Your baby 12 to 18 months

Officially, your baby is now a toddler. His world will become a much more exciting place because not only is he up on two feet but he now has his hands free so he can move around and hold things at the same time. This is an exhausting time for parents - he will need careful watching at all times. His physical growth will begin to slow but his mental ability and language skills will take off. This is the time to explore, experiment and discover things for himself.

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	What your baby can do
	Language development
	How you can help
	Toys for this stage

What your baby can do

•   Some babies walk as early as nine months while others don’t take a step until 16 months or so. When he is ready your baby will walk. However, if he is not walking alone by 18 months talk to your GP or health visitor
•   He will deliberately drop or throw toys down to see where they go or to have you retrieve them; it’s a great game!
•   He will look in the right direction for toys which have rolled out of sight
•   He can point to the things he likes
•   He may show a preference for one hand, but uses both happily
•   He can hold a small toy in each hand
•   If you build one first, he can copy a two brick tower
•   He can hold a crayon in his fist and scribble to and fro
•   He will also enjoy covering himself, the highchair and the floor in food as he attempts to feed himself with a spoon. By now he will enjoy food as much because it can be squished as because it tastes good, and this sort of exploration is all part of your baby learning through play. Don’t be surprised if he becomes a picky eater around now

Language development

Now is the time for first words, though it may take a while for you to realise that he is saying the same word for the same thing. Babies do vary though; he may be too busy walking and exploring to do much with language yet.

•   His first words may be slow to come, but new ones will follow rapidly
•   He will begin to use words for things that excite him such as Dog, Mum, Ball
•   He can say between 6 and 20 recognisable words, although he understands many more
•   His pronunciation will be poor and often only you will understand him
•   He can point to parts of his body when you name them

•   Match what you say with what you do and with your facial expressions or gestures
•   Look at your child when you speak to him and leave him time to respond
•   Let your emotions shine through your words; they’ll have more impact that way: ‘Wow, look at that great big tower you’ve built’. ‘Oh no! Your tower’s crashed’

What he needs now is your presence, your inspiration and your gentle help when things go wrong.

•   Make believe toys: a telephone, some plastic food, a teddy. These encourage talking and imaginative play
•   Building bricks: he may build small towers of his own or prefer simply to knock yours down. Good for hand-eye co-ordination
•   Play-dough: fun for squishing. A rolling pin and a shaped cutter will extend play. He will enjoy watching you make things too
•   Push and pull-along toys: good for improving balance and co-ordination. Push alongs give confidence to early walkers while pull alongs are popular when your toddler realises he can walk backwards. Look for ones with a low wide base so they are less likely to tip over
•   First jigsaws: individual pieces with knobs on to make them easy to hold are ideal at this stage
•   Musical instruments: children enjoy joining in with making music. First instruments are those to shake or bang

There are no standard developmental tests for this stage.