Developmental milestones: 18 months to 24 months

Encourage your child to have a conversation with you by mentioning the name of everyday objects when spending time together, for example, on the way to preschool, in the bath, when dressing, during a meal, and so on. Your child should become familiar with his or her body. When the child gets dressed and baths, you can practice and teach the child the names of the parts of the body. You can also read relevant stories to the child. At this stage, encourage your child to make an effort to tell you what he or she wants: when it looks like the child wants something – wait a moment and give him or her the opportunity to ask in words or gestures, based on age, even if you already understand what he or she wants.

You can hold your child in your lap, creating pleasant contact or eye contact, when reading. You do not have to read the exact text, or even finish the entire book. Story time is an opportunity to speak to each other. You can refer to the characters, the voices they make, the illustrations appearing in the book, and so on. You can also elaborate, ask questions and make a conversation that connects what happens in the book to everyday events.

You should encourage your child to perform simple actions alone: eat unassisted, help when dressing or undressing, perform physical activity including playing with balls, in the playground, ride a balanced bicycle, and so on. It may take time at first but patience pays off.

This is also the time to begin speaking with your child about toilet training. It is important to remember that toilet training must begin based on the child’s level of readiness, and when the family is available for the process. Do not begin toilet training if the child is not ready for the process. You can sit the child on the toilet without a diaper at a regular time, for example, after dinner or before a shower, for several minutes. By doing so, the child can gain experience in using the toilet.

For some children, this experience can be stressful. It is therefore important to do this gradually, while creating positive interaction with songs or recitations, and to provide positive reinforcement such as hugs, or statements like “good for you” (but do not give prizes).

To prepare for preschool, it is important to allow children to experiment, draw and scribble with various writing utensils, markers and paint. Colors can also be called by name and you can begin to use adjectives: this marker is long, the oil pastel is short, the paint is wet, the pencil is thin, and so on.

When playing together, encourage your child to play games involving imagination with familiar game items, while mimicking situations from everyday life. For example, “the doll does not feel well and is going to the doctor” or “the doll needs to shower and go to bed because it is late”.

There is no need to buy special games. You can use objects you have at home such as boxes, markers, dolls, blocks. You often find that out of all the games in the living room, children prefer playing with the drawer of the plastic boxes. You should play with them by matching similar types of objects, same colors in different objects, different sizes and more.

It is important to note your child's preferences and moods, and to adjust the activities and stimuli accordingly so that it will be pleasant. Occasionally, too much stimuli can be overwhelming. If the child looks away or shows signs of irritation and tiredness, try to ‘clean’ the area and reduce stimuli.