Print This PageAdvocare Advice for Age Three Years
Safety:
- Use an approved car seat in the back seat of your car. If your child weighs more than forty pounds, use a booster seat with a high back. All children should stay in car seat devices until they weigh eighty pounds or have reached a height of four feet nine inches (4'9"). Seatbelts alone are unsafe and illegal for three-year olds.
- Always supervise your child near any water: the bathtub, a pool, a lake, the shore.
- Install window guards or other safety devices on your windows. Three-year olds are curious and may explore a window; their body weight is sufficient to break through a screen.
- Maintain a smoke-free home and car; avoid exposure to cigarette smoke.
- Install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors on every level of your home. Check smoke detectors twice a year.
- Keep all medicines, matches and firearms safely out of reach and locked up. Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222; keep this number by your phone.
Nutrition:
- Three-year olds continue to be picky eaters with a limited range of foods. This is normal. Continue to expose your child to a variety of foods along with his/her favorites.
- Encourage fruits and vegetables. Don't be alarmed if veggies are ignored.
- We recommend that your three-year old drink 2% milk or water. Avoid or limit fruit juice; if you must offer juice, water it down.
- Never offer soda. Limit access to candy, sweets, and salty snacks.
- Brush your child's teeth twice daily. If your child has not yet seen a dentist, schedule a visit.
Development:
- You are entering the wild and wonderful world of three-year olds. Your child has more language, more curiosity, more energy, more opinions, and more questions. This is the year of the "why" questions.
- Your child is continuing to develop fine and large motor skills. At this age, children need the opportunity to cut with safe scissors, do little craft projects, color, climb, run, swing, and jump. Coordination with both large and fine motor activities is blossoming.
- Three-year olds can be bossy. Children are trying to figure out the rules; establish clear rules with known consequences for breaking them. Children need and crave consistent limits. They may fuss and fret and even have a major tantrum when they are told "No," but they will survive and be happier with limits.
- A bedtime routine is essential. Routine in general is comforting to children.
- Three-year olds are "magical" thinkers. This can be used to help them through their normal fears. Many children have bad dreams at times; try sprinkling some "magic dust" on their pillow to help them fall back to sleep. It is also normal for children to be afraid of big, furry animals; bugs; monsters, etc. Use your child's imagination to give him/her superpowers to make scary things go away or turn into friends. This is a great age for you and your child to have fun with your imaginations!
- Many three-year olds are just mastering toilet training. Don't despair. When your child is ready, it will happen quickly. Don't get into a power struggle over toilet training. More than fifty percent of American children are trained after the age of three.
- Start to have your three-year old do simple chores, such as put away toys. Children love to be little helpers!
- Limit TV and video time to less than one and one-half hour a day. It is more important for your child to actively explore the world than passively view it through TV and videos. Many child-oriented videos are very frightening to young children.
- Don't over-schedule your child. Make sure your child has lots of unstructured playtime and down time. At this age, your child does not need too many scheduled activities. Encourage (safe and supervised) free play outdoors.
Next visit: when your child is four years old.