My daughter of 15mths has little speech but one word she uses constantly is “no”. She will say this when either asked to do something, or told to stop doing something. At first it seemed quite amusing but now I feel as if every day is battle of wills from the moment she gets up. How can I get her to have a more positive response to things? Or is this just a phase? This is just one of the many different phases of your child’s normal development.  She has now reached the age where she is beginning to assert herself emotionally, physically and verbally and is gradually learning the…

I have a very boisterous 15-month-old girl and she is quite strong willed! How do you approach discipline at this age? For instance when we go to toddlers’ group she just runs in and pulls everything off the shelves; each time I ask her to stop she just runs to something else. She doesn’t seem to be able to concentrate on anything for any period of time. At 15 months old your daughter’s concentration skills are just beginning to form as well as her social skills. Remember for her everything is new and just needs to be explored and she does need time to do this, however, quite rightly, you…

My daughter Harriet is 13-months-old and sometimes gets really scared of other people – not only strangers, but sometimes friends of mine whom she has met several times before. She looks at them fearfully and bursts into tears. Today we went to a singing group for the fourth time. The first two times were OK but the next two occasions we had to leave after ten minutes because she just wouldn’t stop crying and it was rather embarrassing. Once a week she stays for a couple of hours with a friend who has a son the same age. She has been going there for two months and she still becomes…

How do I get my 10mth old son to stop screaming? It is affecting our whole life My son has always been a very happy and easy baby. However, there is one major problem that has caused endless tension and countless arguments between my husband and me. Basically, he likes to scream (a very high pitched horror film style scream). He seems to do it when he is excited, tired, hungry, dirty, bored, frustrated or in need of attention. It started when he was about 4 1/2 mths old and I was adamant it was just a phase that he would soon grow out of. I have always been able…

At 11mths my daughter is able to use spouted beakers for both milk and water. Lately she has started to drop or throw her cup after taking a small amount at milk feeds having previously taken these well. How do I deal with this behaviour? We introduced beakers to my daughter, who is now 11mths following the guidelines. She took to them well, and is now only having a bottle once a day at bedtime. She uses non-spill Tommee Tippee cups both with and without handles. She has always been inclined to drop her water beaker at mealtimes, and recently she has also started to drop her cup whilst it…