Development milestones 15 to 18 months

Development milestones 15 to 18 months

[mme_highlight] Your toddler can now hold the cup and drink from it without spilling the contents, as well as chewing the food well. . Now he/ she can also walk without support and carry objects while walking.       A 15-18 month old child can make choices. He/ she can choose what to wear, eat or play.  [mme_highlight]

The home of a “15 to 18 months old child” is easily recognizable. Moms have a hard time keeping things organized. Open shelves and toy boxes are always a mess. It is sometimes difficult for parents to understand what their child needs. Indeed, your child is now recognizing you and expressing his/her love through words. You may be surprised to see how your child can now play balls and balance that glass of milk. If you have these experiences to share, your child is on the right track as far as developmental cycle is concerned.

For the better understanding of the developmental milestones, we will divide the skill-set into four sections: motor, cognitive, social and language skills.

Motor skills

Now your child has become physically more independent. Your toddler can now hold the cup and drink from it without spilling the contents, as well as chewing the food well. Some data related to food intake manners are described below.

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  • 55 % of 15 months old children can drink from a cup;
  • 90 % of 15 months old children can eat bread or biscuit without help;
  • 64 % of 15 to 18 months old children can eat with a spoon.

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Your child can recognize the objects and get pick them if asked to. Now he/ she can also walk without support and carry objects while walking.

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  • 97 % of 15 months old children can stand alone;
  • 95 % of 15 months old children can walk without support.

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Balancing is one skill they seem to have mastered in, so do not be surprised if you see your toddler building a wall with cubes. Children love balls and by now they can throw and pick them. You should be extra cautious as the toddlers can now open the closed doors.

Cognitive skills

A 15-18 month old child can make choices. He/ she can choose what to wear, eat or play. You can be surprised as to how much recognition capacity your child has developed. He /She can identify family members in the photographs and remember more things. They have developed a little insight about the life around them and understand the cause and effect relationship. So they know that when you turn off lights, it is dark. Do not be confused when your toddler does things over and over again. This is a skill that helps them to understand how something works polishing their problem-solving skill.

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Children at this age love imitating their parents and siblings:

  • 40 % of 15 months old children imitate parents’ activities and daily household routines.
  • 75 % of 18 months old children imitate parents’ activities and daily household routines.

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Language skills

Reading to your child everyday is a very healthy practice. Frequent use of words helps them to build vocabulary. Toddlers at this stage understand and respond to your simple directions such as standing up or sitting down. Children are very expressive with words and they figure out how to express better. Though their lexicon contains only 10-20 words, those faces express what is in their hearts.

Social Skills

Socializing, like the other skills, is updated on a daily basis. Children at 15-18 months can understand “you” and “me”. They are now interested in strangers and play with other children, though claim things that are not theirs. So words like “me” and “mine” are an important part of their vocabulary.

What should parents do to encourage their children development at this age?

In order to improve using of fingers, parents could encourage children to play a toy like a piano. Also, parents should teach children to make choices through simple games and ask children to make choices, for instance, choosing a toy among others. In addition, include your child in household routines and teach him/her to recognize objects and understand their function.

Identifying of body parts is a useful and interesting game. Also, imitation of familiar people and situations can be beneficial for your child’s development.

Risk factors: can autism be identified at 18 months?

Autism has gained significance in recent times. Children with autism do not need sympathy but they need opportunity to flourish. Years of research have brought in a tool that can help to assess the risk of autism in children at a very early age.  A brief evidence based understanding is presented below.

In 2000, Baird et al screened 16,235 children aged 18 months for childhood autism (CA) and studied them for 6 years, with further screening at 3 and 5 years. They used Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT) for the screening and identification of autism in children. At 18 months, nineteen cases of CA were identified using CHAT.
Children with other developmental disorders such as language disorders were also identified. VanDenHeuvel et al (2007) came to a conclusion that the use of CHAT can be a valuable tool to assess autism at an early stage in the life of the child.

Summary and Recommendations

  • Between 15 to 18 months, your child will show developmental progresses every day. Knowing what to expect makes it easier for you to recognize the progresses and help the child to achieve them.
  • Cognitive Development: your child begins making choices: between toys, food, clothes… Imitating behavior is frequent and should be encouraged at this stage.
  • Motor Development: child are able to drink from a cup, chews food well and is capable of using a spoon. Children become able of independently walking and even walking while carrying objects.
  • Social/Emotional Development: Your child plays with others, but frequently claims things that do not belong to her/him.
  • Language Development: the lexicon comprises about 10 to 20 words, but the child also expresses a lot with her/his face.
  • Each child has her/his own pace, but if you think your child is not developing adequately, seek for medical advice.

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References

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