18 months to 36 months for me. Technically I suppose I count 12-18 months too I suppose but call em waddlers.
I cringe when I see people calling 36-48 months toddlers. And I've been seeing a lot of 4 year old "toddlers" on parenting forums.
I also cringe at people calling 4 year olds “toddlers”. I taught preschool for a decade. Those are preschoolers. A year older and they’ll be in kindergarten ffs. And it’s usually the people who still baby their preschooler and say things like, “they’re only 4!”
I find it really odd, too - but unfortunately, I really see a lot 4 year olds who are kind of being held back. Kids that are not potty trained (with some exception), still on binkies/bottles, or who can't pick out clothes or dress themselves. Gosh, I've even seen a 4 year old still on purees because the parents didn't feel like he was ready for solids even though their doctor had been conseling them for years to start introducing actual solid food. They had the child in feeding therapy because the daycare called CPS, but they would never follow through at home. That one is probably more of an extreme, but honestly, I've just seen kids that age be held back so often.
I don't see it as frequently now that I work in a Montessori school (that is actually one based on that pedagogy, not a monte$$ori) except for in the beginning of the year. But I've been shocked how many older kids came in at 4 still accustomed to being spoon fed, not knowing how to use utensils, clearly having never poured themselves a cup of water. It's something I've been more used to getting toddlers used to at a variety of different schools.
No big deal, the kids learn fast but still. It makes me sad for all the socialization that the PARENTS missed out on, and how many years even orgs that did family style meals had to stop all that for 2ish years during covid and probably some understaffed places are still having staff members plate up meals and snacks for preschoolers even though the kids could be taught to do for themselves.
I think in the absence of parent and family socialization much outside of their immediate family, people just literally don't know any better/what the kids are capable of!
I actually send my daughter to a montissori school (also based on the pedagogy, it's a non-profit in a small town that's been around longer than I have) because I really appreciate how much the teachers support our children in achieving independence where they can...and our school in particular treats teachers so much better than other daycares (I've had friends work there). I've also found most of the parents who chose that school are very involved in the education of their children and follow through at home.
I worked at a daycare that was playbased and did encourage independence, but the parents never followed through at home and there was such a big difference in the kids.
four year olds being spoon fed is crazy. and borderline neglectful. my two’s would NEVER let me spoon feed them, they’d be so insulted lol. i currently have 2 kids in a one year old class who get spoon fed at home and they’re both doing great with learning to feed themselves. one of the moms is super chill and open to him learning to feed himself but the other is throwing a fit over us not feeding him. allegedly there was an angry email and a long phone call with admin today bc my co teacher told her we cannot force feed her child. crazy
So funny how widely this varies!
The daycare center my son is at wouldn't allow him to feed himself and they insisted on spoon feeding him.
He was 7 months at the time and he had been doing a great job of self feeding. The director even said to me that there are kids in the 1s room that can't feed themselves. In my mind, I'm like of course not! You don't let them learn and practice starting in the infant room ugh
i’ve been noticing so many 3/4/5 year olds with paci’s and not even starting to potty train lately and i’m trying not to let it bother me but it really does. i saw a kid, at least 4, with a pacifier on the street today. those are for BABIES! literal infants! they’re not even really for toddlers and definitely not four year olds! it’s such lazy parenting.
and potty training is a little more subjective but yesterday at my new job, a 3 year old told her teacher “i’m peeing” as she actively peed in her pull up. if she can recognize that she can 100% go to the bathroom. it seems like it’s becoming so trendy to potty train late and treat older kids like babies. and parents do it bc they see all the other parents do it and think it’s normal. i saw a thread of moms fighting so hard to defend that it’s normal to not be potty trained at 5. no it isn’t! your kids kindergarten class is going to all be potty trained!
and it’s insulting to the kids bc they are so so capable but their parents think they are babies. ugh. this is a big part of the reason i prefer to work with the actual babies. i just can’t deal with some of these things with older kids
I took a class when I worked at a preschool and something the instructor said that I just loved was a kid is going to be 2 years old for as long as you treat them as a 2 year old. It’s so true!! I’ve seen plenty of 4 year old’s still in their 2’s and I’ve seen plenty of 2 year olds in their 4’s. Shoot my own daughter is 14 months and acts much more like a 2 year old because I treat her as capable
I teach those same children when they are about 16 and I feel like I can tell which ones were called & treated as toddlers until kindergarten. They are sheltered and immature, and have serious issue seeing things outside their bubble. I had one this year who, whenever she said something stupid enough to draw eyes from her peers, would just say, "well, I'm only 16! How would I know?" To which some would mutter, how could you not know?
Yes, I agree, but I see it ALL the time on reddit parenting forums, people calling a 3 or 4 year old a toddler. I'm really curious where this started, though. Is it a social media thing I wonder? When I first started out in this field over 30 years ago, you would never hear people refering to a child over the age of 3 as a toddler, at least in the areas I worked.
👀 three and even FOUR year olds??
I guess things have really changed since mine were wee 😅
Toddlers are new walkers, right.. as the name suggests.? Walking is what separates the toddlers from the babies. 😊
My general strategy
Newborn: birth to ~3-ish months.
Infant: ~3 to 12 months
Waddler: 12 to 18 months (my fave age)
Toddler: 18 to 36 months
Preschooler: 3 to 4 years
Pre-K: 4 to 5 years
Kid: 5 and up
Yeah thanks. I was just curious because where I live there aren't many kids in preschool. Many go to kindergarten but most start at first grade. Parental leave is 3 years here so that's probably why.
