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

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

Heh. My brother still only uses two word sentences and he's eighteen...

Thank you for the info, it's all very useful. Especially the stroller thing, I hadn't even thought of that! And she'll need a carseat too of course. I think I need to give John and Rodney a neighbour with grown kids they can borrow stuff from. It would be a little difficult to bring all those things on a plane, wouldn't it?

[busaikko]

People with kids are generally pretty well networked, so it's easy to get stuff *g* (I know this because when we visit my parents [who got rid of baby stuff, like, 30 years ago], there's always 'this stroller we got from Katherine' and 'the highchair from Goodwill' and 'some toys from a tagsale' and 'these great baby clothes from the woman just around the corner whose twins are 4 now'. We never need to bring anything, which is great!)

[busaikko]

Oh! And ask me if you need stories about kids and airplanes and jet lag! (We live in Japan; my family's 2 flights and about 14 hours away, not counting layovers. I once spent 5 hours in Dallas airport with a 1 year old....)