18-Month-Old: Milestones, Activities, Gear, Dad Tips, & More
Just a year and a half ago your baby couldn’t eat food, walk, talk, or have a tantrum. Now they’re all grown up and parenting takes on a new form. Welcome to toddlerhood.
Here’s a comprehensive guide to 18-month-old milestones, activities to do with your baby, what to expect with food and sleep, recommendations for toys and gear, ways to master being a dad, and more.
18-Month-Old Milestones
Walking independently and possibly running
Using their fingers to point at objects
Imitating words and sounds
Engaging in pretend play
Throwing and kicking a ball
Building towers with blocks
Able to say three or more single words
Begins to imitate two-word phrases, such as “no more”
Shows what he wants by pointing
Shakes head and says “no”
Scribbles with crayon
Identifies at least one body part by pointing
Follows one-step directions without gestures
Uses a pincer grasp and a palmar-supinate grasp
Turns book pages
Self Care Skills
Feeding Begins to use a spoon and fork and drinks from an open cup independently.
Cleans high chair and their face and hands after meals.
Toileting: Sits on the toilet/potty when placed there for a short time.
Brushes their teeth with help.
Activities To Help Your Child Thrive
Camping in the backyard. Camping in the backyard is an exciting and low-risk way to introduce your child to a true camping experience. Start by taking a nap in the tent during the day then work up to a full night’s sleep. Make some healthy s’mores, have fun with flashlights, and bring any familiar items your kid uses for sleep (nap mat, lovey, sleep sack, etc.). See the 5-7-year-old milestone guide for more info on the real thing. Takethemoutside.com has a great article on more tips and tricks when bringing your toddler camping.
Bubble wrap road. Tape a long piece of bubble wrap packaging to the ground and have your kid go nuts with this sensory exposure.
Freeze dance. Mix social play, dancing, and music with developmental skills of attention and gross motor coordination with a freeze dance game. Play your music of choice on your phone then “randomly” stop it mid-dancing.
Ice play. While we’re on the frozen theme, incorporate some ice. If the weather allows, put a bag of ice in a mini pool and let your kid explore both unique temperatures and textures. If it’s too cold then simple put ice in a baking pan or the batub, throw in some paint or some toys, and see where it goes.
Sleep
Typical sleep total per day: 11-14 hours
18-month-olds typically take 1 nap lasting 1-2 hours in the afternoon.
Red Flags
It’s important to note that babies develop at different paces. If you’re not seeing these 18-month-old milestones, reflexes, or patterns with sleep or food then talk to your pediatrician.
Stuff
Toys (with a purpose)
Here are some toys recommended by an occupational therapist to help your 2-month-old’s development.
A balance bike. Look for a bike with 10” wheels that has puncture-proof wheels like this one.
Blocks. Your choice but get them something to enter the phase of building and stacking: magnetic tiles, wooden blocks, building blocks, bristle blocks.
Gear (that you actually need)
A multipurpose kitchen tower. Get your kid in the kitchen early and often. Give them a love of food and help them be independent with cooking (and preparing their school lunches!) while being able to spend time doing stuff you’re already doing. This tower transitions into a chalkboard and a desk but if you’re short on space in the kitchen then opt for a folding one.
Minimalist shoes. Your kid is officially mobile which means he is probably wearing shoes. Instead of buying the standard kids shoes with lots of cushion,, consider buying the least restrictive shoes available, a.k.a. minimalist shoes, barefoot shoes, or zero-drop shoes. Our feet are incredible tools with each one containing 26 bones, 30 joints, and over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. If you put your child in the typical shoe, these supports never get the chance to work to their capacity and become strong. This can have long-lasting effects on their arches, hip and knee alignment, and gait (read this article for more). Use minimalist shoes and make a house rule to go barefoot whenever possible. Some shoe brands that have a minimalist line or are totally minimalist are Splay Shoes, Merrell, Vivo Barefoot, Xero Shoes, Robeez, and Bobux.
A potty! The time has come. Some suggest a very basic potty like the BabyBjörn one but we went with the racecar potty to align with my son’s passion. While you’re at it, grab a sturdy, non-skid stool to help them get to the sink for handwashing and a potty insert to help with the transition to the toilet.
Stainless steel kids’ utensils. Around 18 months your child should be able to safely coordinate using non-kiddified utensils. Bonus: less frustration with those enormous prongs on the kid forks. Opt for stainless steel to avoid any toxins or chemicals in plastic or other materials.
Dads
“We see a McDonald’s. We got so excited. We started chanting, ‘McDonald’s, McDonald’s, McDonald’s!’ And my dad pulled into the drive thru and we started cheering. And then, he ordered one black coffee for himself… and kept driving. My dad is cold-blooded.”
– John Mulaney
Dad focus
Change your mindset. Generally speaking, mindset can be broken down into growth-mindset and fixed-minset. In its most basic sense, the former means that you tend to think of obstacles as opportunities and the latter means you think that you are stuck with the cards that you were dealt.
The good news is that these mindsets aren’t permanently fixed but he bad news is that there’s no easy way to improve your mindset. My best tips are to:
Find a mentor. Find someone you truly admire, with a growth mindset, and spend more time learning from them.
Talk therapy. Find a psychologist or other talk therapist to help you along this path (and to address anything else that might be going on).
Read about hardship and success. My three recommendations are The Obstacle Is the Way, Resilience, and Man’s Search for Meaning.
Set goals. Make short-term and long-term goals that are difficult, yet attainable and worthy. Make action steps to achieve them and review them on a weekly basis.
Do a misogi. A Misogi, a concept Michael Easter talks about this practice in The Comfort Crisis, is a resetting of the brain and body. Every year, pick something that has a true 50% success rate and which you can’t die from doing it, and do it. Examples: fasting, a mountain hike, cold water immersion, a fitness test such as rucking.
Do a 30 day minset BootCamp. Peter Diamandis provides a free lesson on mindset called “30 Days To A Better Mindset"." He describes it as “A simple step by step guide to developing your mindset (the most powerful asset humans have).”
Dad tips
Make a checklist. Kids love helping and having purpose, especially around this age. Make a simple checklist (with icons instead of words) for your morning and nighttime routine and hang it up in their room. For example, make a morning checklist that includes getting dressed, playing, eating, taking a vitamin, and brushing teeth. Go a step further and laminate it and have them check off each task each time. They’ll love the visualization and you’ll love the time-saving aspect.
Encourage the word “yet.” Your toddler is becoming more and more aware of preferences and limitations. When they verbalize these (“I can’t do that” and “I don’t like that”), have them say the word “yet” after the statement. This builds a growth mindset and repeatedly reminds them that they have room for growth and opportunity.
Make a balance beam. Even if you don’t consider yourself handy, making a balance beam is simple and gets a big ROI for the next few years from your kid. Here is a good YouTube video on how to make one. Here is a very basic one and here is a YouTube video on a more advanced one.
Have a spray bottle and comb near the door. If their hair is long enough it will get wild enough. Have a glass spray bottle and a comb set by the door for a quick “car wash” on their way out.
Resources
Article:
What Nutrients Do Kids Need to Thrive? (Chris Kresser)
Podcast Episode:
Think Like a Child (Freakonomics)
Book:
Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need to Know to Do It Once and Do It Right by Jamie Glowacki
Be mindful with your quality time spent with your 18-month-old, celebrate the milestones, and remember that you’ve got it good.
Got any suggestions that worked for you and your baby at this age? Leave them in the comment section.
