Twelve to Eighteen Months

12-15 months

What your child should be able to do

• Your child may now be walking independently but their walking pattern will still be uneven, and their feet wide apart to help them balance, please remember that rhe age that children learn to walk does vary from child to child so it is completely normal for some children to be still learning to walk up until 18 months of age
• They will be beginning to stand up on their own without using the furniture and crawl upstairs (with close supervision)
• Your child will be able to build a tower of two cubes
• They will like to scribble holding a crayon in their fist
• They will be beginning to use a spoon without much spilling and drink from a cup without help

How you can help

You can find useful tips, hints and advice on ways to help support your child’s standing skills here:

• Developmental milestones: standing - BabyCentre UK

Information around drinking and cup advice for your child can be found below:

• Drinks and cups for babies and young children - advice on the NHS website.ww.nhs.uk)

When to seek support

• If your child is not taking weight through their legs and standing to play at furniture
• If you child is not side stepping along the furniture

15-18 months

What your child should be able to do

• Your child should now be walking well with their feet only slightly apart, and they can start and stop walking safely 
• They will be able to push and pull large toys, boxes etc. and carry large toys whilst walking
• They should be now able to kneel upright on flat surface without support.  Your child should be able to bend their hips and knees to squat down to pick up a toy from floor and stand up again using hands for support
• Your child should be trying to turn pages of a book
• They like to ‘help’ around the home
• They will be beginning to try and take off some of their clothes

How you can help

You can find useful tips, hints and advice on ways to help support your child’s walking skills here:

• Developmental milestones: walking - BabyCentre UK
• If your child is walking, tips on how to consolidate their walking skills can be found here.

When to seek support

• If your child is not standing independently
• Not attempting to walk without support
• Not attempting to scribble randomly with a crayon
• Not attempting to stack blocks after demonstration

What your child should be able to do

• Your little one will have a handful of words (around 3-10) that you can understand
• Will use gestures such as clapping, pointing and shaking their head for ‘no’
• You may hear the words “no” and “mine” a lot as they begin to use these words
• Will point to well-known objects such as ‘car’ ‘cat’ and their own ‘nose’ or ‘eye’
• You can help your little one understand what things are by following their lead and labelling the objects for them

How you can help

You can encourage your little one’s communication by supporting them to request something. 

You can find more hints, tips and advice on supporting your baby’s communication and interaction at:

• Activities for 12-18 month olds - BBC Tiny Happy People
• Hungry Little Minds – Simple fun, activities for kids aged 0 – 5 (campaign.gov.uk) 

When to seek support

• Lacks interest in playing and interacting with others
• No clear words at 15-18 months
• Not able to understand short requests such as ‘where is teddy?’