Your kid sure is cute. But what's the deal with all her bizarre behaviors -- stripping naked, throwing food, and climbing on just about everything? We went to the experts to help you get a clue.By Beth Howard from Parents Magazine
Q. Why does my toddler love being naked so much?
Baby, he was born that way -- and sometimes it feels good to goau naturel. It could also be that a tag is scratching him, he's feeling hot, or it happens to be the perfect moment to do a dance (without the constraints of clothes). "Toddlers don't know social mores, so if they want out of their clothes they simply take them off," says Parents advisor Jenn Berman, Psy.D., author ofSuperBaby: 12 Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start in the First Three Years. Plus, once they can remove a shirt, diaper, or socks, they're excited to practice these skills. As long as your kid isn't mooning the mail carrier, let it go. Be careful how you react: If you crack up when he enters the dining room in his birthdaysuit, he may decide it's a great way to get attention during your next book-club meeting.
Q. Why is my 2-year-old determined to climb every last piece of furniture?
Baby, he was born that way -- and sometimes it feels good to goau naturel. It could also be that a tag is scratching him, he's feeling hot, or it happens to be the perfect moment to do a dance (without the constraints of clothes). "Toddlers don't know social mores, so if they want out of their clothes they simply take them off," says Parents advisor Jenn Berman, Psy.D., author ofSuperBaby: 12 Ways to Give Your Child a Head Start in the First Three Years. Plus, once they can remove a shirt, diaper, or socks, they're excited to practice these skills. As long as your kid isn't mooning the mail carrier, let it go. Be careful how you react: If you crack up when he enters the dining room in his birthdaysuit, he may decide it's a great way to get attention during your next book-club meeting.
Q. Why is my 2-year-old determined to climb every last piece of furniture?
Toddlers aren't only honing their motor skills when they go mountaineering in the living room; they're also displaying curiosity. "They want to see what things look like from another perspective," Dr. Berman explains. Climbing bureaus and bookcases is your child's attempt to explore out-of-reach items that she wants to touch and play with.
But it's also a good way to get hurt. In fact, a 2009 study from the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio, showed that 14,700 kids are injured each year by furniture tip-overs -- often from climbing. The takeaway: If your kid is constantly attempting to reach new heights, step up your childproofing and supervision until the phase passes. Attach large furniture, such as dressers and bookshelves, to the wall using safety straps or L-brackets, place TVs on a low, wide base and strap them to a stable stand or wall, and keep appliance cords tucked away so your child can't pull heavy things down onto herself.
Q. Why does my child fling food across the kitchen?
But it's also a good way to get hurt. In fact, a 2009 study from the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio, showed that 14,700 kids are injured each year by furniture tip-overs -- often from climbing. The takeaway: If your kid is constantly attempting to reach new heights, step up your childproofing and supervision until the phase passes. Attach large furniture, such as dressers and bookshelves, to the wall using safety straps or L-brackets, place TVs on a low, wide base and strap them to a stable stand or wall, and keep appliance cords tucked away so your child can't pull heavy things down onto herself.
Q. Why does my child fling food across the kitchen?
At first, your child probably does it because he's curious about what will happen if he rolls Cheerios off the tray. "He learns, 'I made this happen. I can have an impact on my environment,'" says Marni Roosevelt, assistant professor of child development at Los Angeles Valley College, in Valley Glen, California. But what starts out as a lesson in gravity can quickly turn into a test of limits. If you always pick food up off the floor, your child will start thinking, "Mommy responds to what I do. I can get her attention -- this is fun!" So calmly say something like this instead: "Food is not for throwing. If you're tossing food, you must be finished. Time to get down from the high chair." And then follow through.
Q. My kid insists on hearing the same book, song, or DVD over and over again. Doesn't this get boring for her?
Q. My kid insists on hearing the same book, song, or DVD over and over again. Doesn't this get boring for her?
Not really. Toddlers love the familiar and the predictable. "Repetition gives little ones a sense of comfort. They like knowing what comes next," says Shannon Choe, a child-development specialist in Philadelphia. While it may be mind-numbing for you, knowing a story backward and forward gives your child a sense of mastery, and the vocabulary-building it promotes is early preparation for learning to read.
To see the reason behind more bizarre toddler behaviors
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