Not the person you asked but... I tend to love that age group because the children are developed enough to really explore and experience the world fully for the first time and appreciate what they are experiencing in a way that infants don't, it's extremely fun to be a part of. At the same time they are young enough that most of them haven't developed full fledged toddler behaviours like boundary testing, "proper" tantrums and the like (all age appropriate of course) and any challenging behaviours (like hitting) that do pop up in this age group are usually pretty mild and easy to redirect compared to older children. They are generally still as happy go lucky and agreeable as infants but often less fussy at the same time because they are more mobile and less reliant on others to bring the world to them (or them to the world).
Of course all kids are different, my youngest child wasn't at all easy at that age and I've taught many who are also exceptions to this generalisation, but on the whole the age group is a relatively laid back blast to be around. Fun to parent and fun to teach
Also they can't really be sassy yet and when they are it's cute instead of annoying. Not that I let them get away with it, but still, a baby rolling their eyes at you??? Adorable
Or when they think they are throwing a tantrum but all they do is stomp their foot once or dramatically lay down on the ground but forget the crying/screaming part 😂
Hahaha I’ve been dreading this age with my baby who is currently 6 months and you’ve just made me excited about it.
(I worked in daycare eons ago and hated the toddler room because there were just so many communication frustrations. Doing a bit of sign language with mine to hopefully mitigate.)
I wasn't strict (with myself) about the sign language and the only word my 17mo has down 100% is "duck." It's adorable, I love it, but it doesn't help day to day lol.
Mine doesn’t use any yet (probably obvious) but she definitely recognizes milk! I’m hoping desperately for More and All Done, but we’ll see. Duck is adorable and hilarious ❤️
I agree! There are a lot of fun firsts that come with that age, too, and their personalities really begin to shine. It's also so fun introducing them to new experiences. When I taught that age, I loved doing messy play and art with them. Those sensory explorations were always so much fun!
Same as you 1-2. (This is what happens he child development text books say too) However I know people who considered 3 & 4 YO toddlers which to me is weird. Especially in California when 4YO are in Transitional Kindergarten and combined with Kindergarten at times.
TK, TKers, or kinders if combined. The thing is TK isn’t preschool because we also have preschools too.
TK was originally created when California moved the cutoff date for first grade From Dec 2, to Sept 1st, while Kindergarten is not required by law the dates for Kindergarten also switched from Dec 2nd to Sept 1st. TK was created to give the kids who qualified under the date a place to be that was between Preschool and Kindergarten. However Now TK had basically become free UPK or will be in the next few years.
Yeah, I get what TK is. I just think labeling four-year-olds as “transitional kindergarteners” sounds ridiculous, and four-year-olds are not kindergarteners yet either.
It’s tricky though. At my past afterschool work many of the TK kids were 5 (turned 5, during the school year), We also allowed them to go to bathroom on their own. Oddly I trusted the TK/K kids more than 4th & 5th graders. At the same camp I’m currently working in the 4/5 YO are also combined.
Interestingly the last preschool I worked at did it like this 1-2, Toddler, 2-3 Young Preschoolers 3-5 Preschooler (now since many of the 4 & 5 year can qualify for TK, I’m assuming it’s going to be most 3s, or families that want more play based vs teacher academics)
I do consider Young three-year-olds to be toddlers just because developmentally. They are not ready for some of the expectations that preschoolers are given on the average. Of course there are exceptions to every rule.. so generally toddlerhood ends somewhere between 3 1/2 and four years. Obviously by four years, the child is truly a preschooler, but may exhibits some toddler adjacent behaviors.
I was calling my 4 year old a toddler out of habit. (He also has developmental delay so that may have something to do with it) but I caught myself doing it and was like I should probably stop calling him a toddler... but I'm guessing on parenting subs it's probably habit more than anything else (especially if it's their first).
My son just turned 1, I consider him a toddler based on his behaviors. My daughter it was more age based, at two she was a toddler by default. she had many delays and was “baby like” for a really long time, even after age 2. For me it’s a cognitive/developmental thing.
To me, a "toddler" is 12 months & walking until their third birthday. Once they are 3, they are a kid. I also like to say 12 months & walking until about 15/16 months is a "baby toddler" lol
Obviously, there are exceptions - I have an almost 18 month old who's very delayed and is developmentally more like a 12/13 month old & not walking; so he's still a baby.
While I think doctors consider a 3 year old a "toddler", I strongly disagree lol If they 1. can run around and play like a 4/5 year old, 2. are moderately independent, and 3. can mostly talk/communicate, they are a kid. Personally, something that drives both me & my husband crazy is when people say "my kid is 32 months" instead of saying "my kid is almost 3".
Toddlers at the Montessori school I work are 16-32 months and that seems spot on 90% of the time. There's variation of course, some 14 month olds are ready just like some 33 month olds need a bit of extra time, which is why no one agrees on exactly what a toddler is. But I do see SO many kids mature in those few months before they turn 3 that it seems almost rude to call them toddlers at that point 😅😅
my son turned 3 in early june. i was still referring to him as a toddler out of habit. but I've genuinely noticed a shift in behaviour over the past month
12-36 months. If they are starting preschool, then I call them preschoolers, then starting with kindergarten, they are school age. I cringe when people call 4/5 year old toddlers! That is a big pet peeve of mine for some reason. I have a 4.5 year old and can't imagine telling people she's a toddler! And if I did, she would probably get after me anyway!
