What your child is doing

• Recognising himself/herself in photos
• Showing preference for friends, TV shows and books
• Being able to draw lines and dots and circles
• Having conversations both with you and when playing by themselves
• Understanding there are consequences to his/her actions

What not to worry about – regression

It’s very common for children of this age to want to be independent one minute and revert to being a baby the next. You may even find your child trying to drink from a baby bottle or act like one on the floor. It’s important to remember the world is scary places for a toddler especially when they start to learn life can be unpredictable, and creative play like this often helps reveal feelings that they can’t yet express in words.

How you can help your child at this age

1. Let your child help you with shopping, cooking, gardening and household chores. It makes them feel useful and part of the bigger world.
2. Encourage your child to learn to swim. “Even if your child didn’t do baby swim classes it’s never too late to learn to swim,” says Tracy Townend co founder of Puddle Ducks (www.puddleducks.com, “especially as children don’t learn to swim as a deliberate action until they are around three years old.”
3. Limit the amount of time your child watches TV and DVDs – 20-minute periods about three times a day is enough and be selective about what they are watching as they pick up more than you think.

Troubleshooting – potty training

“I’ve been trying to potty train my daughter since she was two. It’s been two months and she just won’t sit on the potty or toilet.”

“Very few children are ready to start potty training before the age of 2 years old,” says health visitor Liz Costagliola. “If you start too soon the process will just take longer and will only cause upset for your and your child. Don’t rush the process. If your child does manage to use the potty praise like mad. If, however, your child becomes distressed then she is not ready, so leave it a couple of months and start again.”

Next steps

Your child at 3 years