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Visit our Health Hub at https://healthhub.cpcmg.net to learn more about your child’s health, wellness, and development. Available 24/7!
How Your Family is Doing
Keep family time a priority.
Make sure to take time for yourself and your partner.
Allow trusted friends and family to help out.
Parents need breaks and time for fun with friends and family as well.
If you have more than one child, try to spend some one on one time with each.
Teach your child not to hit, bite, or hurt others.
As your child’s most important role model, you want to avoid doing these things too.
If you feel unsafe in your home, or someone has hurt you, please let us know.
Hotlines and community resources are also there to get you help and keep you safe.
Avoid using drugs, alcohol, e-cigarettes, and nicotine products.
Keep your house and car a smoke free zone to keep your kids healthy.
If you need help with food or housing, we can help.
Community resources like SNAP and WIC offer assistance and information too.
Your Child’s Behavior
Give your child praise for good behavior.
Give your child the respect you give to others.
Surround your child with friends and family that respect your child as well.
Talk to your child often and help them with words to describe their feelings.
Watch them when they are around new people or in new situations.
Allow them to explore, but comfort and support if needed.
Read, talk, sing, and do daily activities with your child.
This helps them learn.
It also shows them that you are supporting them.
It is best to avoid screen time.
If your child has screen time, keep it to no more than 1 hour a day for learning.
Keep meals screen time free and encourage talking.
Keep your child active for an hour or more per day.
Activity and movement are healthy for their brain and body.
FREE behavioral and developmental assessments are available.
San Diego County residents through the First 5 Programs (888) 534-7785 or First5sandiego.org.
Southern Riverside residents through the Healthy Steps Programs (858) 966-8300 or Healthysteps.org.
Riverside and San Bernardino Counties are also served by Inland Regional Center (909) 890-4763.
Talking and Your Child
Talk to your child often and slowly, using simple words and sentences
Avoid baby talk so your child hears the words well.
A goal for this age is that your child can follow simple commands.
Ask your child lots of questions to help them learn.
Be patient as it may take your child time to think about how to say words.
Read lots and make it fun with books and street signs.
Children enjoy reading the same book over and over and that is okay and normal.
Ask your child to point to words or pictures in the books.
Ask them about noises pictures or animals in the books may make.
Ask them what they think will happen as you read along.
The more language they hear, the better off your child will be.
If you know different languages, talk to your using the different languages.
When spending time with your child point to things, encourage them to use words to describe what you see.
Potty Training
This is a good age to start toilet training if your child is ready.
Signs to tell they are ready:
They can stay dry for 2 hours.
They can tell you if they are wet or dry.
Your child can pull their pants up and down.
They seem interested and want to learn.
They can tell you that they need to have a bowel movement (poop).
Plan for potty breaks and check with your child about needing to go.
It is normal for kids to use the restroom up to 10 times a day.
You can celebrate the excitement around potty training by taking your child to pick out underwear.
Avoid shaming your child if they have an accident or just aren’t ready to be potty trained yet.
Be sure to teach good hand washing after use of the potty.
Clean the potty chair after every use.
Healthy Teeth
Be sure to brush your child's teeth twice a day.
Use a rice grain amount of fluoride toothpaste, as this is safe for them to swallow.
Use a soft bristle toothbrush.
Some toddlers really enjoy this, and some don’t.
This is normal, so try to make it fun and sing songs about it.
The more you do it, the more it becomes a routine, and they will get used to it.
After brushing their teeth at night, avoid anything more than water.
Offer lots of water and try to avoid juices and sweets.
Once your child has teeth, they can get cavities.
If you have not taken them to the dentist, now is a good time.
To find Medi-Cal dental clinics near you:
Call: 1-800-322-6384
Visit: Denti-Cal Website here.
Fluoride varnish can be applied by a dentist or at your child’s well visit to protect their teeth.
This can be applied every 3 to 6 months.
If your child seems uncomfortable from teething, giving acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or teething rings can be helpful.
If your child uses a bottle, you need to work on weaning now to reduce the risk of cavities.
Your child’s primary healthcare provider can help with tips for this.
Healthy Eating
Encourage healthy eating with lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and lean meats (like chicken, fish, beans) for meals and snacks.
You can offer one big meal and then smaller meals or snacks throughout the day.
Include them in family meals.
Try to avoid processed, highly spiced, and sweetened foods.
To prevent choking, cut food into small pieces and avoid hot dogs, raw vegetables, chips, candy, pretzels, popcorn, and peanuts.
At this age, it is not uncommon for your child to become a picky eater.
Taste buds are still developing and changing at this age.
Encourage your child to continue to try new and old foods of all varieties.
