rough-and-tumble self express.

Oh, and that day he finished his lunch and not only took his plate to the sink but asked for a towel to clean his place at the table.

Moms and dads, chronicle the small moments. The ones that supposedly don’t matter — but really, truly do matter most. I promise, you’ll treasure these special milestones more and more with each passing year.

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Not all toddlers easily transition out of a crib and into a toddler bed. Some kids will happily ditch the crib in favor of a more grown-up bed. However, others crave the security and aren’t thrilled with the major change in scenery.

“My son loved his crib,” said Olivia Anderson, a nurse and blogger. “It seemed he would be happy to sleep in it until his feet were poking out of the railing, so transitioning him to a toddler bed terrified me. The first night of the transition, we explained that he would be sleeping in a big-boy bed. We then implemented the same bedtime routine we always do, but when we stepped out of the room, he started to cry.” (It took Anderson’s child about a week before he finally adjusted to his new bed.)

For parents who have never done this before, a screaming child who refuses to sleep in his new bed yet doesn’t fit in his old crib anymore can seem overwhelming and intimidating. Where do you draw the line? How do you get your child to accept their new bed? Here’s what the experts have to say about the milestone of transitioning your child from their crib to a toddler bed.

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You’ve got your potty, you’ve got your fun motivational undies, you’ve got your sticker chart — but do you have your pull-up diapers? Actually, a better question may be: Do you even need pull-ups diapers for potty training? 

In the world of potty training, using pull-ups is somewhat divisive, with some experts thinking they’re a perfectly fine middle ground between diapers and undies, and others thinking it’s best to skip them altogether. Deciding to use pull-ups for potty training is a personal choice, but it’s important to remember that no matter what you decide to do, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to this milestone. 

“Toilet training is an extremely individualized process and using diapers or pull-ups during it is not a failure,” says Dr. Katherine Hoops, a pediatric critical care physician at Johns Hopkins. “Training pants can be used as a transition from diapers to underwear as children take over the toileting process. For some kids, this can relieve some of the anxiety of accidents and improve their self-esteem.” 

**When should I start potty training?  **

The American Academy of Pediatrics generally doesn’t recommend potty training before 2, but there are a number of things to take into account besides your child’s age. According to Allison Jandu, a potty training consultant and author of The Poop Puzzle: What To Do If Your Child Will Not Poop on the Potty, some signs to look for that it’s time to start potty training are as follows: 

·      Staying dry for periods of two hours or more

·      Staying dry for naps and/or overnight

·      Removing his diaper when it is wet or dirty

·      Telling you when he has gone or is going in his diaper

·      A general interest in the bathroom, such as wanting to flush or sit on the toilet 

“It can be one or all of these things, or anything in-between, but the main thing to consider before starting potty training is if YOU are ready,” Jandu says. “By preparing and getting yourself in the right frame of mind, you are setting yourself up for a more pleasant experience.”
 

Pull-ups vs. underwear

Many experts recommend switching to undies while potty training because, in addition to the gray area pull-ups can create for your child, wet underwear is much more uncomfortable than a wet pull-up — so the former can be motivating. 

“Switching from diapers to pull-ups can happen right away in the potty training process, as long as the size fits the child,” says Adriana Vermillion, a potty training consultant and author of I Can Potty 123. “But my suggestion is to go all in from the get-go and switch from diapers to underwear immediately.”

If you don’t think your child is ready to wear underwear all the time, he may not quite be ready for potty training yet, in which case, pull-ups can be a good starting point. Pull-ups can also be helpful for kids who go to daycare, where they have the option to use the bathroom on their own.  

**Potty-training tips **

One of the biggest keys to potty training success is taking it on when you and your child are both ready. That said, here are a few more potty training tips:

Demonstrate: Kids are visual creatures and they’ll get the concept of potty training much faster if you bring them to the bathroom and show them what to do, instead of just telling them. 

Ditch the clothes: When you’re first starting out with potty training, you may want your child to go sans clothes for a few days, so they’re acutely aware of their bodily functions. 

Use potty-training-friendly clothes: Fussy clothes with too many snaps and zippers are best left for when your little one is in diapers. Using the potty is enough for your toddler, don’t add pressure by making his clothing confusing. 

Use rewards wisely: “In the very beginning, a sticker chart for each potty visit is fine since it encourages the child to get up and go,” Vermillion says. “However, once your child is getting the hang of things, it’s better to switch to hugs and smiles, since using the bathroom is part of life rather than a reward-driven activity.”

**How to deal with potty-training accidents **

The most important thing to do when potty-training accidents happen is to keep an even keel.

“The best way to handle an accident when potty training is by taking a deep breath and calmly saying, ‘Oops, accidents happen. Let's go sit on the potty quick and then change,’” Vermillion notes. “Having an attitude of gratitude that your child is really trying goes a long way, as does having a simple go-to routine for accidents.”

Vermillion recommends acknowledging accidents without emotion, encouraging your child to sit on the toilet, changing clothes — and then washing hands before moving on to another activity.

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From their first steps to learning to drive, growing up is full of developmental milestones. Of course, every child is unique and experiences growth in different ways, but in a general sense, these childhood milestones are useful averages against which you can measure your child’s progress. (Do your best not to over-compare, though, as that’s not useful for anyone and will definitely drive you mad.) Here’s a rough outline of what you can expect when your little one is 2 years old.

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