Months 34-36 Development & Milestones

Watching your child blossom as they approach the big three is truly heartwarming. You’re almost past the toddler years! This stage brims with exciting developments as your little one becomes increasingly expressive and their unique personality shines even brighter.

Between 34 to 36 months, your child will be refining essential skills across various areas, including speech, social interactions, and physical coordination. This time is filled with discovery and learning, providing as much opportunity for growth for you as parents and caregivers as it does for your child. Let’s explore what you can expect during these months and learn how you can best support your child’s remarkable development journey!

Physical Development

34 Months: You can expect girls to typically weigh around 13.5 kg with a height of approximately 93.6 cm, while boys might weigh about 14.0 kg and measure around 94.8 cm tall.

35 Months: Girls are likely to weigh about 13.7 kg and reach 94.4 cm in height, and boys may weigh around 14.2 kg and stand 95.4 cm tall.

36 Months: It’s common for girls to weigh about 13.9 kg and stand about 95.1 cm tall, with boys weighing about 14.3 kg and reaching a height of approximately 96.1 cm.

Cognitive Development

It’s a truly thrilling time as your toddler starts to flex their mental muscles with more complex thinking skills and a better understanding of the world. Here’s what to look out for as they continue their cognitive growth:

• Remembering Past Events: Your toddler is probably beginning to remember and even recount past adventures, showing a big leap in their memory skills.
• Sorting and Categorising: Watch them sort shapes and match colours with pride. While it may seem like all fun and games, your little one is actually laying the groundwork for logical thinking and pattern recognition.
• Concept of Opposites: Your little thinker will start to grasp the concept of opposites, adding a new layer to their ability to analyse and distinguish between different aspects of their environment.
• Problem Solving: Expect to see your child piecing together clues to solve problems, whether it’s figuring out the best way to reach that elusive toy or how puzzle pieces fit together.
• Asking Questions: With non-stop questions, your toddler’s curiosity is in full swing. Each “Why?” and “What’s that?” leads to deeper understanding. This relentless inquisitiveness is key to their cognitive development, helping them to learn more every day.

Suggested Activities

Encourage cognitive development with interactive story times that encourage questions and make connections between the tales you read and the world around them. Engage them with sorting games or colour-coordinated puzzles that are not just fun but also educational, helping them understand relationships and categories!

Emotional & Social Development

As your toddler approaches their third birthday, they’re practising all sorts of new skills in emotional and social development. This exciting phase is all about deeper connections and a growing understanding of their own emotions. Here’s what you can look forward to during this period:

• Playing with Peers: Watch as your toddler begins to play more with other children, transitioning from solo play to more engaging, cooperative play. This is important for developing key social skills like sharing, taking turns, and working together.
• Special Friendships: Your little one might start to form meaningful friendships, showing a preference for certain playmates. These relationships are wonderful for learning about empathy, building trust, and learning to handle social situations.
• Understanding Emotions: At this age, toddlers become more empathetic and expressive. They’re learning to manage their feelings and as a result, may become less reliant on adults for constant support, showing greater independence and self-confidence.
• Self-Regulation: You may notice your toddler getting better at controlling their impulses and handling frustration, which means fewer tantrums and smoother days. They’re also becoming more patient and can follow instructions or wait for short periods when needed.
• Testing Boundaries: It’s natural for toddlers to test limits as they explore social norms. Whether they’re being a bit bossy or telling fibs, these moments are perfect for teaching them about appropriate behaviours.
• Organised and Orderly Play: Your child will likely start enjoying structured play more, understanding and following routines within their activities, from setting up to cleaning up.
• Expressing Independence: Expect to see more independence as your toddler insists on making their own choices, from picking out clothes to choosing what to play. This autonomy helps play a role in developing their self-esteem and self-efficacy!
• Understanding of Self: As they grow, toddlers become more aware of their own identity, clearly expressing their likes and dislikes, which helps them make more informed choices and express their adorable personality!

Suggested Activities

To nurture their social and emotional growth, create opportunities for your child to engage in small group play, which can teach them about the dynamics of social interactions. Introduce storytelling that explores characters’ feelings and challenges, which can deepen their empathy and understanding of emotions. Encourage them to express their own feelings and recognise emotions in others, which are important steps in forming emotional intelligence.

