Parenting Tip for Toddler

How to involve your toddler in their personal care

Toddlers need to do things in order to learn. That's why he's into everything and always on the go. Have you noticed how hard it is to get him to be still when it's time to get washed and dressed? Why not make it more fun and help him learn, by enabling him to do it himself tiny step by tiny step?

Here are a few of the benefits of involving your toddler in their personal care:

• Enjoying the quality time spent together
• Encouraging Independence and learning valuable skills
• Cooperation and willingness get the task done

Parenting tips for toddlers on dressing

By breaking tasks into tiny steps and letting them practice, toddlers are gradually able to learn how to dress themselves. Even one year olds can be involved in getting themselves dressed! (This is not in order to free the adults from dressing him.) By teaching your child how to dress himself, you help his quest for what Maria Montessori called self-formation. This lady paid attention to how a child feels about himself after an event. For example if an adult puts on a child's shoe, the child feels helpless and learns that he cannot do it by himself. However if the adult involves the child in the activity by, for instance, holding the shoe open and asking him to put his own foot into it, the child feels empowered that he can do something for himself.

Letting children make choices about what to wear is now well known. But the need to limit the options for young children is not so well understood. It's best to give toddlers just two choices. If she has the option of two whole outfits - it's helpful if they mix and match. The ability to reason only develops by the age of six years old so we need to make sure all the options are appropriate for weather and occasion.

Parenting tip for your toddler: To help your toddler feel more in control of the process, display both options in the order of dressing on low shelves or on the floor.

Also have a think... how easy are your child's clothes to get on? The best are trousers (pants) with elastic all around the waist and T-shirts and sweaters that fit easily over your toddler's head.

Parenting tip for your toddler: Think, is there a step I'm taking away from my child that she could do herself? Prepare the item, let her do it and wait for her response.

Here are some simple 'games' to play with your toddler while dressing. He may surprise you with how much he can do!

Ask him to find the item you want next from the line of clothing you set out.

Ask him what come next?

Bunch up his vest (onesy) or T-shirt, give it to him and encourage him to put it over his head. Hold the arm holes open and it'll be easy for him to pop his arms through. Then if you point out the rim, he can pull and T-shirt down.

Bunch his sock up and placing it over his toes let him pull it along his foot. You'll have to get it over his heel for quite a while and if it's not too tight, he could pull it up to his ankle. After he's practised this for a while you hand the bunched up sock for your toddler to put on. I would wait until he's at least 3 years old or interested before asking him to bunch up his socks.

Form a ring with each trouser (pant) leg and ask him to help you by pushing his leg though one by one.

Loosen up his shoes and pull the tongue right out so it's easy to slip on. First hold them open encouraging him place his foot in. Then he's good at that turn the shoe around and place it next to the appropriate foot.

Also remember to widen your toddler's vocabulary by talking about what your both doing.

Parenting tip for your toddler: A little struggle is good for children to develop the necessary skills . But when this turns into frustration you'll know to step in.

Other aspects of personal care

As long as your toddler's hairbrush or comb is small and soft enough, your toddler can have a go with that too. The last parenting tip for your toddler on this page is to play the 'your turn.... my turn' game. That teaches her a very important social skill too! This can be extremely useful during teeth cleaning, dressing, tidying, baking and gardening... anytime really!

Have fun and remember patience will reward you :-)

Now your turn... click from Parenting Tip for Toddler to Toddler Parenting