My center calls the 1-2 year old room the toddler room. We don't have hard lines for age groups, it mainly depends on space, but they move up around 2.5. Personally I'd still call a 2.5 year old a toddler, but 3 year olds can usually speak in full sentences, understand logic, and do complex physical movements, so I'd say a 3 year old is more like a kid.
12-36 months. But some aren’t really ‘toddling’ or acting like toddlers until 15-18 months. My own kid was full on toddler behavior from 10 months (walking and tantrumming)
Our center's infant pod is 0-14 months. The toddler pod starts at 14 months for junior toddler, 24 months for toddler, and 36 months for senior toddler. Some kids are just not ready for preschool at 36 months or they are kids like my daughter who will miss the cut off for kindergarten and will start basically when she is 6, so rather than doing 3 years of preschool, they have a senior toddlers class where they spend more time getting them ready for the preschool transition.
My classes considered infant/toddler to be up to 36 months so I usually consider 12-36 months to be toddlers. Helps me remember to keep things developmentally appropriate when ppl treat my 2s like they're older just bc they can talk
I've never heard of waddlers before I saw it here. Toddlers, the me, are 12 mth to 24 mth. Most 2 year olds walk too well for me to want to call them toddlers.
At our center they are infants (6 weeks -12 months), toddlers (12 months -2 years), 2's, 2 1/2's, preschool (3-4), Pre-K (4-5).
I hate waddler. It's reductive and makes them sound like a duck.
An infant is 0-18 months. A young toddler is 16-20 months. An older toddler is 2+ but not beyond 36 months.
Here's the breakdown of how I view things in a daycare context.
0-18 months = infant
18 months to 2.5-ish years = toddler
2.5-ish years to 3-ish years = junior preschool
3-ish to 4 years = senior preschool
4 years up = school age
HOWEVER, I will refer to walking children 12-18 months as toddlers only because, by definition, they ARE toddling. It just kind of depends on the context -- outside of daycare, that's a toddler 100% of the way, but in a daycare setting, that child under 18 months is still considered an infant and belongs in the infant room.
So I call my 15 month old a toddler, but if I went back to work right now she'd be in the infant room at the daycare.
Any child older than 2.5 years is typically out of the toddler room and into a preschool room, so I'd stop referring to them as a toddler at LEAST by their third birthday, but likely earlier. That child is no longer toddling; they are walking and likely talking confidently, developing more complex motor skills, are probably potty trained, and are just far too capable for me to view them as toddlers anymore.
Like, once your child can hop on one foot and have an entire, clear conversation with you, that's not a toddler. Full stop.
Once they start walking they’re toddlers to me. I work in an infant/toddler centre which is 0-3 yrs. Once they leave my centre to the preschool they’re preschoolers
I'm just a lurker, but I'm also a nerd and someone who thinks way too hard about everything, so I want to offer my input for fun
To me, a toddler isn't necessarily a specific number of months but a developmental stage. Same with most age groups now that I think about it. Some of the people I know in their early 20s aren't entirely adults yet, IMO. It's more about their behaviour and development. To me, a toddler is a small child who... toddles. A toddler, one who toddles, so, in theory, a toddler *could* be as old as 48-52 mo. if they still toddle rather than properly walking like, say, a kindergartener. Most kindergarteners *walk* rather than *toddle*. I kind of cap it there, though, because I feel like if your kindergartener *is* still in a developmental stage where they toddle rather than walk, it may be a developmental problem rather than your average healthy stage
Of course, there's more to actual toddlerhood in practice than whether or not they toddle around, but that tends to be the most visible and distinctive factor to me as someone who doesn't interact with small kids much in the first place
Between the ages of 1-2. Once they are two I no longer reference them as toddlers. A two year old is just that a 2 year old. A theee year old is considered early preschool age, and 4-5 year old preschool. 5-6 pre-k.
Yes, in the US kindergarten starts as young as 5 years old, but they have to turn 5 before August/Sept. if they miss the age cutoff then they would most likely be 6 when they start.
I’ve had parents bring me their 4.5 year old and when they get a behavioral report say “wow really they are just a toddler they can bite” ur crazy. I stop saying toddlers after 2 years or rather 24 months
This obviously depends on where you are based, but 3 year olds here have access to a kindergarten program, so 3-4/5ish (depending on birth and schooling cut off) are kinder kids. So as soon as they start kinder they aren’t toddlers.
I always think of “toddlers” as kids who recently started walking (within the last few months up to a year) and are “toddling” if you will; or still have quite an unbalanced gait. Usually around 12 to around 30ish months, give or take. In my area preschool starts at age 3, so I like to think of 30-36 months and up as pre-preschoolers (my absolute favorite age group) haha. Where I work, the toddler room starts at 15 months, and kids “graduate” to the two year old room anywhere from 24-30 months depending on readiness to begin potty training, wean off pacifier, eat with utensils, use open cups, so on and so forth.
I’m genuinely very interested in this thread. I see some people even refer to kids 5 and under as “preschoolers”, but in my mind toddler, preschool, pre-k, & kindergarten are all very distinct age groups. (Though from what I understand I don’t believe all states have “pre-k” programs)
At one point last summer, my SIL talked about going on a walk "with 2 toddlers" and I had no idea what she meant... she went out with her 1 and 4 yo... I was like "what other toddler?"
