If you are a parent or if you have ever interacted with children between the ages of 18 months and 3 years, then you most likely have witnessed many of the milestone behaviour within autonomy versus shame and doubt stage from Erik Erikson’s stage of psychosocial development, such as wanting to dress themselves, feed themselves with their fingers, you may have even struggled to hold them amongst a pool of tears because they can’t and won’t find their drink bottle (even though you know that they haven’t even started looking for it and it’s on the kitchen bench!) It is at this point in development that young children will begin to express a greater need for independence and control over themselves as well as the world around them. According to Erikson, children at this stage are focused on developing a greater sense of self-control.
Your toddler at this age is gradually wanting and yearning for an increase in their independence they want greater control over what they are doing and how they are going to do it. Toddlers that are in the thick of this developmental stage will often feel the need to do EVERYTHING independently!
Things such as picking out their own clothes, deciding what they will and won’t eat, toys and games that they want to play. This can create SO much frustration for many parents and understandably so, you want your toddler to look super CUTE but instead, they look like a red-hot MESS!! The simple fact is, this is not only an important milestone in development for your little one but an essential one, for your toddler they are developing their personality further, their sense of style and all whilst creating personal autonomy.
