Temper Tantrums

It’s Mandy again! J This week I am going to be talking about temper tantrums. Kids usually start throwing temper tantrums when they are between 1 and 3 years old. Temper tantrums are common between boys and girls. They are a natural part of development, so they don’t always have to be looked at negatively. Tantrums usually range from whining and crying to screaming, hitting, kicking, and holding their breath.

Kids throw tantrums when they want to do something but can’t achieve it. Imagine if an adult was trying to do something but couldn’t do it no matter how hard they tried. They would get pretty mad too. Throwing a tantrum is how a child expresses their emotions.

Tantrums are common during the second year of life. At this time children are acquiring language skills. They understand more than they can express. They get frustrated when they are trying to communicate with someone and they can’t understand what the child wants or needs. Imagine not being able to communicate with someone, most people would get very frustrated. Children usually stop having as many tantrums as their language skills increase.

Try to avoid temper tantrums before they even happen. Make sure the child isn’t acting up because he or she isn’t getting enough attention. Try to catch the child being good and reward them with positive attention. Also try to give the child control over some little things. Give them a choice of which juice they want to drink so that they don't just get apple juice for example so that they can’t just reply with a “no.” Also know the child’s limits. If they are tried don’t take them shopping or to run an errand.

I find this advice very helpful. My 18 month old daughter has been starting to throw tantrums. When she is trying to do something and I take her away from it or tell her no she will kick, hit, or sometimes even bite. I know these things are common but I really don’t like that she does these things. I really think that this advice will help me out also.

Giving up the bottle

Hey, it’s Mandy again. This week I am going to be talking about bottle breaking. The suggested age to wean a baby from the bottle is 12 months. However, a lot of mothers admit that they didn’t do this. Most moms wait until about 18 months to 2 years of age to substitute the bottle with a Sippy cup.

I have had some good advice and tips to help out with bottle breaking, so I am going to share them with everyone. One thing to do is to reserve bottles for naps or bedtime, do this so that the child doesn’t get too full off of milk which will make them not want to eat their meals. Another thing that someone could do is give the baby a Sippy cup with a soft nipple like top. Also, don’t use the Sippy cup for just juice and water; also put things like milk and formula in them so that the baby realizes that these drinks don’t have to come from a nipple. Another thing to keep in mind is not to give the baby a cup in bed because if they fall asleep with a bottle in their mouth this can cause their teeth to rot.

I admit that I am one of the mothers that didn’t take the bottle away at 12 months. My daughter uses a Sippy cup but still needs a bottle to go to sleep. I found the advice very helpful and I will use it to help me break my daughter from the bottle as well.

Potty Training

Potty training can be very stressful, but the key word is patience. Many kids become interested in potty training around age 2, others may not be ready until they are about 2 and a half. Don’t try to rush things, starting too early may make it take a little longer.

Signs that a child may be ready to potty train are if they are interested in a potty chair or wearing underwear. If they can ask simple questions, if they stay dry for 2 or more hours during the day and if they wake from naps dry. Some more signs are if the child is comfortable in wet or dirty diapers and if they can pull there pants down and back up again.

Some ways to encourage potty training are to place a potty chair in the bathroom. Also try to place a removable seat on top of the toilet. Also encourage the child to sit on the potty chair. Help the child understand how to talk about the bathroom correctly. Use terms that make it clear to understand.

If there are any signs that the child needs to go take them to the bathroom as soon as possible. Stay in the bathroom with them the whole time they are in there. Also take them many times throughout the day and sit them on the potty. Show them that it is a good thing.

My daughter is 18 months old and I have started to try potty training. She is very interested in sitting on the potty. She also lets me know when she has a wet or dirty diaper. She will sit on the potty and say “pee” but not do anything. She hasn’t used the potty yet but she is getting close. I just have to remember to be patient.                                                                              

Talking and Communicating

This week I am going to be writing about when babies should start talking. No one really knows for sure what age they will be when they say their first word, but by the time they are a year old they will probably say about 3 or 4 words. Sometimes babies will start talking sooner than this. When a baby is around 6 months old he or she may say words such as “mama” or “dada” but may not really know the meaning of the word.

From birth to 3 months old a baby is learning to communicate with people. At this age the baby will communicate with its parents by crying. A baby can let people know when something is wrong or just when they need someone by crying.

At 4 to 6 months old a baby communicates with its parents by cooing or smiling. Babies usually start babbling a lot at this age. Even though cooing and babbling isn’t really talking or using words babies do this to learn sounds that they will use when they actually start talking.

7 to 12 month old babies start using the receptive language. At this age they will start to understand what some words mean. Babies may now understand instructions such as the word “no.” Babies at this age may wave bye or even say bye. They really start to blossom at this age.

My daughter did a lot of babbling. She started to say “mama” and “dada” when she was around 5 months old. From then on she really started saying more words. By the time she was a year old she knew about 5 different words. Now that she is about 18 months old she knows a lot of words. She can even put more than one word together. The three latest words she started saying were “thank you”, “please”, and “sorry.” Be patient when waiting on the baby to talk, it will happen and eventually their won't be a way to get them to stop.

Teen Parenting: 17 months

Hi, my name is Mandy. I am a teen parent. I am 17 years old and I have a 17 month old baby girl. I love to write about teen parenting, I think that it is a great way to connect with other teen parents and to help each other out. In my blog I am going to write about some of my experiences and also write about things that I can learn from too. Since my daughter is now 17 months old I am going to begin by writing about the milestones of a 17 month old.

At 17 months babies are watching everything their parents do. They want to do the things everyone else is doing and go the places their parents go. My daughter is really funny, every time anyone in the house coughs or makes any noise she tries to do the same thing. They also love to climb things at this age such as steps, chairs, boxes, and many other things. They are growing more independent and may fuss a little if someone tries to help them back down. They feel that they can do things on there own. They also love a lot of attention. When they do things they want everyone to watch them and applaud them if they do something good. 17 months can be a very fun and exciting age, or maybe even a little scary.