Few first-time parents have any idea of what behaviour to expect from a toddler. As a result, parents end up spending much of the time feeling guilty, inadequate, blaming themselves and believing they are the only parents who can't control their children. The truth is that although each child is different and behaviour can vary widely, the normal toddler is far from being the little angel you may have been imagining.
In an effort to help first time parents come to terms with what they are about to experience,
it should be noted that typical toddler behaviour will include varying degrees of the following:
- They will have little sense of what might be dangerous. They can be impulsive and unpredictable; even the normally sensible child is prone to doing the unexpected. All toddlers need close parental supervision.
- Toddlers crave attention, although some might be satisfied being near to their parents and be happy to receive whatever personal interest they get from mummy and daddy, others will insist on you answering to their every whim.
- Most toddlers (until the age of about three) do not like being separated from their parents. The toddler will prefer to play near his mother and will not stand mum being out of sight for long. For most, the first meeting with an unfamiliar child minder can be a source of stress, especially being left alone in the same room.
- Toddlers will be completely oblivious to the mountains of mess they create. It will be very unlikely that you will be able to convince junior to pick up his toys after he’s finished playing with them.
- Little people tend to be busy people. Some might be extremely active and rarely sit still, others will just be active.
- Tend to be stubborn and wilful; some are quite militant but others will bend to reason.
- Small children show little respect for other people's property. Ornaments may get smashed and cupboards rearranged. For some reason, unknown to science, toddlers also manage to spread a sticky substance onto almost everything they touch.
- There will be endless questions, often the same ones over and over again, with very little real interest in the answer.
- Toddlers are extremely sensitive to emotions in their environment. They can sense upset, excitement and tension in their environment. A sound sleep pattern can be upset by illness, holidays or stress. Often quite a minor alteration to the environment can make the child who was fully toilet trained start to leak.
- They will constantly change their minds. One moment they might like something, the next hate it. Don’t plan to far in the future according to what the young one enjoys today.
- Constant interruptions of adults are a certainty. It’s not that the child is rude, it’s just that their heads are so full of what they perceive as being important information, that it just bursts out.
- Finally, little children display an unbelievably honed skill of being able to make their mothers feel inferior. Many will be as good as gold when in the care of others, keeping their more demonic side in reserve for their parents. Other toddlers will behave perfectly for their fathers but terrorise their mothers. This is because, more often than not, the child has had more time to study the vulnerabilities of its mother and knows exactly how to hit a raw nerve.
Of course not all children will be little terrors. Some will be wonderfully natured and mild mannered, but this is the exception rather than the rule. The good thing is that once you know what to expect and as you realise that this is normal toddler behaviour, it becomes so much easier to deal with.
