The Crucial Points in Your Toddler’s Emotional Development
By Sam Cyrus

Toddler's emotional development might manifest in many ways. But first thing to know is that the growth and development of the toddler is a very important stage in his life. All he feels, goes through emotionally, physically and mentally will have a lasting effect on his adulthood as well. The toddler between the ages of 12 and 36 months develops emotionally and even when he is throwing tantrums. Although a crying 2-year old may be odd in the grocery store, it is still an essential step of your toddler's emotional development.

How Does The Toddler Develop Emotionally?

There may be differences between the individual toddler's emotional development, though here are some characteristics, as a basic guideline. Toddlers will start mimicking actions, for example covering the eyes, while playing Peekaboo from the age of 12 months. Then he will do such parental activities as cleaning up or using the phone.

The toddler will increasingly want to be independent. From around 18 months, he will start throwing tantrums. He will also be able to convey his basic feelings, using gestures, and express his own individual selfhood by crying, referring to and recognizing his self. The toddler's emotional development makes the toddler be more and more self-centered, be possessive, as establishing his sense of personal identity. Besides, he will sometimes be frustrated by expressing this frustration in the tantrums.

Toddler's emotional development also gives the toddler increasingly responsive to humor but not to discipline or reason. The

toddler will feel more secure, established in a personal identity, with a more easy-going attitude by the age of 3, .With this established sense of his selfhood, the toddler will show certain preferences, for examples in clothes. He will also start enjoying music.

How To Support The Toddler’s Emotional Development ?

It is a quite sensitive phase in the toddler’s emotional development at the age of two. Your child may need your indirect support. You need to try to label his emotions. By this, he will be able to understand exactly what he is feeling.

Tell your child when you are feeling upset by their behavior. You need to use ’I’ statements rather than third person ’Mommy is really angry now’ statements. It can create a more direct relationship between the two of you. Try not to discipline him harshly when your child is on the toddler's emotional development. It is because they are not really responsive to rules and discipline in this age.

However, these tantrums will disappear by themselves. You need to use distraction and humor rather than harsh rules when trying to stop them. They will pass anyway by the time the child is more confident of his own identity. Remember to establish intimacy with your child. It will give him the emotional capacity to establish intimacy in the course of his later life. It is also highly important to remember that your child will mirror your emotional states to an extent. Therefore, if you are having emotional difficulties, always try to get over these as they can result in problems to your toddler's emotional development.