Developmental Milestones: from 12 months onwards

At one year and beyond, you officially have a toddler on your hands. Their development will be coming along in leaps and bounds. You have a whole host of fun times to look forward too, including your little one learning to walk and run, speak and watching that personality flourish.
Your toddler has their own timeline, so don’t be too concerned if they develop at a different rate from the one described here.

Here’s a run down of what you can expect:

• Babbling  – you might notice your toddler babbling away, imitating adult sentence structures and facial expressions.  That’s a sure sign they’re getting ready to start talking!
• First words  – around a year (sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later) your toddler will produce their first recognizable word. From there they’ll just get more and more chatty, by about 18 months they’ll probably be talking to you quite a bit.
• Getting about  – your toddler will be pretty mobile at 12 months. Most toddlers learn to walk properly, and then run between one and two years old.
• The world of play  – expect a whole lot of fun times. Active play and fantasy play are great for developing your little one’s mind, muscles and coordination.
• Self-feeding  – your toddler will get pretty good at manning their own spoon, eating with their hands and drinking from a cup. In fact, they’ll probably try to put a variety of non-food items in their mouths too. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for anything small that could be a choking risk like buttons, small toys, nuts and lollies.
• Co-ordination  – learning to jump, climb and get into mischief. Your toddler’s co-ordination skills will be getting better all the time.
• Using the bathroom – your little one might be able to start using a potty (or perhaps even the toilet) with your help.
• Sleeping – all toddlers have different sleeping patterns, but commonly they may be sleeping 12 hours at night and have one or two sleeps during the day, usually as an afternoon nap.
• Bath time – you might find baths are more about play than getting clean! There are lots of good times to be had playing in water. Remember your toddler is still too young to be left alone, so never leave them unattended while they’re in the bath and always check the water temperature before they get in.

Here are some things you may need to tackle:

• Constipation  - occasional constipation isn’t uncommon in toddlers. Make sure your toddler is getting plenty of foods with natural fibre like fruit, vegetables, bread and cereals. Extra fluids are also important, so remember to offer drinks of water over the day as well as their milk.
• Diarrhoea - very loose bowel movements or diarrhoea can affect some children around this age. Infections can sometimes cause diarrhoea. If you think your toddler has an infection, or the diarrhoea has persisted for more than 24 hours, see your health professional as soon as possible. Diarrhoea can cause dehydration very rapidly.
• Safety - as your toddler becomes more mobile you’ll need to be extra vigilant about safety around the house and out and about.