Toddler Growth and Development

Our expert analyzes a husband's negative response to his son's affectionate nature.

An expert explains what you can expect from attempts to read books to a two-year-old.

A parent seeks help for her son, aged two years nine months, who has delayed speech development.

Is it possible to teach a three-year-old that sucking her thumb is a bad habit?

Children should have speech that is quite clear by the time they are in first grade. Learn what to do if it's not.

Read about one child's speech difficulties and what action our expert recommends.

A problem with speech is probably not related to a central nervous system infection during the first month of life.

Socialization is probably the single greatest developmental benefit to be gained from a good preschool experience.

When a nine-year-old has a desperate need to remain physically with a parent at all times, professional attention is called for.

Parents need to understand that there is a wide range in children's speech development.

A parent wonders if she should be concerned that her two-year-old son is still not talking.

Find out whether thumb sucking is harmful to a child's teeth.

Read what you should do when your three-year-old's preschool teachers label him "overactive."

Learn how to tell when your child is ready to potty train.

Purchased games and toys have little relevance to healthy child development. Play, however, figures prominently in healthy child development.

Learn the best way to handle bowel control problems in school-age children.

This behavior is probably normal. Seventeen months is that difficult age when toddlers are learning to control themselves and the world around them.

A normal child's speech has progressively improved clarity -- roughly half intelligible by two years of age, moving toward fully intelligible by four years.