Pause before you intervene – helping your toddler to take turns 

What to try 

• When your toddler is playing with others, there might be times when they both want the same toy or object.  
• Continue to supervise but pause for a moment before you get involved – the children might work it out for themselves.  
• If you decide to help, try not to completely take over, but support the children to think about what they could do. 
• You could say something like, “I think Judah is sad because he needs a baby to go in his pram.”  
• If your toddler doesn’t respond, you could make a more definite suggestion, “Could Judah have a turn with your baby? I could put the timer on so we know when his turn has finished.”  
• If you think the toy is essential to what your toddler is doing, you could suggest finding something similar for their friend. So, “I think you need to keep baby now, I wonder if Arthur could put teddy to bed – teddy looks so tired!”