A toddler grows more slowly than a new baby. Most girls at 18 months have acquired about half of their adult height. Boys at age 2 are about halfway there. Body length increases in the second year...
Motor abilities and development
Keep in mind that no child can perform a task until the part of the nervous system responsible for its performance is sufficiently developed. Pushing children beyond their physical and mental...
Portrait of the toddler
Toddlers "toddle" for only a few weeks. By the time they are 18 months old, they are running, dashing, plummeting headlong into their environment---testing, tasting, clawing, groping, eyeballing,...
The Toddler: 18 months to 3 years
For months you have been saying, "I can't wait until my baby can walk." "I can't wait until my baby can talk." And suddenly---your baby can! Suddenly, your baby is a toddler---a walking, talking,...
You and your baby
The coming of a baby into a home is bound to cause a certain amount of conflict. From time to time, mixed feelings are aroused in parents as well as in brothers and sisters. Most fathers of first...
Common concerns
Spoiling Young infants cannot be spoiled by too much love and attention. From the parents' response to their needs, they learn to feel secure and develop good relationships with their parents. The...
Toys
Since anything babies play with is bound to be put into the mouth, toys should have smooth surfaces, and they should be easy to wash. There should be no sharp edges or detachable parts such as glass...
Accidents
In the United States alone, about 20,000 children under the age of 15 die each year because of accidents. That is more than the next three leading causes of death combined. One of your biggest jobs...
Common illnesses and conditions
In the first years of life, the stomach and intestines may be very sensitive to any change in children's health. Some infants vomit or have diarrhea with almost every illness---colds, earaches,...
Shots
Your baby should be immunized against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), polio, measles, rubella (German measles), mumps, and Hemophilus influenza type B. Except for oral polio...