What a child should be able to do at 1 year and 6 months: features and norms of development

Your baby is now one and a half years old or 1 year 6 months old! More active and even more adorable, your baby is your own little shadow and loves to join you in everything you do. But know that patience is a virtue that your baby does not yet possess. He/she lives firmly in the present or, more importantly, right now (think instant gratification). What else should we expect from the development of babies aged 1 year and 6 months? Let's find out.

Features of age

A one and a half year old baby is already showing some interest - listening to fairy tales, songs, and reacting to a familiar melody. Parents are advised to contact their child more often; over time, he will try to repeat after adults, which promotes speech development.

At one and a half years old, the child begins to eat on his own, confidently holds a fork and spoon, tries to bite off and chew solid food. The baby drinks from a mug without the help of his parents, although not always successfully. In everyday life, the child is also active - putting away toys, “reading” books, trying to brush his teeth, and get dressed. He washes himself with pleasure, and playing with a stream of water brings more joy than washing himself.

How to develop a child?

The development of a one and a half year old child should be comprehensive. To replenish your vocabulary, expand your horizons and improve your memory, you need to use books, cubes and cards with images of animals, plants, modes of transport and other things. It is useful to read poems, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales to children.

The following toys will also help in deciding how to develop a child of one and a half years:

musical instruments: piano, trumpet, drum, etc. Such toys will help the baby develop proper hearing;
dishes, dolls and furniture for them, sets of fruits and vegetables, animal figurines. All this will help organize exciting role-playing games;
lacing, simple construction sets, labyrinths are indispensable items for stimulating fine motor skills;
a ball, a rolling toy, as well as all kinds of rocking chairs (matryoshka dolls, tumblers, etc.) will help develop motor activity;
You can form an idea of the colors, shapes and sizes of objects using sorters, multi-colored cups, special sets for the sandbox, logic cubes and other things;
A busy board or a Montessori board would also be useful. This is a popular toy that contains locks, gears, zippers and other objects that a child encounters in everyday life.

Experts advise to be sure to praise the baby for any, even the most insignificant, successes and achievements.

Physical development of a child at 1 year and 6 months

At 1.5 years old, most children already begin to move confidently without the help of their parents. Kids learn to squat, climb stairs, and independently bend over to pick up toys or objects of interest. You shouldn't expect too much - he still holds himself unsteadily, falls, and is rather clumsy. The danger that awaits the child is that, thanks to a poorly developed sense of self-preservation, it is easy to get injured. It is not recommended to leave it indoors even for a short time; safe items can cause harm to health.

Physical skills develop at a rapid pace at the age of one and a half years. The baby moves actively, loves to swing, go down slides, and frolic with his peers. Parents constantly need to be on alert - curiosity and energy can play a cruel joke.

Feeding a 1.5 year old child

During this period, the baby already has four meals a day. It is not necessary to grind all the food - just mash it lightly with a fork. Berries, soft fruits and boiled vegetables can be given whole or cut into pieces.

Neuropsychic development of a child at one and a half years old

It is not difficult to determine whether neuropsychic development has deviated from the norm; it is important to carefully observe the character and behavior for several days. Baby skills that correspond to the norm:

shows interest in examining the room, tries to look into all the nooks and crannies;
loves to play hide and seek with adults;
knows how to sort toys by shape, color, size;
stacks pyramids;
knows how to distinguish body parts, points with a finger or touches with a hand when he hears a name from his parents;
learns to find familiar pictures in books; at the request of his parents, he shows a dog, a cat, a bunny.

You need to be wary if a child has difficulty walking, does not respond to the speech of adults, or does not even notice the absence of one of the parents. In such cases, it is recommended to go to the pediatrician and explain the behavior of your son or daughter.

Baby's speech

Scientists have found that at the age of 1 year and 6 months, a child experiences a breakthrough in the development of parts of the brain responsible for speech and cognition. And this is manifested in the following achievements of the baby:

he understands the meaning of entire sentences;
at the request of an adult, performs familiar everyday actions (bring, take, put, show);
recognizes toys and names them;
makes attempts to form a phrase from two or more “babbling” words;
complements speech with eye movements, facial expressions and gestures.

At 1 year and 6 months, a child’s vocabulary includes up to 20 words, most of which he pronounces by swallowing and distorting the letters, which makes understanding difficult. But thanks to his intonations and gestures, one can already assume what he means.

For example, when naming a person or object, both in a book and in real life, the baby points to it. During this same period, the child begins to easily imitate the phrases and words of adults, so the main thing for the development of his speech skills is any live communication: conversation, reading poetry and fairy tales, participation in joint family events.

Child cognitive development

Most children at the age of one and a half years enjoy listening to music. Pediatricians recommend that adults turn on different melodies more often - often this is enough to calm a child, help feed or calmly dress a capricious child. Preference should be given to calm music - classics or children's melodies. The singing of birds, sounds of the forest, and animals will also interest the baby, contribute to his cognitive development, and help improve his speech skills.