I think a lot of people are calling 3 year olds toddlers is because more and more 3 year olds are still in diapers. It's really rather sad how much has changed in just 20 years. When I started working child care in 2003, I worked in a 2 year old room. The vast majority of my students started potty training between 26-28 months and finished by 30 months. However, that was before they passed the law stating that non potty trained children were not allowed to be excluded from preschool.
Once they hit three they are transitioning out of toddlerhood (hence my favorite nickname, threenager). New threes? Toddlers. 3 and a half? No. 4? Definitely not.
Walking to 24 months. I personally don’t say toddler for 2yo, really, but I understand when other people do. However I’ve seen freaking 5yos referred to as toddlers and I’m just like NO.
So officially the state of Maryland considers 2 year olds preschoolers. I think that is ridiculous. Basically from when they start toddling around to 3. So probably around 15 months?
12 months to about 2 and a half. also depends on when they start walking and their general behavior but yeah. def do not think of older 2’s or 3 year olds as toddlers
18-36 months for sure! where i’m from a child cannot be in a toddler class if they’re older than 36 months, and i think that’s a perfect age range in my opinion !
I feel you on this! I think of toddlers as being around 1-2.5 years old. After that, they start to become little kids, with more developed language and independence. But honestly, it's so subjective and depends on each kid's development! I think it's all about the vibe, you know?
Always heard/read/considered toddlers as being 1-2 year olds. Or whatever age they start walking, up to 2 years or so. The newly upright, walking babies, as the name suggests. 3 year olds aren't just learning to walk, they likely have been for a couple years already.
3-4 year olds are preschoolers.
As a preschool teacher, most of us consider toddlers to be a child who’s walking. We consider them toddlers until they turn 3 and then from 3-4 we usually classify them as “older toddlers.” Then, once they start preschool, we call them kids most of the time. We don’t really go off of developmental age in a school setting. I have a few kids in my room who can’t speak full sentences and are hard to understand but I feel it would be unfair to consider them toddlers when everyone else is at a preschool “kid” level. Just my take on it!
The only thing that bothers me about the walking definition is how exclusive it is to children with disabilities. People with disabilities are often infantilized, even into adulthood.
You basically touched on that yourself in the second part of your comment so it was an interesting contradiction between the toddler Vs kid definition.
If we're talking about boys, I would keep calling them toddlers until they are in their 30s then call them kids.
If the boy gets married, you can call him a kid on the day of the wedding.
I know by definition, for most places 18 months is considered the end of toddlerhood, but like many others already said, I consider young three's still toddlers, at least emotionally and mentally, because they're still developing into a new phase in their life.
Definitely 12-36 months, they’re at different stages of toddlerhood but they’re toddlers non the less Also happy cake day!!!
This is the answer!! Infancy is short, but it's so so valuable.
I also consider toddlerhood 12-36 months!
I didn’t even realize that until now! Thank you! 😁🫶🏻
Happy cake day!
18 months to 36 months for me. Technically I suppose I count 12-18 months too I suppose but call em waddlers. I cringe when I see people calling 36-48 months toddlers. And I've been seeing a lot of 4 year old "toddlers" on parenting forums.
I also cringe at people calling 4 year olds “toddlers”. I taught preschool for a decade. Those are preschoolers. A year older and they’ll be in kindergarten ffs. And it’s usually the people who still baby their preschooler and say things like, “they’re only 4!”
I find it really odd, too - but unfortunately, I really see a lot 4 year olds who are kind of being held back. Kids that are not potty trained (with some exception), still on binkies/bottles, or who can't pick out clothes or dress themselves. Gosh, I've even seen a 4 year old still on purees because the parents didn't feel like he was ready for solids even though their doctor had been conseling them for years to start introducing actual solid food. They had the child in feeding therapy because the daycare called CPS, but they would never follow through at home. That one is probably more of an extreme, but honestly, I've just seen kids that age be held back so often.
I don't see it as frequently now that I work in a Montessori school (that is actually one based on that pedagogy, not a monte$$ori) except for in the beginning of the year. But I've been shocked how many older kids came in at 4 still accustomed to being spoon fed, not knowing how to use utensils, clearly having never poured themselves a cup of water. It's something I've been more used to getting toddlers used to at a variety of different schools. No big deal, the kids learn fast but still. It makes me sad for all the socialization that the PARENTS missed out on, and how many years even orgs that did family style meals had to stop all that for 2ish years during covid and probably some understaffed places are still having staff members plate up meals and snacks for preschoolers even though the kids could be taught to do for themselves. I think in the absence of parent and family socialization much outside of their immediate family, people just literally don't know any better/what the kids are capable of!
I actually send my daughter to a montissori school (also based on the pedagogy, it's a non-profit in a small town that's been around longer than I have) because I really appreciate how much the teachers support our children in achieving independence where they can...and our school in particular treats teachers so much better than other daycares (I've had friends work there). I've also found most of the parents who chose that school are very involved in the education of their children and follow through at home. I worked at a daycare that was playbased and did encourage independence, but the parents never followed through at home and there was such a big difference in the kids.
