107 Week Old Toddler: Your Toddler's Development and Your Recovery This Week

Your toddler is fast, fearless, and not quite sure where the edges are yet.

At around 25 months, most toddlers are running in short bursts (with occasional faceplants), climbing onto the sofa and off again without help, and testing every limit you set. The climbing is developmental, it's how they build strength and body awareness, but it's also the reason you are tired.

• Anchor any tall or heavy furniture to the wall. Bookshelves, dressers, TV stands. A climbing toddler can pull these over.
• Move attractive small objects off low shelves. If it's reachable, it's fair game.
• Window restrictors on any window above the ground floor, a toddler can fit through a gap surprisingly small.
• Fireguards around any heater or fireplace.

• Say yes to climbing in safe places, a soft play area, cushions on the floor, a low slide at the park. Saying no everywhere creates a climber who sneaks.
• Short words for dangerous climbs: "Not safe. Floor." Not a lecture.
• A daily outdoor burn-off. Energy that doesn't come out in running comes out in climbing the bookshelf.

A climbing toddler is a healthy toddler. A tired parent is a normal parent.

Tired arms and a watchful eye are the hidden work behind every safe climb. All that fearless scrambling is healthy toddler development in motion, and your care is the net beneath it. Rest when you can; even the strongest spotter needs a breather.

Around 25 months. Toddler self-feeding has matured, they eat with a spoon mostly, and the floor is mostly clean.

What's happening for you

• By 25 months, eating habits in your home have a more settled rhythm. Family mealtimes (when they happen) are calmer. Now is when the patterns set become long-term.

Things that often help

• Family meal at least once a day, eaten together
• Same food for everyone (toddler portion smaller, milder spice)
• No screens at the table
• No bribes around food
• Toddler picks portion size from what's offered

For mum's eating

• Eat the family meal, sitting, with your own plate. Don't graze on toddler leftovers.

Indian-thali for the family

• Dal, sabzi, roti, dahi, chawal, achaar. Everyone takes what they want. Toddlers naturally pick what they want. Mums get protein, iron, calcium, fibre.

Eating well

• Three meals + two snacks. Soaked almonds, dates, banana between meals.

Worth flagging

• If your toddler is consistently outside the typical growth chart for their age (very low or very high), the pediatrician will guide you. Don't try to "diet" a 2-year-old yourself, restriction at this age can cause feeding issues for years. For yourself, persistent fatigue or weight changes, get bloodwork done.

Indian-tradition note

• The Sunday family lunch, extended family, full thali, slow eating, conversation, is a long Indian tradition worth protecting. It models what eating looks like for your toddler and gives you community.

An Indian-mum tradition kept

• A weekly oil massage, head, shoulders, lower back, with warm sesame, mustard or coconut oil. Done by yourself or family for 15-20 minutes. Indian aunties have known this is restorative for centuries. Modern medicine agrees.

A family thali eaten together, with your own plate in front of you, is nourishment in more ways than one. Sitting down for your meal is mother self care in its most everyday form, and your toddler is watching and learning from it. The table you are setting now will hold your family for years.