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Advice: 15 months

Tips for 15 months

Nutrition

  • It is normal for children to become pickier eaters around this age- continue introducing a variety of foods from different food groups.
  • Set a regular meal/snack schedule to avoid snacking on demand
  • Encourage consumption of REAL fruits and vegetables.
  • Toddlers should not drink more than 20 oz of whole milk a day. Ripple
  • Kids is an excellent plant-based alternative.
  • Limit salt, processed snacks, juice, sugar and sweets.
  • Avoid nuts, popcorn, hard candies, and chewing gum.
    We recommend a daily multivitamin such as Poly-vi-sol with iron or Novaferrum with iron, 1 mL orally each day.
    Juice has no nutritional value. Encourage drinking water.
    We recommend a daily multivitamin such as poly-vi-sol with iron, 1 mL orally each day.

Development

You can stimulate your child’s language development by reading books, singing, and talking about what they are seeing and doing. Encourage your child to repeat words, and make sure you respond with pleasure to your child’s attempts to imitate words. Your child will soon learn to climb up and down stairs, run, walk backwards, and kick and throw a ball. These achievements are inherently reinforcing for the child, so parents need to do little else to promote this development. Fine motor development includes the ability to use a spoon, scribble with a crayon or marker, and stack blocks.

What to expect at your 15 month visit

Check-up: Your provider will complete a comprehensive history and physical exam, review growth curves, answer any questions, and provide age appropriate guidance.

Vaccines: 

  • Varivax – Varicella (Chicken Pox)
  • Hib – Haemophilus Influenza, Type B
  • DTaP – Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis
 
  • Vaccine side effects: The majority of babies do not have any side effects from today’s shots, but some may experience pain at the injection site, fever or fussiness for 1-2 days. You can give Tylenol or Motrin if fever develops.  MMR can produce higher fevers than other vaccines and fever may develop up to 7-10 days following vaccination
 
Optional/Seasonal Vaccines
  • Flu (optional):  The first year that babies receive their Flu vaccine, they need 2 doses, spaced by 30-days
  • COVID-19 (optional): The first year that babies receive a COVID-19 vaccine, they must complete a 3-dose primary series.  Dose 2 is 3 or more weeks after Dose 1.  Dose 3 is 8 or more weeks after Dose 2.

 

Labs: There are no routine labs at this visit

Learn more about vaccines

Behavior and Discipline

Temper tantrums are to be expected. Sometimes they can be avoided by offering alternatives or distractions, but often they just happen. The parent sometimes just needs to offer sympathy or walk away saying “I’ll be in the other room when you are ready,” and allow the toddler to begin to learn some self-control.


Discipline involves setting limits and reminding the child of the kind of behaviors that are expected. Effective disciplinary actions include distraction, a stern restatement of the forbidden actions (hitting is not allowed), or a brief period of non-interaction (time-out). Always find ways to give plenty of positive reinforcements throughout the day, as praise is the most effective way to reinforce desired behaviors. This way, you can also build your toddler’s self-esteem, an important gift to any developing child.

Dental Health

Fluoride varnish may be applied your child’s teeth at check-ups during the second year of life. As soon as saliva meets the fluoride, it will harden and start working. Avoid sticky/chewy foods this afternoon and DO NOT brush teeth tonight. When you brush the teeth tomorrow morning, you will brush off the fluoride and that is okay.

Regular and frequent exposure to small amounts of fluoride is the best way to protect tooth enamel and protect teeth against cavities.

Sugars and bacteria cause cavities in 1 in 4 children. We recommend that you:

  • Brush teeth with a tiny smear of fluoride toothpaste (the size of a grain of rice) in the morning and before bed as soon as teeth erupt.
  • Stop bottles now. From this point on, there should only be water in bottles – no milk or juice.
  • They should be weaned off bottles completed by 15 months (see the tips above)
  • Do not allow your infant to fall asleep with a bottle, especially one containing milk, formula, or juice.
  • Minimize exposure to natural or refined sugars (juice) in the infant’s mouth.
  • Avoid dipping pacifiers in any sweetened liquid, sugars, or syrups.
  • Avoid putting pacifiers in your own mouth to “clean”.

Toddler Safety

ALWAYS… supervise your child near water, even a partially filled bath tub. Fence in backyard pools.

ALWAYS… wear sunscreen when spending time outside. We recommend SPF 30 or higher.

ALWAYS… guard windows and stairs with railings and gates.

ALWAYS… pay attention to choking hazards such as hot dogs, popcorn, hard candy, and small toys

ALWAYS… lock up all medications and household poisons including cleaners, paint thinners, and drain cleaners.

ALWAYS… know that guns in the home are a danger to the family. If guns are kept in the house, store the gun and ammunition in two separate locations, and keep each of them locked up.

ALWAYS… put the baby in a car seat while driving! The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children remain facing backwards until at least age 2. Your baby has outgrown the infant carrier if their head is above the top or their feet protrude below the bottom. Now is the time to get a convertible 5-point harness and install it to be rear facing.

Potomac Pediatrics will always be fully focused on helping your child and you to overcome any healthcare hurdle, with innovative, comprehensive and compassionate care.

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