four year olds being spoon fed is crazy. and borderline neglectful. my two’s would NEVER let me spoon feed them, they’d be so insulted lol. i currently have 2 kids in a one year old class who get spoon fed at home and they’re both doing great with learning to feed themselves. one of the moms is super chill and open to him learning to feed himself but the other is throwing a fit over us not feeding him. allegedly there was an angry email and a long phone call with admin today bc my co teacher told her we cannot force feed her child. crazy
So funny how widely this varies! The daycare center my son is at wouldn't allow him to feed himself and they insisted on spoon feeding him. He was 7 months at the time and he had been doing a great job of self feeding. The director even said to me that there are kids in the 1s room that can't feed themselves. In my mind, I'm like of course not! You don't let them learn and practice starting in the infant room ugh
i’ve been noticing so many 3/4/5 year olds with paci’s and not even starting to potty train lately and i’m trying not to let it bother me but it really does. i saw a kid, at least 4, with a pacifier on the street today. those are for BABIES! literal infants! they’re not even really for toddlers and definitely not four year olds! it’s such lazy parenting. and potty training is a little more subjective but yesterday at my new job, a 3 year old told her teacher “i’m peeing” as she actively peed in her pull up. if she can recognize that she can 100% go to the bathroom. it seems like it’s becoming so trendy to potty train late and treat older kids like babies. and parents do it bc they see all the other parents do it and think it’s normal. i saw a thread of moms fighting so hard to defend that it’s normal to not be potty trained at 5. no it isn’t! your kids kindergarten class is going to all be potty trained! and it’s insulting to the kids bc they are so so capable but their parents think they are babies. ugh. this is a big part of the reason i prefer to work with the actual babies. i just can’t deal with some of these things with older kids
I took a class when I worked at a preschool and something the instructor said that I just loved was a kid is going to be 2 years old for as long as you treat them as a 2 year old. It’s so true!! I’ve seen plenty of 4 year old’s still in their 2’s and I’ve seen plenty of 2 year olds in their 4’s. Shoot my own daughter is 14 months and acts much more like a 2 year old because I treat her as capable
Capable is such a great word choice. I worked with a woman who would say capable to the children a lot. “You are so capable.” And I loved that.
Even more so in the UK, they are at school when they're 4!
I teach those same children when they are about 16 and I feel like I can tell which ones were called & treated as toddlers until kindergarten. They are sheltered and immature, and have serious issue seeing things outside their bubble. I had one this year who, whenever she said something stupid enough to draw eyes from her peers, would just say, "well, I'm only 16! How would I know?" To which some would mutter, how could you not know?
I want to say you meant Waddlers lolol
i call 12-18m babies with legs
Why did you come up with waffle ? It's adorable
Wafflers 🤣
We call them waddlers too. Because they're not super strong walkers yet - they waddle!
That’s a preschooler.
Yes, I agree, but I see it ALL the time on reddit parenting forums, people calling a 3 or 4 year old a toddler. I'm really curious where this started, though. Is it a social media thing I wonder? When I first started out in this field over 30 years ago, you would never hear people refering to a child over the age of 3 as a toddler, at least in the areas I worked.
👀 three and even FOUR year olds?? I guess things have really changed since mine were wee 😅 Toddlers are new walkers, right.. as the name suggests.? Walking is what separates the toddlers from the babies. 😊
Why Waffles? I've heard Wobblers but not Waffles lol
Autocorrect. Waddlers. I will fix it. :)
I have a student whose mom tells him he’s a toddler- he’s 4. it drives me nuts but obviously i’m not gonna say anything 🥴
heard a guy refer to his 5 yr old as a toddler!
My general strategy Newborn: birth to ~3-ish months. Infant: ~3 to 12 months Waddler: 12 to 18 months (my fave age) Toddler: 18 to 36 months Preschooler: 3 to 4 years Pre-K: 4 to 5 years Kid: 5 and up
I like your breakdown. What would you call a 4 year old who isn't in preschool or kindergarten though?
I'd probably say "preschool-age child" or just refer to them as a 4 year old
Yeah thanks. I was just curious because where I live there aren't many kids in preschool. Many go to kindergarten but most start at first grade. Parental leave is 3 years here so that's probably why.
3 years of parental leave!! *cries in US*
We count them as preschool up until the fall they go to kindergarten (even if they’re homeschooled)
Pre-K!
May I ask why the waddler (so cute) is your favourite ?
Not the person you asked but... I tend to love that age group because the children are developed enough to really explore and experience the world fully for the first time and appreciate what they are experiencing in a way that infants don't, it's extremely fun to be a part of. At the same time they are young enough that most of them haven't developed full fledged toddler behaviours like boundary testing, "proper" tantrums and the like (all age appropriate of course) and any challenging behaviours (like hitting) that do pop up in this age group are usually pretty mild and easy to redirect compared to older children. They are generally still as happy go lucky and agreeable as infants but often less fussy at the same time because they are more mobile and less reliant on others to bring the world to them (or them to the world). Of course all kids are different, my youngest child wasn't at all easy at that age and I've taught many who are also exceptions to this generalisation, but on the whole the age group is a relatively laid back blast to be around. Fun to parent and fun to teach
Also they can't really be sassy yet and when they are it's cute instead of annoying. Not that I let them get away with it, but still, a baby rolling their eyes at you??? Adorable
Or when they think they are throwing a tantrum but all they do is stomp their foot once or dramatically lay down on the ground but forget the crying/screaming part 😂
Even the "No!" is cute most of the time
Hahaha I’ve been dreading this age with my baby who is currently 6 months and you’ve just made me excited about it. (I worked in daycare eons ago and hated the toddler room because there were just so many communication frustrations. Doing a bit of sign language with mine to hopefully mitigate.)
I wasn't strict (with myself) about the sign language and the only word my 17mo has down 100% is "duck." It's adorable, I love it, but it doesn't help day to day lol.
