When you become a parent, there’s a lot of well-known milestones you eagerly await – baby’s first tooth, that all-important first word and the very first steps they take. However, there’s also a lot of unofficial stages your baby and toddler will go through and some of them can come as quite a shock!
Here, we’ll look at some of the common, yet largely unmentioned milestones your little one will go through.
1. Who Fancies Mountaineering?
One of the earliest unofficial stages baby goes through is what can only be described as “mountaineering”. They literally want to climb on anything and nothing is seen as too difficult to scale. If there’s a vertical surface in your home, you can bet your baby is going to try to climb it!
What’s scary about this phase is the speed in which baby can actually climb. Blink and you’ll miss it. They’re capable of attempting to scale any surface in a matter of seconds. Don’t think you’re safe if there’s no apparent easy way up to a surface either. Baby will easily find a way, whether by using a bin or even a diaper box lying around. If there’s something that could potentially be used as a climbing aid, they’ll try it.
This stage typically starts within several months and pretty much stays throughout the toddler stage.
2. Sudden Dislike Of Everything
The “No” phase is typically associated with toddlers when they flat-out refuse to do anything you want them to do. However, did you know that your tiny, innocent looking baby can also develop this sudden dislike of everything?
It all starts with baby refusing to take their bottle. Now, this could also be down to a number of reasons such as they’re not feeling very well or they’re in a more irritable mood than usual. However, if they’re constantly showing a dislike of things they normally enjoy and they aren’t ill in any way, it could be the beginning of the no phase.
Like mountaineering, this stage lasts throughout the majority of the toddler phase. It also gets progressively worse before it gets better. As your little one learns to express themselves, “no” is a word you’re going to start hearing a lot of! According to experts, this usually dies down not long before your toddler’s second birthday.
3. Car Seat Meltdown
Remember when the quiet lull of the car used to miraculously calm your baby? Well, a couple of months in and you’ll be wishing you were still at that awesome period. For reasons unknown, after a couple of months many babies decide they don’t like the car anymore. In fact, they HATE the car. So much so, that they decide to show their contempt by screaming consistently until the end of the journey.
Unfortunately, many parents discover this stage right as they’re heading off on a long journey. Some babies won’t cry the whole way there, but they’ll likely set off again when you pull up at a red light, slow down to let someone pass, or when you’re approaching a T-Junction.
Out of all of the unofficial stages mentioned here, this one is thankfully one of the shortest-lasting stages. All babies are different, but you should find the car seat meltdown only happens for a few months maximum.
4. The Peek-A-Boo Stage
One of the cutest and most joyful unofficial baby stages is the peek-a-boo phase. This classic game is something most parents start to play with their baby, long before their little one can actually do it back. It’s a game babies love and all the time they’re watching you do it, they’re learning how to play the game. So, when they start to do it back for the first time, it really tugs at those heart strings.
Don’t be surprised to find yourself sobbing with joy the first time your baby joins in! It’s a magical moment and acts as the first real “conversation” between you and baby. What’s great about this game is it’s going to keep you and your little one happy for a long time to come!
5. The “Grab Everything” Stage
Not long after your baby starts crawling, they’re going to go through what some parents find the most difficult stage of all to deal with, even over teething and sleep issues! That’s the grab everything stage. Also referred to as the “unpacking” stage, your little one is going to develop a strong obsession to grab everything in their path.
The extra mobility allows them to crawl over to drawers, cabinets, bags and bins and once they get there, they’re going to want to grab everything they can get their little hands on. They won’t just unpack everything however. They’ll also try to eat it, then they might also decide these newfound items might be better in another room.
It’s exhausting, frustrating and potentially dangerous and like the mountaineering phase, it tends to happen pretty quickly. So, baby-proofing the home should ideally be done before your little one can crawl.
6. The Budding Vandalism Stage
The toddler stage is packed full of unofficial milestones and one of the first and most infuriating stages is the budding vandalism stage. Now, this could also be considered the “destruction” phase as it seems your little bundle of joy is determined to destroy everything!
There’s quite a lot of behaviors which go into this stage including, drawing on walls, putting things down the toilet, picking leaves off household plants, rubbing paint or playdoh all over the body (particularly the hair), ripping books up and using make-up as crayons. To put it simply, it’s a nightmare! It’s said this budding vandalism stage is simply an exploration of creativity, but that positive spin does nothing to ease the frustration you’re going to face on a daily basis.
7. The Diaper Malfunction Stage
One thing they don’t tell you about diapers is they very rarely cope with the amount of pee a toddler’s bladder releases. This means not long after your little one has developed a pretty decent vocabulary, you’re going to find yourself needing to change soggy, heavy diapers, along with your toddler’s bedsheets, during the night.
