Your toddler at 22 months: routines, questions and testing the rules

Where a 22-month-old is

Vocabulary expands quickly — often over a hundred words — with two- and occasionally three-word phrases, and the beginnings of 'what' and 'where' questions.

Physically: running, jumping in place, climbing confidently, kicking a ball forward, and turning single pages of a book.

Cognitively: sorting by shape and colour with help, completing simple puzzles, remembering routines and objecting when they change, and elaborate pretend play with dolls and toy vehicles.

Testing the rules

Deliberate testing — reaching for the forbidden thing while looking at you — is a cognitive milestone. They are checking whether the rule is about the object or about you watching.

Respond the same way every time, briefly, without a lecture. Consistency is what turns a rule into background furniture rather than a daily negotiation.

In a joint family, agree the handful of rules everyone will hold. A child who is refused by the mother and granted by the grandmother learns to route around the rule rather than to follow it.

Physical punishment is worth naming here because this is the age it usually starts in Indian households. It works in the moment, increases aggression over time, and teaches the exact behaviour you are trying to stop — see our discipline guide for what to do instead.

Sleep, food and preparing for two

One nap, 11-14 hours total. Bedtime resistance and night waking often flare around now with imagination developing — a consistent routine and a night light handle most of it.

Food: family meals, milk capped, snacks structured, iron-rich food daily. Appetite still swings and that is expected.

If a second baby is coming, this is a good time to make any big transitions — a bed, a room, playschool — so they are not happening in the same fortnight as the birth. Our preparing-for-a-second-baby guide covers the timing.

When to see a doctor

Same-day at any age: fast or laboured breathing, the chest sucking in, blue lips; a fit; a child who is floppy, drowsy or hard to wake; no urine for six to eight hours or signs of dehydration; a rash that does not fade when pressed; repeated forceful or green vomiting; blood in stool or vomit; a swollen tender abdomen; or a head injury with vomiting or drowsiness. Call 108 for breathing difficulty.

At 22 months specifically: fewer than fifteen words, no two-word phrases, not following simple instructions, no pretend play, no interest in other children, or the loss of skills.

And at any age, the loss of a skill a child already had — words, walking, waving, eye contact — needs an assessment rather than a wait.

This article is general information, not medical advice, and is no substitute for personal medical advice. For any decision about your or your child's health, please consult your doctor.

Frequently asked questions

Q: He does the thing I just said no to, while smiling at me. — That is testing, and the smile is checking your reaction. Keep the response calm, brief and identical each time; the behaviour fades when it stops being interesting.

Q: Should I use time-out? — At this age, calm-down time with you nearby works better than isolation, which frightens young toddlers. A minute or two is plenty, and reconnecting afterwards matters more than the minutes.

Q: Night waking has restarted. — Common now. Check the physical causes first — teeth, worms, heat, a blocked nose — then hold the bedtime routine steady and keep night responses brief and boring.

Q: She insists on the same book every night. — Repetition is how language and story structure are learnt. Let it run; it ends by itself.