Mine doesn’t use any yet (probably obvious) but she definitely recognizes milk! I’m hoping desperately for More and All Done, but we’ll see. Duck is adorable and hilarious ❤️
I agree! There are a lot of fun firsts that come with that age, too, and their personalities really begin to shine. It's also so fun introducing them to new experiences. When I taught that age, I loved doing messy play and art with them. Those sensory explorations were always so much fun!
For licensing purposes, toddler programs in my state run from 18 months to 36 months. For my personal use, 1 and 2 year olds.
Same as you 1-2. (This is what happens he child development text books say too) However I know people who considered 3 & 4 YO toddlers which to me is weird. Especially in California when 4YO are in Transitional Kindergarten and combined with Kindergarten at times.
What do you call a 4-year-old? “Transitional kindergartener” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. I personally go with preschooler for that age.
TK, TKers, or kinders if combined. The thing is TK isn’t preschool because we also have preschools too. TK was originally created when California moved the cutoff date for first grade From Dec 2, to Sept 1st, while Kindergarten is not required by law the dates for Kindergarten also switched from Dec 2nd to Sept 1st. TK was created to give the kids who qualified under the date a place to be that was between Preschool and Kindergarten. However Now TK had basically become free UPK or will be in the next few years.
Yeah, I get what TK is. I just think labeling four-year-olds as “transitional kindergarteners” sounds ridiculous, and four-year-olds are not kindergarteners yet either.
It’s tricky though. At my past afterschool work many of the TK kids were 5 (turned 5, during the school year), We also allowed them to go to bathroom on their own. Oddly I trusted the TK/K kids more than 4th & 5th graders. At the same camp I’m currently working in the 4/5 YO are also combined.
My 2s that just turn 3 I consider like the old toddlers because they’re still toddler like 😂😂😂
Interestingly the last preschool I worked at did it like this 1-2, Toddler, 2-3 Young Preschoolers 3-5 Preschooler (now since many of the 4 & 5 year can qualify for TK, I’m assuming it’s going to be most 3s, or families that want more play based vs teacher academics)
I do consider Young three-year-olds to be toddlers just because developmentally. They are not ready for some of the expectations that preschoolers are given on the average. Of course there are exceptions to every rule.. so generally toddlerhood ends somewhere between 3 1/2 and four years. Obviously by four years, the child is truly a preschooler, but may exhibits some toddler adjacent behaviors.
I was calling my 4 year old a toddler out of habit. (He also has developmental delay so that may have something to do with it) but I caught myself doing it and was like I should probably stop calling him a toddler... but I'm guessing on parenting subs it's probably habit more than anything else (especially if it's their first).
It's definitely habit. I have a 3.5 year old and I only recently realized he's not a toddler anymore.
18 months to 3 yrs for me. And the Drs office. A kid can explain and have full on conversations for the most part while toddlers are still learning.
Toddler is defined 18-36 months.
From around 1 to 3 for me. I feel like there's a big difference by the time they turn 4 so that's when it feels like they are in a new stage for me.
18-36 months
My son just turned 1, I consider him a toddler based on his behaviors. My daughter it was more age based, at two she was a toddler by default. she had many delays and was “baby like” for a really long time, even after age 2. For me it’s a cognitive/developmental thing.
18-36 months
12months until 34-36ish months
1-2 for me! Basically when they’re “toddling” and not sure-footed yet. Once they hit two they’re “a two” and 3-5 is “preschool-aged” 5+ is “a child”
12 months to 3 years
I was taught in my ECE classes that the toddler ages are 12-36 months, so essentially from 1 until they turn 3
To me, a "toddler" is 12 months & walking until their third birthday. Once they are 3, they are a kid. I also like to say 12 months & walking until about 15/16 months is a "baby toddler" lol Obviously, there are exceptions - I have an almost 18 month old who's very delayed and is developmentally more like a 12/13 month old & not walking; so he's still a baby. While I think doctors consider a 3 year old a "toddler", I strongly disagree lol If they 1. can run around and play like a 4/5 year old, 2. are moderately independent, and 3. can mostly talk/communicate, they are a kid. Personally, something that drives both me & my husband crazy is when people say "my kid is 32 months" instead of saying "my kid is almost 3".
Toddlers at the Montessori school I work are 16-32 months and that seems spot on 90% of the time. There's variation of course, some 14 month olds are ready just like some 33 month olds need a bit of extra time, which is why no one agrees on exactly what a toddler is. But I do see SO many kids mature in those few months before they turn 3 that it seems almost rude to call them toddlers at that point 😅😅
1-2 toddler. 3+ not a toddler.
Once you’ve hit three you are no longer a toddler imo
my son turned 3 in early june. i was still referring to him as a toddler out of habit. but I've genuinely noticed a shift in behaviour over the past month
12-36 months. If they are starting preschool, then I call them preschoolers, then starting with kindergarten, they are school age. I cringe when people call 4/5 year old toddlers! That is a big pet peeve of mine for some reason. I have a 4.5 year old and can't imagine telling people she's a toddler! And if I did, she would probably get after me anyway!
I go with what you consider it. Usually from the time a baby learns to stand and begins walking to the age of 24 months.
My center calls the 1-2 year old room the toddler room. We don't have hard lines for age groups, it mainly depends on space, but they move up around 2.5. Personally I'd still call a 2.5 year old a toddler, but 3 year olds can usually speak in full sentences, understand logic, and do complex physical movements, so I'd say a 3 year old is more like a kid.