Be sure to read books with your children often. Previously, the baby only looked at pictures, now he willingly listens to fairy tales, children's stories, and tries to connect the plot with the drawing. Parents are encouraged to explain in detail what they saw, ask questions to which the baby must find the answer in the picture.

Safety

1 year and 6 months is an age characterized by an unprecedented leap in the development of a child’s motor activity: mastering running and jumping, which increases the risk of injury. Therefore, the main task of parents is to create a safe place for the baby to practice new skills.

First, you need to clear the room of objects that you might bump into while running.

Secondly, you should constantly monitor the cleanliness of the floor and the absence of small parts on it.

The most important thing is that at first try to stay close to the little one and insure him in case of unexpected events.

Speech skills

It is recommended to start developing speech skills much earlier. At 18 months, children should already have learned the simplest commands, respond to parental instructions, and show some household items, clothes, and animals in pictures.

Communicate more - thanks to the stories of adults, the baby’s speech begins to form.

Playing games together also brings a lot of benefits. Be sure to explain each movement and ask to repeat simple words. It doesn’t matter if everything doesn’t work out right away - over time, the child’s speech becomes intelligible.

Continue the conversation while walking. Express yourself in simple words, phrases, focus more on adjectives. Be sure to characterize the surrounding objects and explain the purpose of their use.

What should a child at this age be able to do?

At 18 months, the baby can do a lot, and most of the skills are developed with the direct participation of adults. A child who is one and a half years old can:

move without help, try to bend over, pull yourself up for things that are located at a distance above the floor;
when playing with adults, repeat a series of movements - roll a ball, carry a train, put animals or dolls to sleep;
report basic physiological characteristics, needs - ask to drink, eat, start to worry if you need to go to the potty;
try to pronounce simple words, combinations of letters;
at the request of relatives to show what is drawn in the pictures;
fulfill the requests of parents and relatives.

Another feature of children is that at the age of one and a half years they are already able to distinguish between relatives and strangers. They go to family with pleasure; they react to strangers with crying, wariness, and refusal to approach.

What a one and a half year old baby can already do:

Walks without assistance and runs awkwardly.
Climbs on and off the sofa independently.
He eats himself using cutlery.
Shows interest in wind-up toys, trying to wind them up on his own.
He tries to draw with a pencil, making funny doodles.
Knows how to build structures from cubes.
Recognizes the designation of parts of his body.
He is potty trained and can ask to use it himself.
Can ride a tricycle.
Tries to dress independently.

How does the development of a boy and a girl differ at 18 months?

There are no particular differences between one-and-a-half-year-old girls and boys. The characteristics of temperament and character are practically the same - the gender difference, which appears more sharply in infancy, is smoothed out.

The only thing adults need to remember is that boys at this age require more attention than girls. You'll have to play more often and devote more time. Girls, on the contrary, get used to increased attention from infancy; it is recommended to quietly wean babies from the habit of constantly being under the control of their parents.

Necessary research

Regular medical examinations are required; you will have to visit the pediatrician several times a year. Be sure to visit a speech therapist - the sooner you identify a problem with the development of speech skills, the easier it is to eliminate it at the age of one and a half years.

At 18 months, the baby should pronounce most letters and repeat them after adults. It is recommended to pay attention to how certain sounds are pronounced correctly (p, s, v, l). If there are problems, consult with a speech therapist on how to properly respond to the manifestation, and jointly develop a series of exercises aimed at correcting speech defects.

What toys does a child need at this age?

At 18 months, it is recommended to purchase toys aimed at developing thinking, logic, and speech. Perfect for:

tapeworms;
pyramids;
toy phones, tablets that make different sounds;
talking dolls;
cubes;
balls.

Be sure to choose toys of different shapes and colors, then it will be easy to continue learning through games.

Difficulties of parenting

When trying to improve your child's skills, it is important to remember not to force anything. It is better to turn classes into a game, conduct training using toys and children's books. Act unobtrusively, the baby should start the exercises with pleasure.

If a one and a half year old baby refuses to obey, it is recommended to stop studying for a while.

You need to go to the pediatrician, get advice on how to interest your child, what games are best to choose, what to refuse. When hysterical, it is recommended to try to distract, switch attention to an interesting toy or book. There is no point in following the lead - it is enough to show once that it is easy to achieve what you want by shouting; children usually try to use this skill to their advantage. Then it will be much more difficult - the child will cry and be capricious for any reason.

A one and a half year old child is a full-fledged member of the family with his own hobbies, requirements, and character traits. The responsibility of parents is to promote the development of speech and physical skills. The main thing is not to act on your own; it is better to first consult with a pediatrician and choose an individual technique. It is also necessary to discuss mistakes made in upbringing with a doctor - they need to be corrected in a timely manner.