Best Way to Understand the Developmental Check between 18 and 24 months

Between 18 and 24 months you should take your child for a developmental and health check, which provides you with a good opportunity to ensure that all is going well, and to raise any concerns you might have. This check-up may be carried out by your health visitor, but it is more likely to be done by a community paediatrician, who has specialist training in child development.

Assessing physical development

Your child will be weighed and measured, and this will be checked against a standard chart and your child’s previous measurements, to ensure that growth is appropriate for her. You may be asked about what sorts of foods she enjoys eating now, and the doctor may make suggestions that are helpful to you. Her teeth will probably be checked to see how they are coming through, and you may be asked about taking your child to visit the dentist.

Her eyes and ears will be checked, and possibly her heart. Hearing is important for learning to talk, and if your child is too shy to talk to the doctor you will probably be asked about her speech. At this age, her social interaction and understanding is more important than whal she is actually saying.

Assessing your child’s skills

You will probably be asked various routine questions about whal your child is capable of doing now. The doctor will assess her physical skills by watching her walk, and asking her to do simple play tasks like balancing a block one on top of another. These activities demonstrate her gross and fine motor skills (control of large-scale and more precise movements). The doctor may also show her pictures of different objects and ask her, “Which one is the cat?”, for example, to test her comprehension. She may also be asked other simple questions about other pictures or items.

A chance for discussion

This routine check-up will also he an opportunity to talk through any worries you may have about your child’s development, eating habits, sleeping patterns, potty training, behaviour, and general health.

As toddlers are in more social settings with other children, they tend to get more colds or minor health problems as their immune system starts to get to grips with common infections. If your toddler seems to continually suffer from coughs and colds, you may want advice about how you can help boost her general health. In addition, such illnesses, if left untreated, could lead to hearing problems. If you have concerns about hearing or language development, talk to your doctor about them.

Behavioural development

If your child is consistently under the weather, or gets very tired, it can affect her behaviour. A toddler who hasn’t had enough sleep over a consistent period will find it difficult to focus on behaving well, and will become frustrated and overwhelmed. Consider what your toddler needs physically, in order to develop emotionally. If you have reduced her daytime naps, for example, bring bedtime forward. Tired toddlers also have less interest in eating, so try to organize mealtimes for when your child is more alert, to avoid possible behavioural problems.