93 Week Old Baby: Your Baby's Development and Your Recovery This Week

Your toddler has worked out stairs, but the grown-up way is still coming.

At around 23 months, your toddler climbs stairs two feet to a step while holding a rail or your hand, and usually comes back down on hands and knees or their bottom. Alternating feet going up, then down, usually shows up between 2.5 and 3.5 years.

• Never leave anything on the stairs, a toy, a basket, even a slipper can trip a toddler. Always go up and down with them; never let them practice alone. Stair gates stay on until your toddler can do full alternating feet both directions safely.

• A dress-up box of old dupattas, hats, old shirts, scarves, hours of play and great for imagination.
• Big paper (taped to the floor or easel), fat crayons, chubby washable markers. Expect walls to get some art unless you stay ahead.

• Drawer and cupboard latches on anything with cleaners, medicines or sharps, climbing toddlers find the under-the-sink stash.
• The kitchen stove, the iron and any cup of hot tea or coffee left within arm's reach, move them to the back of the counter, or the centre of the table, every single time.

Your toddler's body knows what to try long before their judgement catches up. That's why supervision is everything.

• Vomiting, unusual sleepiness, a swelling that keeps growing, or pupils that look uneven, head to the emergency room. Most bumps just need a cuddle and a cold cloth.

• Smooth marble or kota floors get slippery, a small rug at the play area, soft slippers indoors, and watch for the threshold strip between rooms. Open balconies are the biggest fall risk in Indian flats, grilles right up to ceiling height, always.

Those brave little climbs are baby development in full flight, and your steady hand behind them is what makes bravery safe. You cannot bubble-wrap the world, but your watchfulness is its own kind of love. Trust yourself; you know this child better than anyone.

Around 22.5 months. Reading habits, yours and your toddler's, are mutually reinforcing.

Your toddler's reading

• At 22 months, many toddlers love repetition. They will want the same book read 8 times. They will memorise lines and "read" along. Both are good.

Building the habit

• A bedtime story most nights
• Books visible at toddler height, a low shelf, a basket
• Letting toddler turn the pages even if "wrong". A weekly book-swap with friends or local library

Indian-context books

Plenty of great Indian board books now:

• Pratham Books (regional languages, free downloads)
• Karadi Tales
• Tara Books
• Tulika Books Many available in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Gujarati.

For your own reading

• Reading something just for you, even 10 pages a day, keeps your brain active and your mood lifted. Phone reading does not have the same effect; books or e-readers do.

Indian-mum tradition kept

• Many Indian families have a daily reading-aloud tradition, religious texts (Gita, Quran, Granth Sahib, Bible), poetry, mythology stories. Whatever fits your home, this oral tradition is excellent for toddlers' language development.

Eating well

• Three meals + two snacks.

Worth flagging

• If your toddler shows no interest in books at 22 months, doesn't make eye contact during reading, or you can't get them to sit for 30 seconds, mention to the pediatrician. Most "uninterested" toddlers come around with patience; some benefit from early-intervention support.

Indian-tradition reading

• Reading aloud, Panchatantra stories, Jataka tales, regional folk tales, is a long Indian oral tradition. It builds toddler vocabulary in your home language, passes down family stories, and gives both of you a calm window in the day.

The same book for the eighth time may test you, but your voice is the sound your child loves most in the world. Reading together is one of the sweetest parts of parenting a toddler: a lap, a page, and nowhere else to be. Years from now, those stories will still live in both of you.