What to Expect: Twelve Months
As your baby reaches the one-year milestone, new challenges and developments arise. This guide offers essential tips to help you navigate feeding, daily routines, dental care, and safety, ensuring your toddler's growth and well-being.
FAMILY CHECK-IN
At this stage, it's crucial to establish a supportive environment and ensure all caregivers are aligned on routines and safety.
Think about joining a toddler playgroup or taking a parenting class.
Make sure all caretakers provide active play, use your discipline methods, and provide healthy meals.
All places that your child stays should be safe.
Take time for yourself.
Spend time with your family and friends.
FEEDING
Encourage self-feeding and provide a balanced diet with healthy meals and snacks.
Support and encourage self-feeding and be patient as your child learns.
Give your child a small plate and cup for eating and drinking.
Offer healthy foods in 3 meals each day plus 2 to 3 snacks, evenly spaced.
Avoid offering your child any small airway-sized foods—hotdogs, grapes, cherries.
Avoid serving hard foods that can cause choking—raw carrots and celery, popcorn, nuts.
You provide healthy meals and snacks, but let your toddler decide what and how much to eat.
All caregivers should be on the same page regarding meals and routines.
DAILY ROUTINES
Consistency in daily routines, including naps and bedtime, fosters stability and security for your child.
Offer praise for following directions.
Keep directions, rules, and tasks age-appropriate and straightforward.
Try not to hit, spank, or yell at your child.
Use distraction and redirection when your child is upset; steer them toward something they like that is appropriate.
Play with and read to your child often.
At 12 months, your toddler should have at least one nap a day.
Set a bedtime and make the hour before loving and calm, with reading, singing, and a favorite toy.
TV, computers, tablets, and smartphones are not appropriate at this age
Consider creating a family media plan to set prescribed screen time maximums based on age.
DENTAL CARE
Begin regular dental care by brushing twice daily and scheduling a dental checkup.
Take your child to the dentist when around 12 months old.
Brush your toddler’s teeth twice daily with a soft toothbrush. Use a tiny smear of fluoride toothpaste (no more than a grain of rice).
SAFETY CHECK-IN
Prioritize your toddler's safety with proper car seat use, home safety measures, and emergency planning.
Safety In The Car and On the Road
Never put a toddler in the front seat of a vehicle with passenger airbags.
Keep your toddler rear-facing in an approved convertible or 3-in-1 car seat until maximum height or weight restrictions indicate a need to switch to forward-facing. Use the back seat. In most cases, this will be past their second birthday.
Safety Around Water, Sun, and Chemicals
Keep poisons, medicines, and cleaning products locked out of your toddler’s reach.
Program poison control numbers into all phones. Call your healthcare provider if you are worried your toddler has swallowed something. DO NOT make your toddler vomit.
Keep your toddler within arm's reach when they are near or in water.
Empty buckets, pools, and tubs when you are finished using them
Never leave your toddler unattended in the bathtub, even with a bath seat or ring.
When you go out in the sun, put a hat on your toddler and apply sunscreen with SPF of 15 or higher to exposed skin. Limit time outside when the sun is strongest (11:00 am to 3:00 pm).
Safety in the Home and Emergency Planning
Make sure TVs, furniture, and other heavy items are secure so that your toddler can’t pull them over.
Place gates at tops and bottoms of stairs. Install operable window guards for the second story and higher windows. Operable, meaning an adult can open the window in an emergency.
Keep furniture away from windows.
Keep cords, latex balloons, plastic bags, and small objects such as marbles and batteries away from your toddler. Cover all electrical outlets.
Watch your toddler closely while they play with pets. Keep your toddler away from the pet while the pet is eating.
Never leave young brothers and sisters in charge of your toddler.
Have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms on every floor. Test monthly and change batteries yearly.
Make a family escape plan in case of fire in your home.
Conclusion
As your baby reaches the significant milestone of 12 months, the foundations you set now will influence their growth and well-being in the years ahead. By establishing healthy routines, fostering independence in feeding, prioritizing dental care, and ensuring safety, you're equipping your toddler with the tools they need to thrive. Embrace this period of rapid change with patience and adaptability, knowing that your efforts will help your toddler flourish as they continue to explore the world around them.
