Developmental Milestones for a Two Year Old (25 to 36 months)
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Something is different and even more challenging at age “two”. Well, from experiencing a surge of complex thoughts, emotions to realising their limits for doing a particular thing, these two year olds learn a lot. In the process, parents also get to realize that deviating their attention works better over a strict act of disciplining.
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| Physical Development |
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| By about 25- 30 months of age, you can find your child walking on his tiptoes, jumping at his place. By holding on to your hand or at times without any help, he can easily walk upstairs keeping both the feet on each step before taking the next one. His walk would be less clumsy then it was before and would be better able to manage himself while running, not falling quite often even when turning to the corners. |  |
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At around 31- 36 months of age, it won’t be surprising to watch him jump over a small 4- 5 inch barrier and pedalling his tricycle most of the times or even dragging his small chair and sitting on it. Even climbing up and down a small slide adds to their fun element. Most children around this age enjoying playing with toys that can be linked or connected together e.g. toy train with carriages, peg sets. Also, can manage to catch a large ball, throw and kick a ball forward. With your help, they can even manage to arrange a simple puzzle. Make sure that they have toys of a varied nature to help them understand the differences between them. For e.g. small toy cars, animal soft toys and picture book of fruits.
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Some children may also learn to handle silverware and keep their bowls back on the table, if repeatedly prompted and encouraged for the same. You would find him getting more fidgety with the kitchen knobs and T.V remotes, when you aren’t around. Keep them away from entering kitchen. Distract their attention by making them involved playing with their own toys for e.g. a toy phone that has small buttons and recorded sounds is equally enjoyable.
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| Self Care Of a Two Year Old | |
He begins to use a fork and feed himself quite well with minimal spilling and dropping. He can zip and unzip and can easily manage to pull off an easy to wear article of clothing. Is able to slide on his shoes but cannot tie the laces. When it comes to brushing his teeth, he can manage to hold the toothbrush without your help but needs to be guided on how to move about the brush through his mouth.
Usually between 2 to 3.5 yrs old, your child will begin to have bowel movements at set times of the day. This obviously happens with assistance and watching over from your end. A child psychologically tensed can become constipated or apprehensive about his toilet routines. So never be rigid with the routine as it can cause him great deal of anxiety. If your child is sick, then again it may affect his bowel movement for a while which will get back to normal as he recovers better. However, if you see your child still facing difficulty with his bowel patterns, then discuss them with his paediatrician to get it resolved in a better way.
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| Social, Emotional and Intellectual Development | |
A child at around 25- 30 months age likes to develop his own play activities. It could be imitating a routine household work which he had seen his mother doing. This would include activities like dusting with a piece of handkerchief for some time or simply holding a small broom. He becomes extremely possessive about his toys, dreads separation from his parents. He likes playing aside a child of his same age group and may learn to remember his name, if he seems to join him every day. At about 31- 36mnths age, addresses himself by his own name, points out to his picture when shown a collective set of photos. Likes being praised and appreciated.
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Throwing tantrums, whining or screaming for trivial reasons are characteristic traits of a growing child which he gradually outgrows. He cannot relate the happening of an activity with the word “patience”, so they usually tend to get irritated.
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He begins to utter 50 to 60 words and builds up vocabulary of around 200 to 300 words. This includes new words which he picks up from a stranger as well as from the conversation happening amongst the family members. Starts speaking two to three short sentences that get gradually linked with adjectives and prepositions. His speech becomes understandable but may stumble over certain words. This however should not be considered a sign of stuttering. The words which he uses to communicate his needs may not be always pronounced accurately. But you can still interpret if he wants more milk and biscuits or wants to go outside. In your talks with your child, try to be descriptive and repetitive. This will help him retain two things at a time. For e.g. when he asks, what’s that? Tell him, that is a big car and an uncle is riding it; continue the conversation by describing the colour of the car.
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He also begins to use words to describe his feelings. E.g. might say”ow”on being hurt; also verbalizes his toilet needs. May want to shoo another child who is snatching his toy by uttering a “no” or “move away”.
These developing milestones cannot be strictly generalized as every child would vary in grasping and attaining a particular skill as per his abilities. But it does becomes a matter of concern and needs to be discussed with her doctor, if your two year old child:-
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