22-24 Months

Eating a combination of foods from all the different food groups will give your child all they need to grow and develop.

• Offer three regular meals and two or three healthy snacks.
• Portion size will gradually increase as they get older, let them guide you.
• Give small amounts with the option of more if they want it.
• Keep encouraging them to try new foods.
• Let them see you eating healthy foods you enjoy.
• Involve your child in meal planning and preparation. They are more likely to eat something they have helped to prepare.

From 2 years of age, you can start looking at the Eatwell Guide for healthy eating advice. Before the age of 2 babies and toddlers need a full fat diet, which is relatively low in fibre. Between the ages of 2 and 5, children should gradually move to eating the same foods as the rest of the family, in the proportions shown in the Eatwell Guide. Anyone with special dietary requirements or medical needs might want to check with a registered dietitian on how to adapt the Eatwell Guide to meet their individual needs. From 2 you are looking to SLOWLY introduce more fibre and lower the fat content but only if your child is eating well (like swapping to semi–skimmed cow’s milk).

You can find more tips and ideas using the links below:

• Parent Club
  • Eat Better Feel Better
  • Cooking with the kids
  • Eating well at home
• First Steps Nutrition Trust Eating well in the early years
• British Dietetic Association
  • Healthy eating for children
  • Cooking at Home
  • Cooking with children of different ages
  • Cooking safely with children
• Childsmile Snack Ideas for Children

Your toddler is now able to flick switches on and off. They might love doing this, so keep a close eye on their safety!

Their building skills are improving and they can now build a tower of 6 blocks. You could try building a train track together. Or turn a cardboard box into a car, rocket or house. You could build sandcastles at the beach or in the sand at the park.  

Your toddler will still swap hands. You might start to notice that they use one hand more often. You could practice threading - use cotton reels and laces, dried pasta tubes and wool, large beads (or drinking/craft straws cut into pieces) and buttons onto thinner laces. They might still put objects into their mouths so closely supervise your toddler to keep them safe.

When looking at a book your toddler can now turn the pages one at a time.

Find more play activities for 18-24 month olds on CBeebies Parenting.

Practice makes progress! Your toddler will be practising all their new skills. They will be becoming more confident and more daring. They may not always have a clear sense of danger and you will need to be aware of safety. It is really important to let them try out new things with you close by.

Your toddler should now be walking most of the time. They will be able to reach higher by going on to tiptoes, you may need to be careful where you place things safely now. They should now be able to walk up and down a couple of steps without adult support. They may still hold onto the wall or handrails for confidence. 

They may now be able to walk backwards and can get themselves out of a tight space.

They will still be enjoying their push along toys and will take them around obstacles.

Your toddler will be becoming much quicker on their feet attempting to run at times.

Dressing

Your toddler can help with getting dressed by pushing their arm through their sleeve or offering a leg for trousers. They can pull on a hat and shoes. They will be making some progress with undressing too if you have been teaching them what to do. They can take off a pyjamas bottoms and top. You can start to teach them how to dress too. 

Teaching the last step first is a teaching technique, called backward chaining, that can help children learn how to do complicated tasks. Backward chaining is when you break a task down into it's different steps and then teach the last step first. Once the child can do the last step you teach the second last step and so on until they can do every task. It works great for teaching dressing skills.

If we think about a putting on a t-shirt, to start with you would follow these steps:

1. you would get the t-shirt the right way round and ready to put on
2. you would pull the t-shirt over their head
3. you would help them get their arms into the sleeves
4. your child would pull the t-shirt down.

You repeat this until your child pulls the t-shirt down every time. They might learn this quickly or it might take some time. Keep practicing every time you are changing your child. Next you want them to put their arms into the sleeve and pull the t-shirt down. Once they can do that every time, you hand them the t-shirt ready to put on and get them to put it over their head, put their arms into the sleeves and then pull the t-shirt down. Choose one garment at a time to work on. 

Learning to get the clothes the right way round is really hard so this will be the last step they learn and it will take a long time to master this so focus on just putting the clothes on.   

Eating and Drinking

Your toddler can use a spoon to feed themselves, they might still be a bit messy though. You could now teach your toddler to use a fork. Let them try using a fork at mealtimes but play with forks too. Give your toddler a fork while you are cooking. Involve them in simple food preparation, baking and cooking activities. Toddlers love to copy their care givers. There are ideas about Cooking at Home at different stages on the British Dietetic Associations website. Shopping is a great time to explore food too. Find out more from CBeebies Parenting Fun at the supermarket with baby. 

Going to the toilet 

Your toddler may be able to tell you they need a pee or a poo. They may also let you know if they have a wet or dirty nappy. It might be time to think about toilet (potty) training. Lots of children find learning this skill challenging. For children with additional support needs the journey might look different and may take longer. 

For toilet training typically developing children look at:

• Potty training from ERIC
• Nappy changing, potty training and toilet tips from Parent Club
• Toilet Training in the Information Library from Bowel and Bladder UK

If your child has additional support needs look at:

• Potty training children with additional needs from ERIC
• Children with additional needs and disabilities under Toilet Training in the Information Library from Bowel and Bladder UK
• Potty and toilet training from Contact.

Hygiene

Your toddler can be helping with lots of their hygiene tasks like washing and brushing their hair. Find out more about hygiene for toddlers and children:

• Hygiene for Toddlers and Children NHS information from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Children and Young People's Health Services

Teeth Brushing

Brushing your teeth is an essential part of looking after your body. You should be brushing your child's teeth at least twice a day. You can find out more from:

• Our Looking After Your Teeth page
• The British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) A Practical Guide to Children's Teeth
• Childsmile Oral health for babies: birth to 3 years old

Listening and Understanding  

Your toddler will listen with interest to other people talking to each other. They can remember and understand longer sentences such as 'kick the big ball'. They understand many more words than they can say.

Talking  

Your toddler might call themselves by their name or they might say 'I', 'me' or 'mine'. They can name body parts and name items in a book or around the house. They may use a few words together and simple sentences. They still make lots of mistakes with their words and sounds.

Interacting  

Your toddler is starting to take turns. They can play for a few minutes with others but find sharing difficult. They will ask for help if they find something hard. They are starting to chat with others but may interrupt.

Find out more from Parent Club Top tips for chatting together with your baby.

Your toddler has figured out they can reach things you have placed out of the way by finding something to stand on. It is time to move valuables and dangerous items well out of harm's way! Your toddler has more understanding of how big they are compared to other objects. They know if they can fit into a cupboard, and will try to check! Find information about keeping you toddler safe from the Child Accident Prevention Trust. 

Your toddler might be showing interest in simple jigsaw puzzles. They can take out simple shapes like a square, circle and triangle might be able to put them back.

Your toddler can now pretend an object is something else. They can use a building block as a car or a banana as a phone.

Encourage them to help tidy up. They will enjoy household activities like sweeping the floor and washing the dishes. Find out more from CBeebies Parenting Be a little helper.