Language & Communication

Get ready for their language skills to truly flourish during this period! Between 33 and 36 months, you’ll witness some incredible advancements in how they communicate. Here’s what to look forward to during these months:

• Pronoun Use: Your little one will confidently start using pronouns like “I,” “me,” and “you,” which helps them express their thoughts and feelings more clearly.
• Complex Sentences: Watch as they begin to string together three-word sentences, making their conversations more detailed and their needs and desires more explicitly stated.
• Story Time: Your toddler will not only get excited to listen to stories but will also have favourite ones they want to hear repeatedly. This repetition helps reinforce language patterns and vocabulary.
• Name Recognition: An exciting development at this age is the ability to recognise their name in written form. They may also start to recognise and name two or more letters, setting the foundations for reading skills.
• Interaction with Text: Toddlers will closely watch pages as they turn them and enjoy matching items by colour, which not only enhances visual literacy but also supports cognitive development related to reading.
• Clarity in Speech: By now, your toddler’s speech is probably clear enough to be understood by strangers, marking a great improvement in articulation and pronunciation.
• Responsive Conversation: They will listen to and answer questions more effectively, showing an enhanced ability to engage in two-way communication.

Suggested Activities

To foster these emerging skills, make reading together part of your daily routine, chat about the events of the day, and play games that involve naming objects and describing actions. These activities will support their language development and help nurture an early love for reading and storytelling!

Sensory & Motor Skills

You’ll be excited to see just how much their motor and sensory skills are developing between 33 and 36 months! Get ready for a show of precision, creativity, and coordination. Here’s what’s in store during this time:

• Precision Handling: Expect your tot to handle objects with greater skill, from turning book pages one at a time to making intentional marks with crayons and pencils, making lines and shapes with increasing control.
• Construction and Crafting: Watch as they construct elaborate block towers and get crafty with scissors and glue. Not only are these activities tons of fun for your little one, but they’re great for honing those fine motor skills!
• Visual Tracking:  Their ability to track moving objects gets sharper, perfect for games of catch or chasing butterflies.
• Artistic Expression: Your toddler will love painting with big brushes and threading chunky beads, enhancing their tactile sensations and hand-eye coordination.
• Tool Use: Holding a pencil between their thumb and first two fingers and using tools like brushes and scissors correctly will make you proud, all of which are important in the foundation of writing.
• Pedalling and Riding: Your little adventurer may be ready to start pedalling a tricycle, showing off their growing coordination and leg strength!
• Agility on Playground Equipment: Watch them confidently tackle playground structures with greater agility. They’ll likely be able to use more complex equipment with ease, climbing and exploring with impressive skill.
• Balancing Acts:  Look out for impressive balancing acts, like standing on one foot for short periods!
• Dressing and Undressing: You’ll see them becoming more adept at dressing and undressing themselves, handling buttons and zippers with much less help from adults.
• Throwing and Kicking: Their ability to throw and kick balls will sharpen, with improved accuracy showing better hand-eye and foot-eye coordination.

Suggested Activities

Keep nurturing these developments with plenty of interactive play. Think crafting sessions for fine motor practice, and sensory bins for that all-important tactile exploration. These activities are perfect for encouraging your little one’s motor and sensory development in a joyful and engaging way.

Feeding & Nutrition

Mealtime with your toddler is about to get even more fun and fulfilling! They’ve probably begun to join in on family meals, enjoying most of what everyone else is eating. This makes dinners a great opportunity for family bonding and for your toddler to explore a variety of recipes with different tastes and textures.

Have your toddler help out with simple kitchen tasks like washing fruits and veggies or setting placemats on the table. This not only piques their interest in food but also gives them a sense of involvement and accomplishment.

If you have space, growing simple items like herbs or cherry tomatoes can make the dining experience even more engaging. Children who participate in growing and preparing their food are often more excited to eat it!

Sleep Patterns

At 33-36 months, toddlers still need about 11 to 14 hours of sleep each day, which usually includes a daytime nap. But, you might notice some changes around this age as they start to grow out of their afternoon snooze, possibly needing more sleep at night to compensate.

During this time, it’s not unusual for little ones to show some resistance to bedtime or to wake up during the night – particularly if they’re skipping their naps or if they’ve had an extra busy day. Keeping a consistent bedtime routine is more important than ever, helping your toddler understand that even though their days are full of fun and adventure, nighttime is for rest and recharge.

Health & Safety

As toddlers become more adventurous, the scope of their explorations widens. They may climb higher, run faster, and examine everything more intensely. This heightened activity level increases their risk of accidents, making it a good idea to reassess your childproofing measures.

According to the Australian Government Childhood Immunisation Schedule, there are no vaccines required at this age (assuming your little one is up-to-date on all shots!). Continue to give an annual flu shot, free for children under the age of 5.

When to Speak to Your Paediatrician

Understanding that each child develops at their own unique pace is essential. If you have any concerns about your toddler’s development, or if they seem to be struggling with skills that others their age are mastering, it’s a good idea to talk with your paediatrician. These check-ups are crucial not just for addressing any immediate health issues but also for discussing developmental milestones and making sure your child is on the right track.

Following this guide, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of what to expect as your toddler navigates this stage of growth. With the right support and encouragement, you can help ensure your child continues to thrive during the 33-36 month period.

And remember, if you ever need someone to talk to, our Careline is just a call away. We’re here to support you.

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