Dr. Tovah Klein, author of How Toddlers Thrive recommends that parents of toddlers switch their focus from the “top down” adult position to actually thinking like a toddler. It really makes you look at your world differently. As Klien points out, thinking like a toddler requires to look at the world in very simple terms with no sense of time or predictability. Some things are scary while other things are fascinating. It is an interesting vantage point.
Toddlers are still learning the difference between inanimate objects, puppies, and human beings. Try not to be horrified when your toddler walks up to another toddler and attempts to lick his face. Just think like a toddler. He licked that ball over there and learned a lot about it. He is just trying to learn about this other piece of matter.
You will see your child primarily engaging in solitary play at this point of his development, but he is probably starting to develop a curiosity about his peers. If a nearby child has a toy that interest him, he is simply going to grab the toy. He won’t consider that child’s feelings. He doesn’t know that child has feelings and furthermore he might not know that child is a child.
Toddlers need a lot of guidance and modeling as they navigate early social interactions. Stay nearby an provide as much support as you can. Show him how to act and he will eventually model after you.
References:
Klein, T. (2014). How Toddlers Thrive. Simon & Schuster, Inc.