12 to 15 Months old Baby
Your baby is full of himself and full of fun! He is walking now and his environment is open for his exploration. As he learns to walk, that becomes the dominant goal in his life. Language may take a back burner for a month or two. But don't worry if he's trying to walk more than talk! As soon as he is walking, his desire to learn to talk will be back stronger that ever. He will begin to copy your words, and his words will sound something like what you said. He will also use gestures to communicate. He will point and he may shrug his shoulders when you ask him something he doesn't know. He can now follow simple directions even those with two parts. He may start having some temper tantrums. If you ignore them, they will usually fade away.
Feeding your baby: Your toddler needs foods from the same basic nutrition groups that you do, just in different amounts:
| Food Group from The Food Guide Pyramid | Recommended Servings |
| Meat, fish, poultry, eggs | 2 servings |
| Dairy products | 3 servings |
| Fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C | 1 or more servings |
| Dark green, orange fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin A | 1 or more servings |
| Other fruits and vegetables, including potato | 3 or more servings |
| Breads, cereal grains, rice, and pasta | 6 or more servings |
By this point, she should be able to eat just about anything the rest of the family is eating. Just try to avoid extra-spicy or extra-sweet foods. And make sure anything you give her is mashed or cut into tiny pieces.
This is the time when your toddler will want to start feeding herself. Be sure to have plenty of unbreakable plates, cups, and spoons and forks around, but don’t always expect her to use them. At about one year, your baby should be turning in her bottle for a cup.
- Try to get your child into a routine, with meals and snacks served at about the same time every day.
- Give her smaller portions of food than what you would eat. For instance, give one tablespoon of food for every year of her age.
- Give your child less than you think she’ll eat, and let her ask for more.
- Don’t force your child to clean her plate. If she says she’s had enough, respect that. Forcing her to finish those last bites may make her overeat, or develop an unhealthy attitude about food.
- Even though play time may build your child’s appetite, give her a little quiet time before she eats. She’ll eat better if she’s relaxed.
- Stay close by your child as she eats in case she starts to choke.
- Offer foods that appeal to children, like cut-up raw vegetables and other finger foods.
- Instead of giving your child a sugary snack for a reward or as a bribe for good behavior, give her extra attention instead. Along these lines, don’t hold dessert over her head as a reward for cleaning her plate.
- Give her whole milk till 2-3 yrs of age.
Vitamin: Poly Vi Sol drops or half of a chewable vitamin.
Activities with One-Year-Olds
- Take him for a walk and let him bring his pull toy. Play simple chase games. Blow bubbles and let him chase them.
- Let him push buttons on activity toys. Let him turn pages of a book.
- Read colorful books to her. She is picking up words quickly but you may have to do a lot of repetitions. Have conversations with your child and listen when she talks. Sing simple songs with her.
- Play Peek-a-Boo with her. She loves the idea of you having to search for her and she truly believes that she is invisible when she holds her hands over her eyes.
- Put pictures of grandparents in your child's room or near the phone so she can "see" the person who is talking to her.
- Play "name the body parts" with her. She will love pointing to the part you name.
- Invest in some blocks for her to stack. Do activities that show cause and effect, like hitting a block tower and watching it fall.
- Let her experiment with paper and fat crayons with you. You can put them away when you are not supervising so they will not get eaten.
Immunizations: Your baby will get MMRV (Measles Mumps Rubella and Chickenpox combined) and Prevnar.
Safety: Be sure you have child proof the house. A toddler loves to put his finger in holes like electric socket so make sure they are covered. If you have stairs put guard as he likes to climb and doesn’t realize that he can fall. Make sure there are no pennies or little toys or beads around as she will like to swallow them or put them in her nose or ears.
Car seat: At 22 lbs (10 kg) of weight your baby can have front facing car seat.