Milestones of Self-Regulation

There are milestones in the development of self-regulation that continue to emerge during the toddler years. Between ages and one and three children make major progress in the development of self-regulation. In particular, they become more skilled in changing behavior according to motives of different situations so an objective can be achieved. For example, when my child was growing up she learned that her motive of getting me to help her with something like getting a snack was better achieved if her behavior was kind and she asked for a snack instead of her demanding I get her one.

Toddlers understand external standards of behavior better and are becoming more capable of meeting these standards. Toddler's success at self-regulation is critical for adjustment later in life. Toddlers with better self-regulation skills are less likely to demonstrate behavior problems in preschool. Compliance with a parents request is one of the earliest forms of self-regulation because it requires the child to stop and modify their behavior in order to meet the parents demand or instruction. An example of this is when a parent ask a child to stop playing and come help them put their clothes away, take a bath, eat dinner etc. Self regulation is important because it helps children solve problems and get along with others. Children with strong self-regulation skills are able to adapt to changes in their environment.

Developing self-regulation in my child helped her solve problems because sometimes I was busy helping another child and couldn't help her so she tried to figure out the problem herself and at times solved it while I helped another child so that when I went to help her she had figured the solution out herself or had figured most of it out so that she just needed a little instruction on how to continue to solve the problem. It helped her get along with problems because she had enough self-regulation to understand that sometimes she had to play what her friends wanted to play even if she didn't like the game because if she threw a tantrum or refused to play it meant she wasn't very well liked or had to play alone. These are just some of the ways I helped my child meet the milestones of self-regulation and how other parents can as well.