First of all, a child's pediatrician should be monitoring this growth spurt closely. They will do so via a growth chart, which should help a parent stay on top of everything. But parents need to be aware of some of the signs in order to determine when they should take their child to a doctor or not.
As well as prepare themselves for life's strange changes. The following are well-documented changes that toddlers experience during ages 2 to 4. These are the things that new moms and dads should expect to see as well as experience themselves. However, it's vital that every parent do their own research. Source other legitimate websites, books, and podcasts.
Fill their brain with knowledge. Then maybe it won't seem so foreign and daunting. May this just be the start. During a toddler's growth spurt, their bodies are doing a lot of work.
This means that they will likely feel extra sleepy. This also means that they could be napping for a longer period of time, or even just sleeping in later in the morning. Their sleeping patterns, in general, may fluctuate strangely. This means that you could be dealing with some inconveniences as your child might fall asleep when they are expected to be awake. You may want to allow your toddler those extra minutes in the morning whenever possible.
This may help them feel more rested throughout the day. Although this list contains instances that are considered "normal" for a toddler during their growth spurt, every child is different. Just because your kid isn't experiencing some of the things doctors say are "normal", doesn't necessarily mean that something is wrong.
In fact, some kids will actually slow in growth when they reach this stage. These kids are usually the offspring of parents who are short. Typically these children will grow normally as babies and then take a longer time to grow, as they are genetically predisposed to being of a shorter stature like their parents. Some children also have constitutional growth delay also known as delayed puberty. This means that their growth will slow between the ages of 6 months to two years and then pick back up later.
Additionally, they will have a major growth spurt during puberty. The physical change that a child goes through from newborn to toddler is quite noticeable. Aside from the increase in size, as well as the elongation of the body, a child's face alters as well. This can be a bit startling to new parents who have gotten used to the delicate smile of their newborn. However, it's normal and part of the growing process. The proportions in a child's face shift. This includes their cheekbones, foreheads, as well as lips.
Consequently, they don't look like babies anymore. Instead, they start taking on the characteristics of a little kid. Parents need to not only expect this, but get used to it as well, as it will happen again during their preschool years, around eight-years-old, and then in puberty.
Another thing to expect around the time of your toddler's growth spurt is the fact that they're fussier. This is usually a sign that their growth spurt is about to take place, although it can continue throughout the course of the growth as well. This is why people call this stage, "the terrible twos".
As for what exactly your child will be fussy about, well, everything. That's the short answer. They will be crankier when it comes to sleeping, as well as food. In fact, they may start to dislike foods that they seemed to enjoy before. However, this may just be momentary as their bodies are going through a lot.
Think about how cranky you get when you feel overly tired or have a sore body. The most obvious change, that a child will experience during their toddler growth spurt, is in size. The difference is one of the first things a parent will notice. During this stage, you will notice that a child will typically add 2 and a half inches to their height every year until about the age of Instead, it tends to happen in spurts.
Among the signs of a growth spurt in progress:. It's probably a good idea not to put too much emphasis on growth spurts, however, in justifying behavioral changes over the long term. For example, you wouldn't want to overfeed a child because he's "in a growth spurt. Most growth spurts last just a few days. Typically, parents notice a child's growth spurt after it has already happened. You dress your child in the same pants he wore last week and they no longer reach his ankles, or his feet seem too big for his shoes.
It's not uncommon for a young preschooler to grow two clothing sizes in a season. You don't need to do much in response to a growth spurt, other than restock the closet.
If your child seems to have a larger appetite than usual, feed her another serving at meals or provide more frequent snacks. Preschoolers often veer between "living on air" and vacuuming up food, depending on their body's needs.
Let your child sleep longer for a few days if she seems to need it. No medical evidence links them to growing muscles or bones. It's possible, however, for growing muscles to feel tight and spasm after a lot of activity. As many as 25 to 40 percent of kids report this feeling, beginning around ages 3 to 5 and then again in the tween years. Often the pain wakes a child up in the middle of the night. These pains tend to follow days of vigorous outside play. Physically, young children grow at an incredibly rapid rate during the first few years of life.
If you feel like your child looks taller every morning, you could be right! Cognitive growth spurts or cognitive leaps are sometimes more difficult to spot. Many times, however, a sudden change in behavior e. Their neural connections for everything from language to emotions to motor skills are still being refined.
Perhaps your grandma told you that when your legs hurt at night it meant you were growing. Well, turns out, she was probably right! Other signs of a growth spurt may not be so evident:. THIS is the key question parents want to know, right? At what ages do toddlers have growth spurts? Can I possibly predict when my toddler will experience a growth spurt so I might be better prepared to handle it?
In the s this group did groundbreaking work studying the developmental patterns of thousands of children over many years. These patterns were reexamined in with remarkably similar results. In general, they found that children experience periods of equilibrium and disequilibrium throughout their development.
This quote from Gesell describes it well,. There are alterations of relative equilibrium and of transitional disequilibrium; there are rhythms of accent in introverted versus extroverted activity, in home versus school, in self versus group interests, in fine motor versus gross motor movements, in the to-and-fro shifts, in the delicate controls of eye movements.
Only by identifying the developmental shifts in such counterbalanced traits can we arrive at a more accurate picture of what [children] are really like.
Development does not advance in a straight line. Through these studies, we see a pattern emerging in which in the early years every 6 months to a year a period of disequilibrium emerges. Chances are, your child will have some of the following symptoms:. Tall parents generally create tall children, while shorter parents have kids of smaller stature.
For example, boys with a 5'3" mother and 6'2" father will likely be anywhere from 5'8" to 6'2". Girls with the same 5'3" mother and 6'2" father will likely be between 5'3" and 5'9. Since growth is largely genetic, many smaller toddlers inherit genes for short stature from their parents. These children typically grow at a normal rate and are otherwise healthy, showing no symptoms of medical problems.
They generally enter puberty at an average age and reach a final adult height similar to that of their parents. In general, no treatment for these children is recommended or known to be effective in significantly increasing their final adult height.
However, short stature could also indicate constitutional growth delay. Also passed down genetically, this appears in children usually of average size in early infancy. It causes them to undergo a period of slower-than-average growth between 6 months and 2 years of age , leading to their falling behind on the growth chart.
After about age 2 or 3, they will start to grow at a normal childhood rate until they reach puberty and continue to grow at an older age, letting them "catch up" to their peers in final adult height. There is no treatment necessary for this condition. In rare cases, children could be deficient in growth hormone GH , and they might need to take a synthetic version when they get older. Your doctor can give you more information about these daily injections.
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