3-year guidance
Introduction
Your child is now 3 years old and transitioning from the toddler stage to the preschool stage. Much of the advice from the 30-month page still applies, but I will provide all the relevant advice here so you do not need to read through the 30-month page as well. If you have questions about how any of this should apply to your child, please check with your child's healthcare team.
Helpful websites
Sleep
At 3 years most children will sleep ~10-13 hours per day, which may include one nap. You can read more about this here. At this point most children will be ready to transition out of a crib if they have not done so already. There are several articles you can read that give good advice about making this transition (see Cleveland Clinic, What to Expect, and Baby Center). You will still want to have a consistent bedtime routine and be able to address common sleep problems. You can look through general guidance below, and read through the "Helpful articles" for more detailed information.
Helpful articles
*This website is based in Australia so any discussion of laws or what is required may not apply to the United States.
Sleep safety
Once your child is in a bed you do not need to worry too much about what is happening inside of the bed, but you do need to make sure the home is safe if your child gets up and wanders around, so try to be careful of dangerous situations your child could get into overnight.
Bedtime routine
Preschoolers respond well to routines. The point of the routine is to show your child it is time to sleep and help them calm down so they can sleep well. Click on the button below for tips about a bedtime routine.
- keep the lights low with no screens on an hour before bed
- tell your child that it is time to get ready for bed - do not ask them if they want to get ready for bed
- have a consistent start and end time, usually totaling 30-45 minutes
- give a warm bath and change into pajamas
- if needed, offer a snack with some protein (foods with protein include meat, eggs, cheese, peanut butter) so your child is not too hungry overnight
- brush your child's teeth and do not offer any drink except water after brushing
- perform a calming activity (such as reading a book)
- use a consistent phrase and method to say goodnight
For some of these steps you can offer your child choices. By letting them choose which snack to eat, which book to read, or which activity to do, they will feel more in control. This can help them go to sleep more easily.
Sleep problems
There are many different reasons children may have trouble sleeping well. You can click on any of the cards below to learn about specific issues:
Wakes often
Gets up early
Stays up late
Fear of dark
Nightmares
Night terrors
Snoring
Sleep walking
Bed-sharing
Noise/climate
Nutrition
At 3 years old the nutrition recommmendations are similar to 2.5 years; your child should eat structured meals and snacks including all the food groups and primarily drink water and milk. You can read through more specific advice below.
Helpful websites and articles
Feeding advice
When feeding your child it is just as important to consider how you provide the food in addition to what you actually provide. Children respond well to structure and routines, so you will want to have a good mealtime structure to use when feeding your child. Click on the button below for meal and snack structure advice.
- Offer 3 meals and 2-3 snacks per day while keeping meal and snack time consistent.
- Sitting upright is safest when eating; running around and playing will increase the risk of choking and also make it more difficult for your child to appropriately respond to their hunger and fullness cues.
- Sit with your child while eating and talk to them.
- Remove any distractions during meal time, in particular any screens.
- Meal time can be only 10-15 minutes, though it can go longer if your child prefers.
- Avoid snacks in between set eating times so your child is hungry when it is time to eat.
It is also very important to continue the "responsive feeding" principles from earlier in life. While you determine the meal and snack times and options, you should still allow your child to determine how much they want to eat each time food is available. Click on the button below for further advice.
- Most people do not have the same hunger levels every day and end up eating more or less on any given day. This is completely normal, and you do not need to worry that your child is not eating enough on the lesser eating days.
- Practice the Satter Division of Resonsibility in Feeding. You are responsible for what foods to offer your child, where to offer them, and when to offer them. Your child is responsible for whether they want to eat them and how much they want to eat.
- Expanding on the above advice, do not try to force your child to eat specific foods and do not make them eat all of the food served. This removes stress from meal time and makes a more pleasant experience for your child; generally it is best to not fight over meals.
- If you are concerned that your child may be eating too much or too little, your child's healthcare team will let you know at the check-ups if there are any growth concerns, and then you can decide to change things based on how your child is growing.
Liquids
Click on the cards below to learn about milk, water, juice, and how to provide these drinks to your child.
Milk?
Water?
Juice?
How to give?
Foods
At 3-4 years old you still need to be concerned about choking hazards. Click on the cards below to learn about what foods to provide, what foods to avoid, how to prepare the foods for your child to eat, and how much you should give.
What to give
What to avoid
Food prep
Portion sizes
Sample menu for preschoolers
A sample menu for a 4 year old preschooler is shown here. At age 3 years the portion sizes may be similar or a bit smaller. Remember, this is just an example. As long as you stick to the generally healthy eating principles described above you can adjust this menu in many different ways.
Peeing/pooping
At 3 years most children have been potty trained or are about ready to start. You can read about this below. Otherwise, the poop may change some as your child's diet changes, but your child should be going regularly and the poop should be soft. You only need to be concerned if:
- the poop is hard or watery consistently
- the poop is dark black, a shade of red, or pale
- your child starts peeing much more or less than usual
If any of the above concerns occur, let your child's healthcare team know.
Potty training
Make sure your child is not constipated before attempting to potty train. There is lots of advice in this series of articles, and the following video is helpful to watch for some general tips:
Safety
Now that your child is 3 years old, you need to be even more careful about making sure the home is safe, as your child will get into many things. I will go through several of the primary safety concerns for children in the cards below, and you can read through the "Helpful Websites" for more general information.
Helpful websites
*This website is based in Australia so any discussion of laws or what is required may not apply to the United States.
Below are several different safety topics, click on each topic to learn more about them.
General
Car safety
Ingestions
Choking/CPR
Toys
Water/Bath
Burns/Fire
Outdoors
Home/Pets
Vaccines
At 2-3 years no vaccines are generally recommended if your child is caught up at this point. If your child is not caught up, you can ask your child's healthcare team what they are due for.
Your child may receive a flu vaccine (if it is the flu season) and a COVID-19 vaccine. Your child may need additional doses of the flu and COVID-19 vaccines for full protection, so you can ask your pediatrician about scheduling for this before the next check-up.
All the childhood vaccines have been given to millions of people and we know that they are safe and effective. If you would like more information, look through the "Helpful Websites" listed below:
Helpful websites
Common questions
Many parents have similar questions about their 3 year old children. Feel free to look through some of the most common ones below.
FAQ
Conclusion
Enjoy your time with your toddler! There are many choices you can make to help influence your child's growth and development. Thankfully, you do not need to be perfect, and you should not worry about doing everything correctly every time. As long as you understand the main ideas presented here, you should be in a good position to help your child grow and develop well. If you have any additional questions make sure to check with your child's healthcare team.