It’s good though, right? I mean, it was getting a little silly being able to sleep through past 3am again!
8. Hilarious And Adorable Mispronunciations
As your toddler’s vocabulary and conversation skills improve, they’re going to start doing something really adorable – mispronouncing words. There’s nothing cuter than a toddler trying to say words such as “leg” and “bicycle” but instead coming out with “weg” and “bicual”.
While most of these mispronounced words are exceptionally cute, they can also be pretty embarrassing. It’s not uncommon for toddlers to start saying, and often shouting very loudly, rude words and phrases. It’s completely innocent on their part, but it does attract quite a few disapproving looks as you walk around the grocery store. After all it can sound extremely wrong hearing a toddler shout “I love vagina” when what they’re actually referring to is “lasagna”!
9. The Honesty Phase
Speaking of embarrassing phases, your toddler is also going to go through what can only be described as a brutally honest stage. They know nothing about subtlety or social politeness. So, if they see, hear or smell something, they’re going to let you know about it in a very vocal way.
If you look online you can find all kinds of hilarious incidences of toddler’s being brutally honest. From asking why the person sat next to them smells to exclaiming “momma that ladies butt is even bigger than yours! Expect to have to apologize constantly to strangers during this phase.
10. The Illness Chain
Toddlers get sick, a LOT. Which also means that you get sick a lot. At some point, you’ll start to feel like your house is a contamination zone. Colds will be a frequent occurrence and just as you get over one, your toddler will develop another. So, it’s a good idea to stock up on toddler-friendly cold medicine and ensure there’s plenty of tissues handy.
Conclusion
These are just 10 examples of unofficial baby and toddler stages you’re going to experience. Some are entertaining, some are adorable and others will make you feel like you’re losing your sanity. However, despite the constant, never-ending struggles, you wouldn’t trade any of these experiences for the world (no really, you wouldn’t!).
Have anything you’d like to add or any stories to tell? Share them below!
I had such experiences with my cousin when he was a year and three months then. Those moments that he is ready to climb anything, not ready to agree with whatever I told him to do. That is the period he always wants to fight me then. I will be looking for the signs in my future kids as well!
Oh yes, one of the most difficult phase. You literally cannot take your eyes off them because they move so fast and could be someplace else in seconds. They are also carefree and still do not understand safety so adults or nannies should be very watchful.
I remember when my kids were still babies, I either put them on the crib or on a mat on the floor when they take naps because I do housework when they’re asleep and I don’t want them endangering themselves in case they wake up and I don’t immediately get to check on them.
I have a friend who nicknamed his little kid Everest due to facts explained in point no 1. From his experience, I can say kids really do love climbing. Everest sometimes get stuck up there then start’s crying for help. I find it amusing.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I got to point no’s 8. This is an all too familiar stage with almost if not all kids at that stage. Kids are just too cute.
I think you left out a point which I thought would made a good no 9. “The Obvious Lie Phase”. This is when they get caught executing a bad act during the budding vandalism stage. They tend to deny everything even when caught in the act. Kids can be very overwhelming and sometimes annoying, but their just kids. And we love them that way.
I have an adorable baby girl. Yes! She loves to grab anything. She gets angry when I try to let her sit on my lap or on her daddy’s lap. She always wanted to stand and when she does? She just gives you a big grin which melts our hearts. Changing diaper is actually funny for us. Why? Because we tend to hurry up so that she will not do some “wee wee” time while changing or let the smelly bomb out. HAHA. I always get worried whenever she sneezes or coughs. I had a trauma already. We spent almost a month in the hospital after a day I gave birth to her. So, I’m really scared of her getting sick again. It drives me nuts. Our play time is really essential to me. Honestly, I get teary-eyed when I see her smile or laugh. I don’t know. It’s just so overwhelming to me when I see her so jolly and happy. She’s one brave little girl. My blessing from God.
You are so right, Rumu, about “The Obvious Lie” phase (adults sometimes do that too, haha). Even my grown-up kids still do it. What’s worse, if you ask them who broke this or that, or who made a clutter, everyone is innocent — “It wasn’t me”. Maybe we can also call it the “Wasn’t Me” phase, haha.
I have an adorable baby girl. Yes! She loves to grab anything. She gets angry when I try to let her sit on my lap or on her daddy’s lap. She always wanted to stand and when she does? She just gives you a big grin which melts our hearts. Changing diaper is actually funny for us. Why? Because we tend to hurry up so that she will not do some “wee wee” time while changing or let the smelly bomb out. HAHA. I always get worried whenever she sneezes or coughs. I had a trauma already. We spent almost a month in the hospital after a day I gave birth to her. So, I’m really scared of her getting sick again. It drives me nuts. Our play time is really essential to me. Honestly, I get teary-eyed when I see her smile or laugh. I don’t know. It’s just so overwhelming to me when I see her so jolly and happy. She’s one brave little girl. My blessing from God.
