Hi everyone and welcome to Month 20 with your toddler and Month 20 with my toddler, Bracey.  

Growth and Development of 20-Month-Old-Baby 

How old is a 20-Month-Old Toddler?

A 20-month-old toddler is one year and 8 months old. In four months, your toddler will be 24 months old or 2 years old.

How Much Should my 20-Month-Old Weigh?

The average 20-month-old baby boy weighs 25 pounds (11.4 kilos) and the average baby girl weighs 24 pounds 4 ounces (11 kilos). At his 20 month checkup, Bracey weighed approximately 11.3 kilos (24 pounds 9 ounces). Bracey was only one gram or 3 ounces below the average weight! Yippee!!

Should My Toddler visit the Doctor at 20 Months? 

Your baby will not be visiting the doctor at 20 months unless you are late for the 20 month visit or this is something specific to check on. Since Bracey was a premie, we had our usual checkup. Mom was relieved to learn that everything is on track. 

Developmental Milestones at 20 Months 

How Much Should my 20-Month-Old Talk?

Some 20-month-old toddlers have between 10-20 words and others have many more, up to 50. My doctor said not to worry about counting the words but to keep an eye on changes and development. You should at this point, he advised, see your toddler babbling, attempting to articulate new words, and you should see the vocabulary increasing, with new words and sounds popping up. If you are concerned, talk to your doctor. If you notice your child not making eye contact, attempting to communicate, nor uttering any more words than a month or two before, chat with your doctor.  

How Can I Encourage my 20-Month-Old to Talk

In addition to reading, singing, narrating what you do, narrating what your child is doing, and engaging in a panoply of language-rich activities, help your child articulate their own responses. So, and this gets a bit theatrical, ask your child “Bracey would you like a piece of cheese?” Put words into their mouth: “Yes, Mommy, I would love a piece of cheese.” Good time to introduce manners, also. Maybe you’ll end up with a polite child. 

Your 20-Month-Old’s Social and Emotional Development 

I am all for being open and it might be a good time to start to talk to their child about their emotions so that the begin to be self-aware. We had an amazing experience the other day at the doctor’s office. Bracey had a great time at the doctor and did not cry the entire time as he had in prior months. He seemed to enjoy himself. As we were leaving, we saw a baby there waiting. It was time to leave the doctor’s room. Bracey pushed his head down and held his hands together. He would not look at the baby. He was jealous. And he would not leave the doctor’s room and let the other baby come in. “My doctor,” he wanted to say. Amazing. The doctor me and the other mom were all marvelling at this. I picked him up and said Bracey, Mommy’s baby you will always be mommy’s baby. Later when nursing him I said my baby my baby and he seemed to nurse a bit better, actually. So go figure. 

How Should my 20-Month-Old be Moving?

Most 20-month-olds are walking, running, and climbing onto and off of the sofa. At this point, some toddlers will begin walking up (versus crawling up) the stairs. Later they will be able to walk down the stairs. Some toddlers can stand or balance on one foot by now while holding the wall. Try this by making a game out of it. 

Physical Activities for a 20-Month-Old Toddler 

In order to encourage the development of gross motor skills, have your child walk, run, go up and down the slide, climb up and down the jungle gym, and cruise around the house on a toddler bike. Try jumping jacks and downward dog. Get in the habit of spotting your child to encourage them to get to the next level. Have fun dancing, jumping, and learning to balance on one foot with the wall as support. Limit your toddler’s time in the high chair and stroller.

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When Can my Toddler Begin to Swim?

The AAP does not recommend swim lessons for babies younger than 1 because they have not developed the breathing skills required by swimming. Before that time, you can take infant swimming classes with your baby but parenting supervision is crucial and your baby won’t learn how to swim in those classes. They will just develop some amount of familiarity with the water. 

The AAP recommends that toddlers begin swim lessons alongside their parents at between the ages of 1 and 4. Most children cannot begin to really swim independently until 4 years old and studies show that children who begin earlier are not faster nor better swimmers. Please note that the leading cause of unintentional pediatric deaths in the United States are to children aged 24-36 months who die from drowning. If you have a pool, make sure you have a safety gate around it and that your child is never alone in the pool nor pool area. 

Intellectual Activities for a 20-Month-Old-Toddler 

In addition to pulling language into any activity you can think of, and talking as much as possible, you can really try to encourage your child to complete certain activities at this point while focusing on their fine motor skills. Encourage them to stack blocks higher and higher. To place the puzzle pieces into the puzzle. To hit the music button in a musical book. To push trains along the track. At this point, you can actually start playing the games that your toddler has just been sort of touching in prior months. And you can describe what these games represent. Choo choo – the train is moving along the track and going to pick up Bracey. That sort of thing. 

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What Should my 20-Month-Old be Eating?

When it comes to solid foods for your 20-month-old, keep offering a wide variety of fresh, unprocessed foods including fresh fruits, whole grains (stay away from white flour and white rice and try to opt for whole wheat), fresh meats, fish and sources of protein like hummus and try to sample different sources of dairy like un-sweetened whole milk yoghurt, ricotta, mozzarella, hard cheeses like. manchego and gruyere (stay away from processed cheeses). Try to keep sugar low.

Schedule for Breastfeeding or Milk Feeding Babies at 20 Months of Age

At this stage, we are still in the transition period to one nap, which remains tricky. Hopefully your toddler is having an easier time making it through the mornings hours and then going down for an early afternoon nap. 

• 7am feed* & breakfast 
• 10am snack
• 12pm feed & lunch (1-3pm sleep)
• 3pm feed & snack 
• 5:30pm dinner  
• 6:30pm final milk feeding 
• 7pm bedtime

*If no longer breastfeeding, give milk or its alternative after the meal. 

Bracey update 

Bracey enjoyed the month of May, the highpoint being his brother Hedley’s 18th birthday and graduation from high school. Spring came and provided the opportunity for some lovely walks. Scooting and playing ball in the park topped off a perfect month. See you back next month for month 21.