By Anita Jumbo

You must have noticed that it’s either they are disassembling their toys or fiddling with virtually every gadget in the home or trying out their climbing skills.

Their ignorance does not help here as they lack the skills to understand what could hurt them or otherwise. This informs why in the middle of your ever engaging and tasking chores you should pay close attention to her-your one year old.

7 Challenges You Would Ordinarily Face With 1-Year Olds

1. They are restless and ever busy exploring the environment around them.

2. They fix their sleep schedules and stay awake when you more than want them asleep.

3. Eating could be as confusing as they come. They choose their food, how they eat it, and where that happens.

4. Harm’s way is their way, as they fiddle with sharp objects, electric gadgets, climb almost everything they see.

5. Always on the road to the next stop. Their curiosity keeps them on the march to everywhere in front of them.

6. Aside the babbling and tattering, they mimic every word they hear around the home.

7. Ingesting their drugs can be an uphill task as, for some queer only-God-understands reason, they loathe drugs.
 
7 Quick Fixes For Your Bustling One Year Old

As a mom you might be wondering if you need 360 degree eyes to keep up with the smart moves of your one year old but truth is that all you need is a little creativity and imaginativeness to provide them the care they need at this stage of their lives. Here are a few suggestions on how go about the business of managing our ambitious and ever audacious one year olds.

1. To keep ahead of them you have to do that: keep ahead of them. Take them for a stroll, point out things to them calling the names of those objects to them. Keeping them in their walker may generate arguments, so don’t go there. Rather, give them a cartoon movie to watch, snacks they like to chew on. Just find creative ways to keep them busy.

2. If you are having issues with their sleep schedules, maybe sometimes they sleep late and tend to wake up late morning; you may consider changing the factors that make them not to sleep early. These include the ambience of the room at night, their sleep schedule during the day, watching television programs or cartoons, etc, during the night.  You may consider altering their sleep during the day so they could sleep at night. Some caution here is important as you also don’t want this to adversely affect their health. However, to the extent possible it should not be a forced one but smart moves that will see your baby sleep on time so you could also sleep and wake early to attend to your daily issues.

3. Eating is the real snag. If they are not eating, if they eat little or not at all, these could be straining for you as a mother. But there are a few things you could also do to ensure you get it right here. Children have tastes and you need to watch out for this cue to know which foods and snacks they like and follow-up on that. Some love one cereal over the other. Some prefer juice to other drinks. Some prefer biscuits to confectionaries.

Remember to always dilute the juice or whatever drinks you’re giving them because of the high content of the ingredients used. They are prepared for adults not kids. Alcohol is a no, no.
We come to when and where they like their food. Some prefer eating on the go, you may need to follow them around. My daughter prefers watching her cartoon while eating or no deal. My husband had to get as many kid cartoons to play for her while she eats. Some would like to have their food by themselves and maybe a little assistance from you. Problem with this, though, would be the mess they’ll cause. You may have to do a little more laundry than usual but key issue here is following up on their exploratory voyage through life, especially at this early stage. My daughter prefers holding her spoon and picking items of her choice from the plate. This maybe the case with your child too.

Bottom line is study your child, know what she likes and how she likes it and keep up. Your focus should be that she eats well, and derives the most nutrients from what she eats. It could be tasking but the goal when achieved is worth more than any stress you’d go through.

4. You need to keep them off harm’s way, even though they’ll protest and still come back after you’ve moved them away. Keep harmful objects like utensils and harmful substances locked away from their reach. Also be careful whenever you’re opening those lockers cos they’ll sure take notes and come try when you’re not watching.

Ensure electric appliances, connections and other gadgets are shielded but you must also keep tabs on their movement. This includes watching out for any climbing attempts. You know their sense of danger and risks is not fully developed so they may not appreciate the distance or height they want to try or the probability of something heavy falling on them. These are scary situations and you must be up and doing here. You don’t want to see your little bundle of joy incapacitated in any way.

5. They are born explorers on the move to the next destination both within and outside the home and keeping up with them could be stressful but there are creative ways you could do that. Keep both the front and back doors shut at all times, so they don’t go check what’s outside the door and possibly the road. Kidnappers are on the prowl, same as crazy road users, and all the other dangers out there.

Also you need to find activities that keep them where you can always see them. Get them toys, cartoon videos, etc, read to them, sing and clap with them. One other option would be to wear them bright colours that help you notice their moves even when you aren’t looking at them. This has helped me severally to monitor her movements. 

6. Year one is the threshold where talking starts and you need to take charge of this stage of his life by teaching him words. Pronounce and repeat the words. Point to the object you’re mentioning. Over time, he will start calling it. One syllable words like go, come, yes, no, phone, cup, tea, and sit could be the right way to start. From there move to two syllable words. They may appear not to understand or be able to repeat after you but be sure they hear you loud and clear and as time goes on they’ll start mimicking you.

7. Number 7 could be a very tough one especially if they fall sick. Most dread syringes, syrups, and everything else about drugs. My doctor said no one likes drugs including babies. This is where all your diplomatic skills need to be deployed. Forcing drugs on them could have adverse effects such as withdrawal syndrome, throwing up and increasing their stress levels. So you may need to find a way to let them know there is nothing bad about drugs.

Start with the sweet ones, taste it yourself so they see it’s something good. You may also add it to their drink or food but be sure not to put so much as to alert them of it. My daughter refused to eat for almost a week when she tasted her drug inside her cereal. So, put minimal quantities that won’t affect the overall taste of the food or drink.

Another option could also be to give them while asleep but that should be very small quantities else they wake up and start crying. 

Though tasking and challenging, the job of raising our little babies is one hell of an interesting experience as you watch their drama, pranks, and babbling. Keeping up with them on all fronts would eventually get us the right outcomes.

Mrs. Anita Jumbo