24 Months

Your baby is not so much a baby anymore. Yes they will always be your baby, but they are really into the toddler life stage and starting to be more independant…or at least try to be. You will start seeing that they want to do things on their own and they will try to even if they are not the best at it. Get undressed or putting on their clothes, eating with a fork and spoon, helping tidy up, etc.

They also will get more into pretend play. Things like feeding a baby doll, fixing things with their ‘tools’, shopping for food or cooking in in their kitchen. Their sense of imagination is growing! They start mimicking what they see people do around them and setting up scenerios to their play time.

Your toddler will start (if not already) running and jumping. A little trampoline will do wonders for all their energy! They also may start or will be able to walk up and down the stairs on their own while holding on a railing or wall. Which may be nerve wrecking, but a great skill for them to have once they master it.

You find you will be translating for your toddler as they start to build little sentences and are practicing speaking more every day. Lots of little short sentences like ‘ hello mama’ or ‘more that please’. Even though they are trying to speak, it’s sometimes difficult to make out their abbreviations or sounds they are making. Some words can be clearer than others.

You might be thinking of potty training or already started on it! Or maybe not ?! Good time to have it on your mind and keep an eye out for hints that your toddler is ready to try it out. Here is a link about starting potty training!

And of course, what would be another milestone without another sleep regression ?! Since your little is developing so much and learning from his/her surroundings, it may be harder for them to settle down for bedtime or nap time. They may be skipping nap time all together. Don’t fret! Sleep regression is only temporary and just keep sticking to your routines for bedtime and adjust their bedtime if they end up skipping nap time. I wouldn’t cut out nap time just yet since it’s common for toddlers to go through another regression and they will be back to napping once it’s over. For my kiddies, the official end of nap time was different for each kid depending on their sleep habits and energy levels. My first ended up dropping it around 2.5 years while my second slowed down around 3 years and ended all together a couple months after.

Around 24 months, my third had a decent sleep regression at this time. He would wake up screaming! My husband conveniently was the best one to calm him down ;). But actually he would only want me to stay in the room forever or pick him up and it would get him more worked up. Whereas with my husband he would actually try to settle and go back to sleep. That worked out wonderfully for me! Also 1-2 months before this regression he had his molars come in (aren’t regression just wonderful?!). He would skip naps often and sometimes wake in the night. So it is possible even if a bit early, that your little might be just getting some molars in which are not always fun.

There are sleep sacks for the toddler years so you could keep using as you see fit until they transition out of a crib. Sleep sacks in the later years were not a popular when I had my girls so I transitioned them to a blanket after 12 months or so! I continued it later with my third, but around 18 months he protested using the sleep sack and since he was old enough I did not push it. I just would always check on the toddlers before going to bed to reposition blanket since it usually ends up in an awkward position.