Research help: Toddlers

[zinnith]

Progress report for sgabigbang: 36k.

Now I'm getting to the point where I need the help from the mommies and daddies out there again. That baby I asked about a while ago? Well, she has grown. She's now a two-year-old, and I have questions concerning toddlers.

- What do they eat? Baby food? Adult food in suitable pieces?
- What kind of vocabulary do they have? Can you have a simple conversation with them? Would people other than their parents be able to understand them?
- Sleeping habits. Do they need to nap during the day? How many hours of sleep does the average two-year-old need?
- Anything else you think I need to know to write a believable toddler.

I realise that the development differs a lot from child to child (I asked my mother and it turned into a long discussion comparing me and my siblings. Apparently, they had much trouble potty training me. TMI, mum!) So any stories about your kids or kids you know or just kids in general will be extremely helpful to me. Hey, if we could build a dog together, we should be able to build a child, right?

Comments

[ariadne83]

My niece (just over two):

Gets up at 7am, has one-hour naps at 10 and 2.
Breakfast: toast.
Small snack after morning nap and afternoon nap. Crackers and hummus, fruit. That sort of thing.
Lunch (11:30 ish)/Dinner(5:30 ish) type of food: pasta and veges.

Then she has a bath, bedtime stories, and brushes her own teeth. She goes down for the night at 7pm and sleeps through until morning.

I also used to work at a daycare for under-threes. They had a similar schedule to my niece, except that the toddlers only had one nap, from about 1-3pm.

One particular thing I've noticed about toddler vocabulary is that they tend to refer to themselves in the third person when they're in the 2 - 2 1/2 years range e.g. my niece will say "Caitlin do it" if she wants to do a task herself, and refers to photos of herself as "Caitlin", not "me". And she's not old enough to realize that her parents have names other than Mummy and Daddy.

Yes, people other than her parents can understand her, but it's easier for me to figure things out from context, sometimes, that to figure out her pronunciation.

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

Ooh, the third person thing is good, I'll definitely use that! And I actually remember what an enormous discovery it was for me to find out that Mum and Dad actually had names of their own :) I don't remember how old I was but I think it was about the same time I learned how to read so between three and four I think.

Thank you for the help!