29-Month-Old Child

Board books have served you well over the past two-and-a-half years, but now that your toddler is a little older, it may be time to introduce him to paper pages.

You can also start to engage him a little more with the stories — by pointing out similar events that happen in his life or asking him what he thinks might happen next.

And let him “catch” you reading a book of your own too. Children who grow up in bookish homes — ones that foster a love of reading — are more likely to become readers later in life.

Toddlers aren’t particularly good at recognizing when they’re thirsty. And even if they do notice it, they don’t always slow down long enough to take a water break.

When it comes to preventing dehydration in toddlers, your best defense is a good offense. Bring a sippy cup with you when you go to the park or beach and pack a cooler of foods that have a lot of water in them (think: chunks of watermelon or cucumber slices).

One drink you may want to leave at home: juice. The high sugar content can contribute to diarrhea, which can make dehydration worse.

Teaching your toddler about math doesn’t have to be intimidating. Aren’t sure where to start? Try singing songs that involve numbers, like “Five Little Ducks,” “Five Little Monkeys” and “Hickory Dickory Dock.”

Each time you say a number aloud, hold up the same number of fingers. This way, your child will start to understand that four is less than five (and that three is less than four …).

Did your little one wake up on the wrong side of the toddler bed? Even the most cheerful of tots can fall into a funk — and sometimes, no amount of songs, tickles or kisses can salvage the situation.

Not all is lost, however. One of the quickest ways to coax a toddler out of a bad mood is to switch up his environment. Head to the park, the playground or even a walk around a new street. If it’s raining outside, head inside instead — to a library, a store or a coffee shop for a snack.

Or, simply tweak your routine. Take a bath in the middle of the day or move lunchtime outdoors and have a picnic instead. Sometimes, a little novelty can go a long way.

Ever wonder why there are so many toy brooms and vacuum cleaners? That’s because, to a 2-year-old, work and play are pretty much the same thing.

Plus, toddlers get a real sense of accomplishment after doing “big person” tasks, like running the vacuum cleaner or putting a bowl on the table. Eventually, these small jobs can grow into regular chores.

To start honing his responsibility skills, start by asking him to do small tasks, like throwing away the junk mail, putting his socks back in the drawer or stacking books on a bookshelf.

Resist the urge, however, to fix his work (at least, until he’s out of earshot). If he feels like he’s done something wrong, he may be less enthusiastic about doing it in the future.

If you've got baby number two on board, you’re probably thinking that you’ll know what to expect this time around. But a second pregnancy can differ from the first in a few surprising ways.

For starters, you may feel certain pregnancy symptoms, like morning sickness or urinary frequency, sooner than you did the last time you were pregnant. You may also start to show sooner, in part because your abdominal and uterine muscles are looser now that you’ve already had one pregnancy.

You may also notice baby kicking sooner — say, by month 4 this time instead of closer to month 5, during your last go around.

In subsequent pregnancies, Braxton-Hicks (or “practice”) contractions may also be more intense, but because your cervix is less rigid than it was in the past, your labor will likely be shorter — and that’s something to be happy about!

To a sick toddler, taking medication is like adding insult to injury. (“No! It’s yucky!”) Need a little help to make the medicine go down? Try one of these tricks:

1. Switch up the delivery method. If your toddler hides at the first sight of the syringe, try asking the pharmacist if you can use a spoon or plastic cup instead (just make sure it offers the exact measurements you need to dose properly). Or, if it’s possible, ask if you can mix it into a small amount of applesauce, ice cream or fruit juice.

2. Don’t make faces. You may be cringing on the inside, but on the outside, try to be cheerful. Grimacing (or even apologizing) will only reinforce the idea that taking medication is unpleasant.

3. Offer a treat. Giving your child a special prize, like a sticker or small trinket, can help so that he’s not left with, well, a bad taste in his mouth.

4. Add a yummy flavor. Ask your pharmacist if you can add flavoring such as FLAVORx to the medicine. FLAVORx is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and can help combat the bad taste of many medications.