Toddler Monthly Notes: Your 17-Month-Old

Separations & that special blankie

Has your toddler yet chosen a special teddy or blankie to help him weather life’s more stressful moments, like your leaving him with a babysitter or taking him for shots? If it hasn’t already, that special lovey or ‘comfort’ object will become one of the most important, if not the most important items in your household for some time to come.

Somewhere between the ages of 15 & 19 months, a toddler becomes capable of forming a mental image of you that he can conjure up when you’re around. Unfortunately, that mental image may not always be sufficient to sustain him emotionally during even the briefest separation like you need to run upstairs to grab a diaper.

A comfort object won’t magically stop child’s tears or prevent your child from feeling anxiety, but once your’re away, it can make your absence that much more tolerable.If she can’t always rely on you to be next to her at every waking moment, well then your child may as well turn to the comfort object.

To enhance your toddler’s comfort factor when you’re not around, encourage your child to use the object for role-play. Say,”Time for Teddy to go to sleep.” Together, tuck the teddy inside a blanket, read him favourite book & give him a hug & kiss. Then allow him to help you turn off the lights & say good night.

Let your child take the comfort object along with him on those errands & trips that can seem disconcertingly unpredictable to your toddler. If you deprive him of a comfort object, you send a message that he’ll just have to cope when he’s feeling uncomfortable or you’re not around. Your child is unlikely to outgrow his object of affection at any time soon.

More comfort

Sometimes, it can seem as though your 17-month-old is on a roller-coaster ride with his emotions- deliriously happy one moment , cranky & distressed the next. That’s perfectly normal & what he needs is for you to stay close to him on that ride. At 17month, your child obviously has an intense need for a great deal of attention & affection from you. Here are few more ways to achieve that:

* Graduate to hide & seek. The simple peek-a-boo game that your child adored as a baby does’nt mean that it does’nt appreciate it any more.Chase your toddler from one room to the next. Act extremely surprised & delighted to see him.

* If you’re pregnant, feel free to talk about the new baby coming. Your 17 month old may not comprehend the event, there’s no harm in talking casually about it & sharing books with your toddler that may help familiarize the concept of becoming a big brother.

Hanz’s Share : The Lion, the soft cuddly toy & 2 pillows are Baby Hambali’s comfort object. Orang tua2 panggil bantal busuk, kan? The bantal is more towards sleeping & substitute of Lion at his Nursery as we don’t want him to bring the Lion there due to many reasons. But, to other places, yes, we bring the Lion.It does help him to understand as sometimes, we use the The Lion to teach. For example if he is reluctant to sleep, we said out loud,”Lion nak tidur.Adik tak nak tidur dengan Lion?” This gesture, to the extent, he handed his Lion to my boob so the Lion can get fair share of Nenen as well. Hilarious!! But, it does make sense.