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At home
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At home
How can I help a young child with not following instructions?
Young children are still building the listening, language, memory and attention skills that instruction-following needs. Help at home with short one-step instructions, eye-level connection, extra processing time and specific praise. If a child rarely responds across all settings, arrange a gentle developmental and hearing check.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with not playing with other children?
Playing alongside rather than with other children is normal in the early years. Help by being your child's first play partner, building turn-taking, then bridging to one calm playmate and side-by-side activities. If peer avoidance persists across settings, a friendly developmental check clarifies whether extra support would help.
Read the answer AnswerHow to Help a Young Child Who Isn't Pointing to Show Things
Pointing to share (joint attention) usually emerges by 9–15 months, so for a 12–24 month old you can encourage it daily — model big clear points, get face-to-face, follow your child's gaze and reward every attempt to share. If pointing, showing and following a point are still rare by around 15–18 months, a gentle developmental check (with a hearing check) is sensible — not alarming.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with not responding to name?
A young child not responding to name is common and workable. Call once, close and at eye level, pair the turn with something delightful, and reduce background noise. Rule out hearing first, and book a friendly developmental check if it persists by around 12 months.
Read the answer AnswerHelping a Young Child Who Overstuffs the Mouth
Overstuffing the mouth is often a young child seeking strong oral feedback or not yet noticing a full mouth. Help at home with firmer textures, small portions served one piece at a time, slow pacing with water sips, and mouth 'heavy work' before meals. Persistent stuffing with coughing, gagging or choking warrants a developmental and feeding check.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with picky eating?
Picky eating is usually a normal phase between 18 months and 7 years. Help most by keeping mealtimes calm and pressure-free, offering small portions of new foods beside favourites, eating together, and patiently re-offering — a new food may need 10+ tries. Seek a check if there's poor growth, choking, an extremely narrow diet, or feeding difficulty alongside other developmental delays.
Read the answer AnswerHelping a Young Child Who Repeats Words (Echolalia)
Echolalia — repeating words and phrases — is a meaningful step in language learning, not a fault. Support it at home by modelling short usable phrases, responding to the meaning behind the echo, pausing to give space, and commenting rather than questioning. Seek a friendly developmental check if echoing remains the main way your child communicates between 2 and 6 years or doesn't shift towards their own words over months.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with running off in public?
Running off in young children (18 months–5 years) usually reflects developing danger-awareness and a strong drive to move, not misbehaviour. Help by combining prevention (routines, hand-holding, safe physical safeguards), teaching a reliable "stop" and "stay near me" through play, and meeting the underlying need — energy or escape from sensory overwhelm. Seek a developmental check if bolting is frequent, switches off danger-awareness, or pairs with speech, social or learning concerns.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with screen-time meltdowns?
Screen-time meltdowns are a normal sign of a developing brain that can't yet switch off intense reward calmly. Reduce them with a decided limit, clear visual time warnings, naming the feeling while holding the limit, and replacing the screen with a ready next activity — given a consistent 1–2 weeks.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with seeking spinning movement?
A child who seeks spinning is usually craving vestibular input — help by offering safe, structured movement breaks, watching for over-excitement, and following fast play with calming activities. A developmental check helps if seeking is constant or affects play, sleep or learning.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with separation anxiety?
Separation anxiety in young children is a normal, healthy sign of secure attachment. Help by keeping goodbyes short, warm and consistent, practising small separations through games like peekaboo, naming feelings, staying calm, and keeping routines predictable. It eases with age — seek a developmental check only if distress is severe, persistent, or disrupts eating, sleep and play.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with stool withholding?
Stool withholding usually begins after one painful poo, so the child holds on — which makes the next poo harder. Soften stools (with your doctor), keep toilet time calm and pressure-free with feet supported, and rebuild trust with praise. See a clinician for ongoing pain, hard tummy, blood, soiling or if home steps don't help in a few weeks.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with stuttering?