I guess parents always dread times when kids get sick. We would rather be the one sick instead of our kids. It always brings tears to our eyes to see our kids suffer. It’s so heartbreaking so I totally understand your fear, mdbree17. I hope and pray she grows up to be a really healthy kid 🙂
Helpful information. I think we should really focus on these small aspects of development to better understand them and mold them to be the best persons in the world. These are crucial stages for development. Thank you for this i think i will look for more great information about this kinds of topic before i become a father to better prepare for it. 🙂
These stages of baby development may be unofficial but they usually the most memorable! I still have a video of my first son’s hilarious pronunciations. Just like that funny video you have there. That adorable little girl just keeps loving ‘bazanta’. The video brings back of those memories of when my son was at that stage. Babies just have a way of brightening up your day. Imagine after a stressful day with your baby climbing all over the place and pulling those other stunts, he just says ‘ I love ‘momei’! The kind of love you have in your heart at that moment would be worth the whole stress. At that moment you won’t mind having the day all over again.
Ah, so true Betty Ray. Lovely moments like those you mentioned surely gives parents an inner glow and a wonderful smile. They are sure to relieve the stress you’ve been through the whole day, whether at work or at home.
And you’re right, the mispronunciations are very memorable, haha. I, too, still remember the words mispronounced by my kids. I tell them about it and we would often have a good laugh.
I can really relate to the list you have here because even if I am not a parent myself, my siblings were born a few years later than me, where I was already a school-aged little girl. I was able to experience most of this since I have been responsible to watch them for quite a few times.
Back when I was about 9 and my baby brother was in the budding vandalism stage, he definitely did try to destroy every single thing in our house. What was truly heart breaking and annoying to me was when he ripped my well-cared books and dolls. I guess it was kind of my fault too because I did allow him to play with those and he did not understand the consequences of his actions.
That must have been really heartbreaking for you when your brother destroyed your books and dolls, SirenOnFire. That is definitely the most annoying phase of childhood, which reminds me of the time when my boys were at that age — they destroyed all my lipsticks so I needed to buy new ones. Terrible…
The grab everything and oral stage is the period in a toddler that I find very funny and amusing. Sometimes I ask why must it be in the mouth? Why not in another part of their body? Who or what tells them that anything they lay their hands on is meant for the mouth? Well, I practically don’t seem to have an answer to it and it’s likely nature that makes it that way. But in all things, toddlers are fun to be with as long as you try to understand how they behave.
I am a mom of five kids so I have learned what to watch out for when they were growing up – teething, crawling, etc. I would say one of the most annoying parts of a child’s growing up years is when he/she puts everything in his/her mouth, as in everything he/she can get a hold of. Why do they do this?
An article from the Better Health Channel says at the age of six to nine months, a baby’s “lips and tongue are the most sensitive parts of their body and give them lots of information about shape, texture, and taste.” Here’s the link if you want to know more:
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/child-development-3-six-to-nine-months
As a parent of a six months old baby, I am already witnessing some of these developmental stages. For instance, the baby is already in vandalism stage. In order to pacify the baby, I have installed baby rhyme apps on my phone. When the baby is crying, I play the rhymes. This will stop the baby from crying and he will be happy with the video. He used to be happy with what he was watching, however, in the last few days, he took interest in the phone, he wanted to hold the phone himself and watch the video. If we did not give him the phone, he starts crying. In order to pacify him, I gave him the phone and he therw on the floor.
Babies do love anything colorful that’s probably why he is keen on grabbing and holding your phone – he sees various colors in the video. The bad thing about that is he throws it away, haha. Perhaps a colorful musical mobile placed on his crib could help him forget your phone or any toy that has music and a lot of colors 🙂
Of all these 10 steps of toddler development, the one that I found most funny and have actually experienced it several times is mountaineering. Years ago when I used to go and help carry my little cousins at my uncle’s house, I have witnessed them climb virtually everything in the house, including the television. It’s very crazy and the funny thing is that should one try stopping them, they will start screaming and crying.
Haha, I could just imagine your experience with your cousins. Indeed, if you stop them from climbing, expect a loud wail.
This is probably one of the most difficult stages of a child’s development because they are so energetic and fast, you cannot take your eyes off them even for a few seconds, otherwise, they could fall. However, I would prefer them this way rather than them being quite in one corner. Being active and all only means their development is healthy.