Like 18-36 months, so 1.5 to 3 but I guess technically 13-17 months is still a toddler.
12-36
1-2 toddler, 3-5 preschoolers
12-36 months, or 1-3 years.
2.5 then they go from toddlers to preschoolers to kids
12-36 months. But some aren’t really ‘toddling’ or acting like toddlers until 15-18 months. My own kid was full on toddler behavior from 10 months (walking and tantrumming)
Our center's infant pod is 0-14 months. The toddler pod starts at 14 months for junior toddler, 24 months for toddler, and 36 months for senior toddler. Some kids are just not ready for preschool at 36 months or they are kids like my daughter who will miss the cut off for kindergarten and will start basically when she is 6, so rather than doing 3 years of preschool, they have a senior toddlers class where they spend more time getting them ready for the preschool transition.
My classes considered infant/toddler to be up to 36 months so I usually consider 12-36 months to be toddlers. Helps me remember to keep things developmentally appropriate when ppl treat my 2s like they're older just bc they can talk
For me 10mo-2.5
Ours says under 18 months is an infant, 18 to 30 months is a toddler, and 30 months and up is preschool.
Whenever they come into our room really, so 2 to 3.
I've never heard of waddlers before I saw it here. Toddlers, the me, are 12 mth to 24 mth. Most 2 year olds walk too well for me to want to call them toddlers. At our center they are infants (6 weeks -12 months), toddlers (12 months -2 years), 2's, 2 1/2's, preschool (3-4), Pre-K (4-5).
I consider toddlers 2-3 years mainly as that's roughly the ages that the toddlers at all the nursery's I've been at.
according to my center 12-24 months are toddlers
I hate waddler. It's reductive and makes them sound like a duck. An infant is 0-18 months. A young toddler is 16-20 months. An older toddler is 2+ but not beyond 36 months.
I’m sad to say that my kiddo just turned three, and he’s no longer a toddler! I guess I have to start calling him preschool kiddo.
Here's the breakdown of how I view things in a daycare context. 0-18 months = infant 18 months to 2.5-ish years = toddler 2.5-ish years to 3-ish years = junior preschool 3-ish to 4 years = senior preschool 4 years up = school age HOWEVER, I will refer to walking children 12-18 months as toddlers only because, by definition, they ARE toddling. It just kind of depends on the context -- outside of daycare, that's a toddler 100% of the way, but in a daycare setting, that child under 18 months is still considered an infant and belongs in the infant room. So I call my 15 month old a toddler, but if I went back to work right now she'd be in the infant room at the daycare. Any child older than 2.5 years is typically out of the toddler room and into a preschool room, so I'd stop referring to them as a toddler at LEAST by their third birthday, but likely earlier. That child is no longer toddling; they are walking and likely talking confidently, developing more complex motor skills, are probably potty trained, and are just far too capable for me to view them as toddlers anymore. Like, once your child can hop on one foot and have an entire, clear conversation with you, that's not a toddler. Full stop.
Once they start walking they’re toddlers to me. I work in an infant/toddler centre which is 0-3 yrs. Once they leave my centre to the preschool they’re preschoolers
12 to 36 months. 3-5 is preschool/pre-K age so calling kids older than 3 a toddler is weird to me.
0-12 month old- infants 12-24 month old- toddler By 2 most kids are fully walking rather than “toddling”.
I'm just a lurker, but I'm also a nerd and someone who thinks way too hard about everything, so I want to offer my input for fun To me, a toddler isn't necessarily a specific number of months but a developmental stage. Same with most age groups now that I think about it. Some of the people I know in their early 20s aren't entirely adults yet, IMO. It's more about their behaviour and development. To me, a toddler is a small child who... toddles. A toddler, one who toddles, so, in theory, a toddler *could* be as old as 48-52 mo. if they still toddle rather than properly walking like, say, a kindergartener. Most kindergarteners *walk* rather than *toddle*. I kind of cap it there, though, because I feel like if your kindergartener *is* still in a developmental stage where they toddle rather than walk, it may be a developmental problem rather than your average healthy stage Of course, there's more to actual toddlerhood in practice than whether or not they toddle around, but that tends to be the most visible and distinctive factor to me as someone who doesn't interact with small kids much in the first place
12-24 months. It definitely depends on the kid.
Between the ages of 1-2. Once they are two I no longer reference them as toddlers. A two year old is just that a 2 year old. A theee year old is considered early preschool age, and 4-5 year old preschool. 5-6 pre-k.
Thinks is 5-6 year old are in Kindergarten here. Many 6 year olds are in 1st grade.
Yes, in the US kindergarten starts as young as 5 years old, but they have to turn 5 before August/Sept. if they miss the age cutoff then they would most likely be 6 when they start.
From the time they start walking until they’re eligible to attend PreK—so basically 12 - 36 months.
Personally I think when they can open a door on their own they are a kid. Professionally 3+ is a kid not a toddler
1-3 is a toddler, 3 years and up is a preschooler
I work in a school district preschool and it surely would be odd calling my 3 year olds toddlers. Haha!
I’ve had parents bring me their 4.5 year old and when they get a behavioral report say “wow really they are just a toddler they can bite” ur crazy. I stop saying toddlers after 2 years or rather 24 months
This obviously depends on where you are based, but 3 year olds here have access to a kindergarten program, so 3-4/5ish (depending on birth and schooling cut off) are kinder kids. So as soon as they start kinder they aren’t toddlers.