Most stuttering in 2–5 year olds is a normal developmental phase. Help by slowing your own speech, giving unhurried talk-time, listening to the message not the bumps, and never correcting or rushing. Seek a speech-language assessment if it lasts beyond six months, worsens, runs in the family, or comes with visible effort or avoidance.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with tantrums?
Tantrums in children aged one to four are normal — feelings outgrow words. Help by staying calm, keeping your child safe, naming the feeling, and comforting once calm. Predictable routines, warnings before transitions and small choices prevent many tantrums. Seek a friendly check if they're very intense, persist past four, or come with speech or social concerns.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with throwing objects?
Throwing is normal exploration and emotion-release in children aged 1–4. Help by teaching what and where they may throw, giving safe throwing outlets, redirecting calmly and keeping rules short. Look closer only if it pairs with language, regulation or sensory concerns.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with toe-walking?
Most toddlers outgrow toe-walking by age 3. Help at home with flat-foot play, barefoot walking on varied surfaces, gentle calf stretches and supportive shoes. Seek a developmental check if it is persistent past age 2-3, one-sided, comes with tight calves, heels that won't flatten, tripping, speech or social differences, or any loss of skills.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with toilet-training resistance?
Most toilet-training resistance in 2–5 year olds is a normal control struggle, not a disorder. Reduce pressure, pause battles for a few weeks, build calm routines and praise effort, and rule out constipation. Seek a check for pain, fear, regression or wetting past age 5.
Read the answer AnswerHow can I help a young child with very early rising?
Very early rising in young children is usually about light, timing and habit, not illness. Keep the room dark, protect naps, try an earlier bedtime, and teach a clear "morning starts here" cue with a toddler clock. Most children settle within two to three weeks; check with a paediatrician if snoring, breathing pauses or daytime exhaustion appear.
Read the answer AnswerHow to Handle a 1-Year-Old Avoiding Messy Play
Avoiding messy play at one year is common and usually a sensory preference, not a worry. Follow your child's lead, offer mess in tiny controlled doses through tools, keep a clean towel nearby, and stay playful. Book a gentle check only if touch sensitivity spreads to feeding, dressing or daily routines.
Read the answer AnswerHow do I handle avoiding messy play in a 2-year-old?
Toddlers who avoid messy play often find textures genuinely uncomfortable. Use tools-first, no-pressure, child-led exposure starting dry and moving to wet, and never force the hand in. Book a developmental check if avoidance is intense, spans many textures, or affects eating, dressing or daily life.
Read the answer AnswerHow do I handle avoiding messy play in a 3-year-old?
Avoiding messy play at three usually reflects tactile sensitivity, not behaviour. Offer textures gently, on your child's terms, never forcing hands in, building tolerance in tiny playful steps. Seek a check if avoidance is intense, widespread, or paired with feeding or other sensory struggles.
Read the answer AnswerHow to Handle Messy-Play Avoidance in a 4-Year-Old
Four-year-olds often avoid messy play because textures feel uncomfortable to their sensory system. Invite rather than force: start with dry, contained textures, offer tools, keep wipes close, and build tolerance in tiny steps. Seek a developmental check if avoidance is intense or spreads to eating, dressing and daily routines.
Read the answer AnswerHow do I handle avoiding messy play in a 5-year-old?
Avoiding messy play at five usually reflects how a child processes touch, not misbehaviour. Lower the demand: start with dry, contained textures, offer tools, keep a cloth handy, and let your child set the pace. Consider a sensory screen if touch avoidance also affects eating, dressing or school.
Read the answer AnswerHow do I handle bedtime resistance in a 1-year-old?
Bedtime resistance at one year is normal and usually settles with a short, predictable wind-down routine done the same way every night, a calm boring cot, and warm consistent responses to protest. Look closer only if sleep difficulty is severe and persistent or sits alongside other developmental worries.
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