Coping With The New Routine Of Toddlerhood
This is a contributed post.
The first few years of being a parent can be a pretty rocky time. It seems that the only constant is that things are constantly changing, and you can find your own routine switching up constantly to keep up with your baby. This is especially true when they go from being an infant to a toddler. Once they’re moving around, talking freely, and showing a lot more of their personality, you can expect some big changes in their routine, as well. Here, we’re going to look at a whole host of changes you can get ready for.
Growing Independent
One of the most surprising things to experience is that your child all of a sudden becomes a lot more self-driven and independent. They’ll be more likely to want to do things like choosing clothes, feeding themselves, and develop preferences that they can stick by. As such, once-predictable routines can become minefields or disruption and challenge. Things like getting dressed or leaving the house can become tantrum triggers, which can often hold you back from getting the day started. A good way to handle such tantrums is to learn to provide limited choices and a little extra time for them to make choices when they want to, but don’t have the vocabulary to fully express them yet. Annoying as tantrums can be, they are a sign of growth.
Developing Social Needs
Toddlers start to show a lot more interest in spending time with other children, and parents should learn to accommodate this. Starting with playdates, then moving into daycare and preschool, you’re going to need to adjust time to take them out of the house more often, and be ready for the energy demands it can have on them, as well, which can also change feeding and sleeping schedules. However, we’ll touch more on those later. A big part of accommodating new social interactions is how tiring they can be, and how toddlers often need quiet time to decompress after coming home.
Potty Training
While diapers are certainly likely to be an ongoing part of their life throughout the day, you’re going to want to gradually shift towards potty trips more and more often. These are typically scheduled around meals, naps, and when you’re heading out. However, during the training period, you might want to spend a lot more time hovering around the training potty to take advantage of opportunities to learn. Of course, accidents are common and can disrupt routines, but it’s important to be patient and, of course, to bring an extra change of clothes and cleaning wipes. Although your toddler’s interest in trying out potty training may wax and wane, you need to be consistent and flexible to encourage it whenever the chance comes.
Sleep Changes
With a baby, you typically let them sleep whenever they show a desire to. However, toddlers tend to show a preference for a tighter sleep routine. They might start taking only one nap a day instead of two, or even resist them entirely. You should try to avoid skipping naps; however, to avoid overtiredness and crankiness. Night wakings can also become more common as what disturbs a toddler's sleep shifts, and they’re more likely to need to get up to go potty, have teething pains, or to be constipated due to necessary changes in their diets Having the tools and tricks to soothe the various causes of sleep disruptions can take some learning, but it should eventually lead to more consistent sleeping through the night.
Feeding Times
Just as their sleep changes, their feeding habits and routines change, too, especially as they move to solid foods. With solid foods comes a shift towards more predictable, stable meal and snack times. Typically, three meals and two snacks a day, alongside family meal times, tend to work the best. This not only helps regulate their appetite but also improves their ability to eat socially, which will be very helpful as they head into preschool and then, eventually, school. Meals can take longer due to shifting preferences and the need to make time to practice self-feeding. You should try to avoid grazing throughout the day, as well, to help that structure fall into place more quickly.
Making Time For Play
With their growing bodies, toddlers seem to have endless energy. This might result in one exhausted parent, but it’s important to accommodate that need to play, given how important it is in the development of motor skills, coordination, communication, and confidence. Aside from giving them room and time to play with toys and join them in games of pretend, you should make time for outdoor play, dancing, and running games. If you don’t, all that extra energy is going to build up, making them more restless, irritable, and less likely to sleep throughout the night. Fit structured play opportunities like playground visits and toddler activity classes into your schedule to provide opportunities for various kinds of play.
Learning To Be Flexible
While certain aspects of a toddler’s life might become a lot more structured, they can also quickly enter periods of flux. An illness might require more bed rest. Growth spurts might cause sleepless nights. New preferences and skills can become time-consuming obsessions. While you should try to encourage routine when it comes to sleeping, dressing, eating, and the like, you should also be prepared to be a little more flexible so that you’re not stressed by these constant changes to the flow of daily life. Balance structure with responsiveness, and your child is more likely to become resilient while adhering to their developing schedule. Overreacting to delays and disruptions can make them stress out a lot more easily about day-to-day things.
A lot of parents can experience a strange mixture of pride and sadness. It’s wonderful to see your child growing up, developing their personality, and becoming more confident, but it’s easy to miss the little baby they used to be as well. With the tips above, you can at least be a little more prepared for what’s to come.
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