Continue to offer healthy options.
For more information and helpful tips on picky eating, check out this article.
Never force your child to eat.
Allow them to stop when they are done.
Allow them to feed themselves, although messy; this is good for independence and development.
Your child can try using soft plastic utensils like a fork and spoon.
Your child is learning about eating habits now.
The healthier you make it, the healthier they will be.
Avoid giving snacks for entertainment, boredom, or comfort when they are upset.
Offer them lots of different foods for them to continue to try.
Water is needed; juice is not.
If you choose to give juice, give no more than 4 ounces of 100% pure fruit juice daily.
Although you may have some spills, you can help them learn how to drink out of an open cup now.
If your child drinks plant-based or cow’s milk, give no more than 18 ounces per day.
Make sure to give unsweetened milk. 2% milk or lower is recommended at this age, unless your healthcare provided advises otherwise.
If your child’s appetite drops, decrease the amount of milk they drink.
If your child doesn’t drink milk or eat much dairy, a vitamin D supplement is recommended.
You can buy liquid vitamin D for your child’s age.
Follow packaging directions or ask your child’s primary healthcare provider for advice.
Food Assistance
2-1-1 is an organization that helps families connect with food assistance programs such as CalFresh, local and regional food banks, emergency food services, Women Infant Children (WIC) program and more. Contact them at 211sandiego.org/resources/food-assistance/ OR dial 2-1-1 from any phone.
Some families may qualify for assistance in purchasing food for children up to age 5. For more information on the WIC program, please ask your doctor or contact WIC directly
WIC San Diego http://sandiegowic.org/ 1-800-500-6411
WIC Riverside https://www.ruhealth.org/wic 1-800-472-2321
Safety
Car Safety:
Your child should remain in the carseat in the backseat.
The chest straps should be snug around your child’s chest.
Follow the carseat guidelines for maximum weight or height before turning them forward facing.
Be a good role model and make sure everyone in the vehicle has seatbelts on.
If your child is outside when you are leaving, make sure an adult is holding your child to keep them out of the path of your car.
Make sure your child is wearing a helmet when riding a bicycle or a tricycle.
Make sure your home has working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Make sure that someone is always watching your child.
They are curious and can get into things fast.
Make sure you have a gait for any stairs and around any pools.
Make sure all chemicals, medications, poisons and sharp objects are locked up or high enough that your child can’t reach them.
If you think your child may have consumed anything dangerous call poison control to help: 1-800-222-1222.
Keep all small objects, balloons, and plastic bags away from your child, as these are choking dangers.
Do not let them play with magnets or any toys with button batteries.
Make sure drawers, toilets, and windows have locks on them.
Keep all the furniture away from the windows.
Keep all cords, including those for blinds out of reach.
Make sure everything like TVs and lamps are secured so they cannot fall over on your child.
Empty anything with water in it after you are done, like buckets, pools, and tubs.
Children can drown in small amounts of water.
When you are around any water, make sure your child is close enough for you to reach them with a hand.
When cooking, make sure you know where your child is at all times.
Keep anything sharp, hot, or dangerous out of your child’s reach.
Never open an oven with your child in the room.
Use back burners for any cooking so your child cannot grab pot or pan handles.
Keep your child covered while in the sun to avoid any burns.
Use sunscreens of 15 or higher SPF, apply every 2 hours while in the sun and one hour prior to swimming.
If swimming or boating have a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device for your child.
If you think your child has been burned, call your child’s primary healthcare provider.
Keeping guns out of the home is safest.
If you have guns, keep the guns and ammunition locked separately.
Immunizations
Your provider will review your child’s immunization record, and if there are any routine vaccines that your child has not yet received, we will discuss these with you.
Flu Vaccine is recommended during flu season, which is typically September-March/April.
It is safe to give the flu vaccine with other vaccines.
Vaccines are safe and effective, and proven to save lives.
Learn more about recommended immunizations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
To learn about COVID vaccines, please see the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
If you have concerns about vaccines, please talk to your child’s primary healthcare provider for accurate information.
Fever - can be treated with acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
Soreness - can be treated with ibuprofen or cool compress.
Swelling at injection site - can be treated with cool compress.
For more details, visit the immunizations section on our Health Hub.
What to Expect at Your Child’s 30 Month (2.5 year) Visit
We will talk about your child’s speech.
We will talk about preschool.
We will talk about family activities.
We will talk about safety.
We will talk about your child’s social skills.
We will continue to work together as a team.
📚 References
This content was adapted from https://www.aap.org/en/practice-management/bright-futures/bright-futures-family-centered-care/.
Reviewed by (TT DO, JW MD), Patient Education Committee.