Talking Toddlers

Whining is one of the most common - and frustrating - phases of toddlerhood. But often, it doesn’t become a pattern because a child is “bad” or manipulative. It becomes a pattern because it works.
In this episode, Erin Hyer, speech-language pathologist and early child development specialist, explains why toddlers whine, why “use your words” is often too vague for very young children, and how parents can begin replacing whining with clearer, more effective communication.
This conversation is not about punishment, shame, or demanding more maturity than a toddler actually has. It’s about understanding how young children learn, recognizing what they are developmentally capable of, and knowing how to guide them with calm, simple, intentional support.
Erin walks through the difference between whining as a learned pattern and whining as a child’s best available communication in the moment. She also shares a practical framework parents can begin using right away: model, shape, practice, and fade.
If you’ve started noticing more whining lately — or you want to prevent it from becoming your toddler’s default way of communicating — this episode will help you understand the why behind the behavior and what your role is in shaping something better.
Because the little years really are the big years.
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Helpful links:
▶ Watch Talking Toddlers on YouTube:  Click HERE

📘 Download Erin’s free guide: 10 Essential Skills Before Talking

💬 Learn about parent coaching or schedule a Clarity Call:
CLICK HERE TO CONNECT
🌿 Visit Hyer Learning:
www.HyerLearning.com
Educational and coaching information only. This episode is not a substitute for an individual speech-language, developmental, behavioral, or medical evaluation.

Do you jump in the second your baby struggles? Wipe her face after every bite? Keep the TV or a podcast running because the house feels too quiet?
These are ordinary, loving habits — but sometimes our instinct to help, clean, entertain, or keep things moving can quietly take away the very experiences our babies and toddlers need to grow.
In this episode, Erin Hyer, speech-language pathologist and early child development specialist, walks through 7 loving habits that can slow your child’s development — and explains what is happening underneath each one.
You’ll learn why it matters to:
give your child time to struggle and problem-solve
prioritize floor time over too much container time
protect quiet so language can develop
let babies explore food without constant wiping and interruption
give toddlers enough time to process and respond
allow boredom and child-led play
follow your child’s attention instead of constantly redirecting it
This is not about guilt or doing everything perfectly.
It’s about noticing the small patterns that fill your child’s day — and knowing when to step in, when to wait, and when a few extra seconds of space may be exactly what development needs.
Sometimes slowing down is exactly what gives your child enough room to do the growing.
🔗 GRAB YOUR COMPANION GUIDE HERE
Episode 162 SHARED ATTENTION: CLICK HERE
Helpful links:
▶ Watch Talking Toddlers on YouTube:  Click HERE

📘 Download Erin’s free guide: 10 Essential Skills Before Talking

💬 Learn about parent coaching or schedule a Clarity Call:
CLICK HERE TO CONNECT
🌿 Visit Hyer Learning:
www.HyerLearning.com
Educational and coaching information only. This episode is not a substitute for an individual speech-language, developmental, behavioral, or medical evaluation.
Because the little years are the big years.

What is stealing your toddler’s attention?
If your child seems constantly distracted, overly active, emotionally reactive, or unable to stay with one activity for very long, the answer may be more complicated than simply “they need to learn to focus.”
In this episode of Talking Toddlers, Erin looks at four powerful influences shaping a young child’s developing attention: predictable daily rhythms, restorative sleep, screens and overstimulation, and meaningful play and participation.
You’ll learn why attention is not something we can demand from a toddler, why being still in front of a screen is not the same as developing healthy attention, and how sleep, family rhythms, real-life responsibilities, and open-ended play all influence a child’s ability to regulate, learn, communicate, and stay engaged.
Erin also shares why she believes we need to look much more carefully at the environment surrounding a child before quickly labeling problems with attention or behavior. A developing brain has a history—and patterns of sleep, stimulation, movement, connection, and participation begin long before a child reaches school age.
Most importantly, this is not about blaming parents or creating another list of things to worry about. It is about helping you recognize how much influence you already have through the ordinary rhythms of home life.
Because attention is not built by repeatedly telling a toddler to “pay attention.”
It grows through thousands of everyday experiences where a child is rested enough, regulated enough, interested enough, and involved enough to remain present.
And when attention grows, so do learning, connection, participation, and language.
Helpful links:
▶ Watch Talking Toddlers on YouTube:  Click HERE

📘 Download Erin’s free guide: 10 Essential Skills Before Talking

📞 Book a Clarity Call with Erin — Click here and let's talk. 
🌿 Visit Hyer Learning:
www.HyerLearning.com
Educational and coaching information only. This episode is not a substitute for an individual speech-language, developmental, behavioral, or medical evaluation.

Your toddler snatches a toy. The daycare flags it. 
Another mom clocks it at a playdate. And somewhere in the back of your mind, a question starts to form: is something wrong with him?
Nothing is. He's just being asked to do something he isn't built for - yet.
In this episode, I break down the real difference between turn-taking and sharing — two skills that get talked about like they're the same thing, but develop on completely different timelines.
You'll learn:
Why turn-taking can start as early as 12 months — long before real sharing is even possible
The honest age-by-age timeline for when turn-taking, and eventually sharing, actually shows up (it's later than most people think)
Why genuine sharing doesn't reliably emerge until somewhere after your child's third birthday
How to use the Three P's from episode 161 to build this skill at home
Why what gets called "bad behavior" is often just a brain still under construction
This one also gets personal. Almost forty years into this work, I share what the last three decades have actually taught me about the systems built to manage a room of toddlers — not to understand your individual child.
New here? I'm Erin Hyer, a speech-language pathologist, with almost forty years working with toddlers and the families raising them. 
This episode builds on episode 161 (The Three P's) and episode 162 (Joint Attention) — you don't need to have heard those first, but they'll fill in the fuller picture.
Grab the FREE one-page Turn-Taking & Sharing Timeline
Next week - episode 164 - we’ll sort through why some toddlers can settle in and focus - while others can't get there at all — and it has a lot less to do with willpower or personality than you'd think.
Helpful links:
▶ Watch Talking Toddlers on YouTube:  Click HERE

📘 Download Erin’s free guide: 10 Essential Skills Before Talking

💬 Learn about parent coaching or schedule a Clarity Call:
CLICK HERE TO CONNECT
🌿 Visit Hyer Learning:
www.HyerLearning.com
Educational and coaching information only. This episode is not a substitute for an individual speech-language, developmental, behavioral, or medical evaluation.

You've been narrating everything. Labeling. Reading. Filling the room with language. 
And nothing seems to be sticking.
That's because your words only land when your child's attention and yours are on the same thing, in the same moment. 
It's called shared attention — and you're already doing it without knowing how much it matters.
In this episode I unpack what shared attention actually looks like between 12 and 24 months, the difference between a request and a shared moment, the connection to autism screening, and the one shift that makes your words actually land. Plus the discipline of the wait — counting to five so your child's brain has room to respond.
One skill. One shift. Two minutes a day.
Helpful links:
▶ Watch Talking Toddlers on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@HyerLearning
📘 Download Erin’s free guide:
https://hyerlearning.myflodesk.com/skillsfortalking
💬 Learn about parent coaching or schedule a Clarity Call:
CLICK HERE TO CONNECT
🌿 Visit Hyer Learning:
www.HyerLearning.com
Educational and coaching information only. This episode is not a substitute for an individual speech-language, developmental, behavioral, or medical evaluation.