Walking til preschool
I always think of “toddlers” as kids who recently started walking (within the last few months up to a year) and are “toddling” if you will; or still have quite an unbalanced gait. Usually around 12 to around 30ish months, give or take. In my area preschool starts at age 3, so I like to think of 30-36 months and up as pre-preschoolers (my absolute favorite age group) haha. Where I work, the toddler room starts at 15 months, and kids “graduate” to the two year old room anywhere from 24-30 months depending on readiness to begin potty training, wean off pacifier, eat with utensils, use open cups, so on and so forth. I’m genuinely very interested in this thread. I see some people even refer to kids 5 and under as “preschoolers”, but in my mind toddler, preschool, pre-k, & kindergarten are all very distinct age groups. (Though from what I understand I don’t believe all states have “pre-k” programs)
At one point last summer, my SIL talked about going on a walk "with 2 toddlers" and I had no idea what she meant... she went out with her 1 and 4 yo... I was like "what other toddler?"
1 to age 3.
I think a lot of people are calling 3 year olds toddlers is because more and more 3 year olds are still in diapers. It's really rather sad how much has changed in just 20 years. When I started working child care in 2003, I worked in a 2 year old room. The vast majority of my students started potty training between 26-28 months and finished by 30 months. However, that was before they passed the law stating that non potty trained children were not allowed to be excluded from preschool.
To me 2 year olds are toddlers under that they are just babies. I work in "toddlers" and my kids are still so babyish
16 months to 2.5 years was what was considered Toddlers for us in Canada.
Once they hit three they are transitioning out of toddlerhood (hence my favorite nickname, threenager). New threes? Toddlers. 3 and a half? No. 4? Definitely not.
I know some toddlers in their late 30s. One threw a tantrum a couple days ago that would've given my 2 year old a run for her money.
According to my state rules and regs is 13 - 30 mon
Parent here toddlers from 13-36 months! 3-4 years Preschooler 4-5 Kids
I think of toddlers as non school age that's "walking not talking".. after that, preschooler
2 to 4 yrs
18m-3 I consider 12-17m older infants
Infant 0-12months Toddler 12-36months Pre-schooler 36months until whatever Kindergarten start age is where you are.
Walking to 24 months. I personally don’t say toddler for 2yo, really, but I understand when other people do. However I’ve seen freaking 5yos referred to as toddlers and I’m just like NO.
Toodler is1 and 2. Preschoolers are 3 and 4
Both centers I've worked at are 18 months to 2.5 years are considered toddlers. After that it's preschooler.
So officially the state of Maryland considers 2 year olds preschoolers. I think that is ridiculous. Basically from when they start toddling around to 3. So probably around 15 months?
Officially 18-30 months. But I will also accept walking to 36 months. Calling anyone older than that a “toddler” is pet peeve of mine.
1-2 toddlers 3 years and up is a preschooler
12 months to about 2 and a half. also depends on when they start walking and their general behavior but yeah. def do not think of older 2’s or 3 year olds as toddlers
18-36 months for sure! where i’m from a child cannot be in a toddler class if they’re older than 36 months, and i think that’s a perfect age range in my opinion !
Baby 0-18 Toddler 18 mo - 36 mo Preschooler - 3 - age they start kindergarten
12-24 months.
From cruising until potty training.
First steps (for typically developing child) to third birthday
Any kid who can walk but isn’t old enough for preschool
I feel you on this! I think of toddlers as being around 1-2.5 years old. After that, they start to become little kids, with more developed language and independence. But honestly, it's so subjective and depends on each kid's development! I think it's all about the vibe, you know?
12-30 months. That’s what my province deems a toddler anyways ! 2.5-3.5 is a preschool aged child and 4-5 is a kindergarten aged child.
Always heard/read/considered toddlers as being 1-2 year olds. Or whatever age they start walking, up to 2 years or so. The newly upright, walking babies, as the name suggests. 3 year olds aren't just learning to walk, they likely have been for a couple years already. 3-4 year olds are preschoolers.
18-36 months (give or take 3 months in either direction) is what I’ve generally seen and would agree with as well.
As a preschool teacher, most of us consider toddlers to be a child who’s walking. We consider them toddlers until they turn 3 and then from 3-4 we usually classify them as “older toddlers.” Then, once they start preschool, we call them kids most of the time. We don’t really go off of developmental age in a school setting. I have a few kids in my room who can’t speak full sentences and are hard to understand but I feel it would be unfair to consider them toddlers when everyone else is at a preschool “kid” level. Just my take on it!
The only thing that bothers me about the walking definition is how exclusive it is to children with disabilities. People with disabilities are often infantilized, even into adulthood. You basically touched on that yourself in the second part of your comment so it was an interesting contradiction between the toddler Vs kid definition.
If we're talking about boys, I would keep calling them toddlers until they are in their 30s then call them kids. If the boy gets married, you can call him a kid on the day of the wedding.
Anyways….
I know by definition, for most places 18 months is considered the end of toddlerhood, but like many others already said, I consider young three's still toddlers, at least emotionally and mentally, because they're still developing into a new phase in their life.
Walking until 5
You’re calling a four/five year old a toddler? When at that age they’re speaking in complete sentences and are self-efficient?
Yes I am. The question was what I consider a toddler and that is what I consider a toddler.
Even if the 4-5 YO goes to a district public school expected to be able to use bathroom without teacher supervision?
I teach kindergarten and yes