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15-Month Well Child Check

Your child probably loves to play in water, whether that is in the pool or bathtub. He always needs adult supervision within arm’s reach when in or near water of any kind. A child can drown in any amount of water. Pools should be completely surrounded by a fence that separates it from the house and has a self-locking gate.
Now that your child is walking, there is another level that they can reach. Make sure your house is baby-proofed at least as tall as your child can reach. Be aware of stairways and other rooms in which your baby might get hurt. They may also be able to get to other objects that can cause burns, such as stovetops and hot liquids.
Continue to put your child in a forward-facing car seat in the back seat if he weighs more than 20 pounds. Make sure the seat is installed correctly. Never leave your child alone in a closed car, even with the A/C on.
Your child is getting coordinated and curious and can get into many things. Be sure to keep all cleaners, chemicals and medications out of sight and out of reach. Keep cabinets locked or latched to prevent exploration injuries. If your child does eat or drink something that could be poisonous call the Poison Help Line at 1-800-222-1222 if he is conscious. It is important not to make him vomit.
To prevent a sunburn, keep him out of direct sunlight, dress him in clothes that cover the body, and use children’s sunscreen of at least 30 SPF.

Continue to give your child whole milk until his second birthday, but limit it to 16-24 ounces a day (at mealtimes). He should drink water the rest of the day. He should only drink from a sippy cup.
Mealtimes are a great social interaction time for the family. Meals with toddlers can be lots of fun, but also frustrating. Since they’re still learning to feed themselves with utensils, toddlers are quite messy. You should be offering them 3 healthy meals and 2 scheduled snacks a day. Often toddlers will have a decreased appetite because they are not growing as rapidly. They might also be picky eaters and only like a few different foods. It can take several tries to get a toddler to like a food.
Avoid foods that are choking hazards like popcorn, grapes, hotdogs, nuts and hard candies.

Any smoke in the house is dangerous to kids. We encourage parents never to smoke around their child, and to not to smoke at all for their own health.
A regular sleep schedule and bedtime routine will promote healthy sleep patterns. A familiar blanket or stuffed animal can help at bedtime. He should still sleep around 10 hours at night along with 1-2 naps during the day.
Continue to brush your child’s teeth twice a day. Use infant toothpaste without fluoride once a day and fluoride toothpaste once a day. You can prevent cavities by never putting them to bed with a bottle or cup.
Limit the amount of television your child watches. Encourage activity to prevent against obesity. You can model healthy living activities.

This is a time of rapid language development. Continue to encourage him to use his words. Play games that help him learn his words, body parts and familiar objects and people.
Talking with and reading to your baby will help his language development. Books can be a part of every activity throughout the day. Your child’s library can expand to books with familiar activities and things. Help your child learn the names of the objects by letting him find them.
Children become more active in climbing, running and playing with a ball. He will also start to pretend play, so encourage him to play with toys of all kinds, shapes and uses. Coloring and painting can be a fun activity to help develop fine motor skills.

Rewarding good behavior reinforces it, ignoring bad behavior discourages it.
Children thrive when they have limits and a routine, but they still need to fulfill their exploration needs. Setting limits for important safety related things and being consistent with enforcing them will help your child.
Your child will be trying to become independent in many things he does. Give clear messages at his level about what he can and can’t do. Brief (up to one minute) “time-outs” can be effective. Temper tantrums begin to surface at this age; they are best treated by ignoring them. Try to catch your child being good.

Next Visit – at 18 months of age