Your child is now a fully grown toddler, as he is closer to two years than he is to one. Let’s look at the 19 month old baby development milestones you should expect in your little one.
In this article:
- Physical Development Milestones
- Cognitive Development Milestones
- Social & Emotional Development Milestones
- Language & Communication Milestones
- What You Can Do As Parents?
- 19 Month Old Toddler Behaviour
- Baby Care for Your 19 Month Old
Physical Development Milestones
- Your child’s ability to grip objects and toys would’ve developed considerably.
- Can climb up stairs holding the rails or the side of the wall. He may sometimes be only to crawl up the stairs, which is normal at this stage.
- Can run unaided for a short distance without tripping.
- May be able to turn a door knob and twist the cap of a pen or bottle.
- Will try to wash hands on his own.
- Will call out to you if he needs to use the toilet.
- Can put his toys in a basket, keep it or push it to its designated place or dump owill ut.
- Will clamber upon almost every obstacle that stands on his way, be it a chair, sofa, bed, coffee table and even a kitchen counter.
Cognitive Development Milestones
- The first memories of your child could be formed at this age.
- Will turn the tip of a marker or a pen towards the paper even if you hand it upside down.
- Can makes small decisions for himself and go with it independently.
- Can recognise when things don’t look right, like the missing hand of a toy or the tip of nose of a teddy.
- Can stack 3 or more blocks on top of each other.
- Can identify and name almost all the pictures in the book you regularly read to him. Will try to match the items/animals in the book with those at home or outside (like a ball, bird or a cat).
Social & Emotional Development Milestones
- Even though your child’s desire to be the centre of attention will have reduced, it still makes an appearance now and then.
- Will compete with other kids by pushing and pulling to take possession of a toy he likes.
- If he sees something exciting, will try to get your attention and enjoy it with you.
- Will try dressing himself up with a hat or wearing socks or shoes.
- Will laugh and clap when you do something animated or funny.
- If he finds you sad and gloomy, he may reflect the same emotion. May even cry if he sees you crying.
- Even if he is busy playing or engaged in some activity, he will still make sure you are around his vicinity.
Language & Communication Milestones
- Continues to learn new words almost every day.
- Your little one may be able to combine words (basically thoughts) to create 2 or 3 word phrases.
- May have a vocabulary of anything between 10 and 50 words. He might be able to construct simple phrases using his understanding of verbs.
- Understands 4 to 8 times more the words he can speak (like up, down, in, out, this, that, cat, bat, etc.)
- If you pause or stop reading from his favourite book or singing his favourite rhyme, he will fill in the blanks.
- Understands and follows simple instructions like “Keep it down” and “Do not touch that”, etc.
- Will try imitating what you say or do.
What You Can Do As Parents?
- If he says “more”, ask him “more what? More water?”. Similarly, if he says “Ball”, holding a big and small ball, you can say “Big ball” or “Small ball” and show him the comparison.
- He is still a kid. So it’s okay to be a little animated to your little one.
- Now that you’ve been reading books to him for months, and he knows names of a lot of animals and things, you can point out at certain pictures and ask “What’s this?”
- Make him do small tasks like “Bring the ball”, “Keep the show down” etc.
- Support him to climb up stairs and assist him especially while climbing down.
- Allow him to practice turning the door knob and practice twisting and opening a pen cap or lids of utensils. Practicing with doors won’t necessarily be problematic if he is under your watchful eyes and/or if you latch at the top of the door.
- It is time that you talk about potty training to your child so that he can prepare himself for it in a few weeks or fortnights.
- Weather permitting, give him as much opportunities as possible to play in open playgrounds, parks or the beach.
- This is a good time for potty training.
19 Month Old Toddler Behaviour
Thanks to temper tantrums during this phase of development of a child, almost every parent wants their child to follow discipline and be disciplined to such an extent, that they sometimes get too anxious and even get frustrated about it.
Anxiety can be removed, almost completely, if you look at discipline not from the point of making your child do what you want him to do, to teaching your child what is acceptable behaviour and what are his boundaries.
This way, you empower him to grow and develop into a responsible and independent person. Sometimes, you have to get back to the basics, like treating him the way you would like to be treated.
Try replacing commands with conversations, and you will find him respond to you amicably instead of reacting impulsively.
For instance, if it’s time for your little one’s afternoon nap but if he is trying to go out, instead of saying “No. Don’t go outside now. It’s time for your nap“, you may choose to say “Let us read a book now and take a nap. We will go outside later.“
Similarly, instead of saying, “You have to pick up the toys and keep them in your room before dinner“, you may choose to say “I will pick up all the puzzle pieces and put them in the box if you pick up the toys and keep them in your room.”
While it is indeed necessary to establish norms, it is also important that you keep them simple and as few as possible. After all, your child is still only a toddler and there is only so much he can remember.
Most of all, make it a point to assure him every now and then that even when he’s doing something that’s not acceptable, you still love him and that he means so much to you. For instance, if he is about to do something once again that can harm him, you may say “No, I told you I cannot let you do that” and then gently reassure him that you still care for him by saying “I love you”. It’s that simple.
Baby Care for Your 19 Month Old
- Ensure that your little one gets around 12 to 14 hours of sleep a day and he has a safe and comfortable sleeping space.
- Try to limit his meal time to 20 minutes and snack time to around 10 minutes.
- Do not expect your child to respond well to all your instructions. Instead, try to work out an amicable solution that can elicit a positive response from him.
- Make sure that corners of coffee tables, cabinets and shelves are properly padded and electrical points are baby proofed.
- Gently tell him where climbing is allowed and where it is not. This may not stop him but will definitely give him an idea when you are likely to intervene and when you won’t.
- Provide him with plenty of liquids and fibre in his diet so that he doesn’t face constipation.
- This is a good time to give him a walker or a tricycle to move around, as the activity him physically to coordinate his leg muscles and balance better (with the walker).
- Never get tempted to buy toys meant for older children. Always give him age-appropriate toys, as he is still a toddler and might still have the habit of chewing or biting things.
- Since this is an age when a child’s first memories are formed, you may want to click pictures or capture videos of your baby now and then. And don’t forget to picture yourself and your little one in a single frame.
19 months is a time that is characterised by extremes, as your child will try to be ever more independent on one hand, and will require and expect a lot of love and attention on the other.
This means you will have to walk a tight rope, balancing not only providing your love and care for him by monitoring his well-being and safety closely but also giving him the space and freedom he needs to enthusiastically explore the world around.
Note: Each baby is different and therefore tends to grow at a different pace. Chances are that your little one may have crossed certain milestones already, or is probably a little behind on a few others, which is normal. If you still feel there is something of concern, do speak to your paediatrician/registered professional child healthcare provider.
