Promoting healthy behaviors in a toddler can be quite challenging. Do you know what to do when your toddler disobeys or throws a tantrum? This post is all about how to promote and instill healthy toddler behaviors with patience and consistency while navigating typical testing limits.
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The toddler years overflow with growth, creativity, curiosity — and challenging behaviors. As your child interacts more independently with the world around 18 months to 3 years old, you have the opportunity to gently guide them toward positive habits that impact physical, mental, and social development.
Here are 9 tips to help you in promoting healthy behaviors in your toddler.
1. Promoting Healthy Behaviors by Encouraging Physical Activity
Promoting healthy behaviors in your toddler starts with active play. Active play promotes large motor skill mastery, builds strong bones/muscles, and enhances balance and coordination. Indoor ideas: dance to music, march obstacle courses, play balloon tennis. Outdoor fun: blow bubbles to pop, relay races, hop animal footsteps. Engage in activities together then narrate their play to support creativity. Limit seated screen time to avoid unnecessary inactivity.
Be careful not to overdo it, though! An overly exhausted toddler tends to forget all the rules learned and is much harder to redirect into better decisions.
2. Emphasize Proper Hygiene
It’s funny that we humans tend to act nicer if we are cleaner with neater clothes and shoes. As much as possible, avoid having your toddler wear stained clothes and help your toddler to “like” feeling clean (for example: always clean around the mouth after a meal).
Kids learn by mimicking adults’ actions. Narrate steps as you wash your hands properly before eating, after using the bathroom, returning home, etc. Have toddler “help” brush teeth twice per day using training toothpaste and brush. Talk through blowing noses when needed and discarding soiled tissues appropriately. Use a fun bubble bath using bath toys like these or these or crayons to draw on the bathtub to motivate bathing and address hygiene basics.
3. Promoting Healthy Behaviors by Modeling Healthy Eating
Let your toddler observe you selecting and enjoying wholesome foods. Present balanced meals/snacks with fruits, vegetables, proteins, and whole grains making funny faces with the food. Allow exploration of new textures and flavors through messy play with edible finger paints or gelatin sculptures. Minimize sugar and remind that treats are “sometimes” foods best balanced with nutritious choices.
4. Encourage Self Care Skills
Toddlers thrive when granted some autonomy over meeting age-appropriate needs. Offer clothing/shoe choices supporting dress-up independence and potty training readiness. Designate accessible healthy snacks/drinks and unbreakable utensils/dishware to advance fine motor skills. Offer tasks like bringing his/her blanket for resting or wet cloth for face/hand washing. Praise all efforts!
5. Promoting Healthy Behaviors by Strengthening Social Capabilities
Enroll in library story hours, gym tumbling classes, or play groups facilitating peer interactions. Teaching role-playing manners, sharing toys, greeting people, voicing feelings. Read books on emotions and friendships. Start by limiting play dates to one child at a time. Always supervise closely to model conflict resolution and reinforce kind behaviors.
6. Curb Testing Limits Behaviors
Commonly testing boundaries manifests in whining, grabbing forbidden items, ignoring instructions, or throwing fits between 18 months and 3 years old. Patiently remind your toddler of the rules and acceptable conduct. Try involving them in solutions by providing appropriate redirecting options when challenges appear. Most behaviors fade with consistency, empathy, and maturity learning self-regulation.
7. Use Positive Reinforcement
When children hear “no” or “don’t”, they focus on forbidden behavior without redirecting to preferred actions. Instead, state suggestions positively. For example, with running indoors gently say, “Walking feet indoors please” while demonstrating a slow walk. Congratulate all efforts with descriptive praise and hugs. This motivates desired habits.
8. Remain Responsive and Patient
Tolerate some crankiness and tantrums compassionately by acknowledging toddler feelings surrounding hunger/overtiredness/overstimulation. Interrupt prolonged meltdowns by relocating distraught toddlers to calm spots for soothing lullabies, deep breathing, and reiterating house rules/boundaries. Displaying empathy, consistency, and patience shapes social awareness and self-discipline.
9. Model Healthy Device Usage
When screens entertain toddlers, balance with educational shows and apps promoting creativity over passive consumption. Select programming facilitating physical participation like dancing or stretching together. Limit viewing to an hour daily since excessive exposure correlates with delayed skill-building. Disable autoplay to avoid unintended overuse and establish device-free family zones/times.
Conclusion
This post was all about promoting healthy behaviors in toddlerhood. It can be quite challenging but it is not impossible. The toddler years are full of wonder and growth, but also plenty of challenges for both parent and child. Mastering self-regulation skills often tests our patience, by focusing on positive reinforcement we can set our developing children up for success. Model healthy choices, encourage independence balanced with structure, provide opportunities for play and socialization, and demonstrate empathy when conflicts arise – your efforts now promote healthy behaviors and resilience that your toddler can carry with them for life. Remember to praise their efforts and yours during the process! With consistent nurturing care in these formative years, together we can equip even the busiest toddlers with the behaviors and practices that become the building blocks for their future health, relationships, and well-being.
DISCLAIMER: This post is not sponsored by the products shown and talked about in this post. We mentioned them here because these products were used and were extremely helpful while parenting toddlers. We hope they can help you with your journey as well! The links for the products mentioned above are Amazon affiliate links, and if you use them we will earn a commission by Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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