Once a baby is one year old, he/she is called a toddler. Normal toddler development comprises important physical, mental, intellectual and social changes. Physical independence is a factor in normal toddler development. Being more mobile, the baby is more active physically. The child is able to recognize its face in the mirror or photographs, apes others, can walk, climb stairs, use the bathroom, wield cutlery, and eat and dress on his/her own to some extent. The toddler wants to explore things on its own, and if not allowed to do so, expresses its disapproval. On an emotional plane, the toddler exhibits possessiveness towards...
...parents and belongings, does not like change and is curious about things around him/her.
The child needs constant parental supervision at this stage. Maximum mental and intellectual developments occur in this stage, so the more time parents spend with their toddler, the healthier the baby. In the first few months after birth, crying was the only way a baby could communicate its every need and requirement. Parents of course learn to decipher the various moods of the child. From the eighth month, babies start babbling incoherently. This development again varies from child to child. Moving towards normal language development, word distinction and aping others' mouth movements begins from sometime around the age of one onwards, by which time the child's understanding has also increased. By eighteen months, a toddler knows his/her name, has learnt to say 'no' with a vocabulary of twenty odd words and a few phrases. The toddler is now able to respond to short instructions and commands.
Playtime is an integral part of the toddler's daily routine, whether on its own, with other children or with its parents and other family members. Music, singing and miming to nursery rhymes, or just plain 'dancing' holding on to the mother is a fun way to normal toddler speech development. A toddler at this juncture needs a lot of input for development of its cognitive skills and IQ. Parents and the toddler should enjoy playing and learning together during this normal toddler development.
According to normal toddler development information, speech in normal toddler development varies on a number of factors.
Parents should understand that each child is different. An undue delay in the child's speech development warrant's a specialist's intervention.
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