Your Preschooler Month 30

At two and a half your curious toddler may have begun to show an interest in numbers and letters and be able to identify shapes and colours. He may also be able to point to photographs and identify people (Look Grandma!) or to objects and describe what they are. What’s important this month is his interest in learning and his ability to do so. Your two and a half year old should also be adding words to his vocabulary each month and have about 1,000 words by his third birthday. Your toddler will probably make a lot of mistakes but resist the urge to laugh when he says ‘ungabrella’ instead of umbrella and instead echo him back with the right way to say the word.

 

Is potty training on the agenda this month? Or, perhaps you started some time ago. If so, you may have already had some success! If not, don’t worry, it will happen. Although some children may have started potty training earlier, a majority of children are just beginning to understand the process around this age. Still, other children may not be ready for more several months. If you are just now starting the potty training process, keep in mind that you must be patient. Some children catch on rather quickly and will master using the potty in only a few months while others may take a year or more to be trained. It all depends on the child and their physical and cognitive skills. 

 

Physically, a child must be ready for potty training. This means that they must be able to hold their urine. If you see your child squirming as if they have to go, this is a good indication that they are physically ready for potty training. The cognitive skill necessary for potty training success is the ability to know when they have to go and be able to react to it. This part is a bit more difficult to accomplish for many children. And since they have not had to think about such a thing before, it can take a while to get the timing down.