By twenty-four months of age, infants transition into more independent toddlers. Toddlers are usually inquisitive and explorative, and move fast! As they develop motor skills and reach milestones, toddlers begin to put greater effort into communication and play. Producing words and short phrases, they also begin to have a greater understanding of concepts.

Below are typical milestones for development in children from eighteen to twenty-four months:

• Picks objects off the floor without losing balance
• Walks, stops, and turns without losing balance
• Carries large objects or pulls objects while walking
• Runs with improved coordination
• Kicks a ball forward with one foot
• Stands on tip toes
• Walks up stairs without hand support
• Climbs furniture without assistance

• Jumps off a step
• Goes down stairs with hand support on the railing
• Throws a ball forward five feet
• Climbs a slanted ladder
• Goes down a slide

• Scribbles in circles
• Plays and pokes Play-Doh
• Turns pages one at a time
• Uses a hammer to pound
• Turns a container over in order to pour contents out

• Towers up to six to seven cubes
• Places large pieces in a puzzle board
• Focuses on objects near and far
• Points to objects in a book
• Points to more distant and interesting objects outdoors

• Finds a hidden object under two to three covers
• Recognizes body parts, familiar people, and objects such as clothing
• Has increased attention span
• Develops increasing independence

• Puts together simple two- to four-piece puzzles
• Places correct shape in shape sorter
• Begins matching and sorting objects and colors
• Shows defiant behavior
• Has increasing separation anxiety at age two, which then fades
• Imitates behaviors of other adults and older children

• Communicates needs, such as of hunger, thirst, and use of the restroom or a diaper change
• Imitates animal sounds
• Uses “no” and “my”

• Decreases jargon speech and increases meaningful vocabulary to 50–300 words
• Uses two-word combinations
• Recognizes names of familiar objects, people, and body parts
• Points to objects and pictures when named
• Understands the difference between “me” and “you”
• Follows simple requests

• Imitates behaviors of others
• Begins to demonstrate the emotions of embarrassment, empathy, and envy
• Increasingly demonstrates independence from caregivers
• Begins to share for brief moments, but most often competes for toys

• Has first sixteen teeth
• Uses a fork
• Holds and drinks from an open cup with little loss of liquid
• Has decreased appetite and more food pReferences »
• Has stopped or decreased use of the bottle
• At twenty-four months, sleeps about two hours during the day and eleven hours at night for a total of about thirteen hours
• Unzips clothing
• Puts on simple clothing and is able to put on shoes partway
• Washes own hands
• Has greater control and may have an interest in toilet training
• Stays dry for two- to three-hour periods during the day

Signs of Possible Developmental Delays: Eighteen to Twenty-four Months
Helpful article if you suspect your child may have developmental delays.

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