Why Are Toddlers So Messy?

The toddler phase is messy! As babies learn to do more for themselves, whether it’s feeding themselves solid foods or trying to pull on their clothes, as a mother, you’ll spend most of your time wiping up and picking up. And truth be told, getting frustrated.

Practice Makes Perfect

You’ve heard the saying, “practice makes perfect.” Well, that’s what is happening during the toddler phase. As your baby figures out how to scoop food and get it into their mouth without dropping any, many errors will occur. When we learned how to feed ourselves a variety of foods, from soup to steak, we also made many mistakes as we mastered these complex motor skills.

When it comes to picking up toys, stacking blocks into towers, or completing simple puzzles, it’s helpful to understand that toddlers are in the deconstruction phase of play. The construction phase comes later. What does that mean? In the deconstruction stage, children take apart, tear down, or dump things out. The construction phase, when toys are put together and placed back on the shelf in their place, comes later.

Expect a Mess

When I understood why my toddler was doing what they were doing, it changed my expectations. And when those expectations changed, my frustration decreased. Messy play is part of toddler life. You can bank on it just as you anticipate the sun coming up tomorrow morning.

Setting up areas of your home where messy play can occur will help alleviate your anxiety about your house being disorganized. Offering fewer toys for your child to play with is another strategy to decrease the mess. If your baby can pull everything off the shelf, they will. But when you rotate toys so that not all your child’s toys are available all the time, you will enjoy less chaos.

Offer Grace

Think back when you’ve learned something new, maybe it was cooking an omelet or playing pickleball. Did you make mistakes? Perhaps you dropped some eggs on the counter or hit the forehand shot out of bounds. You made messes along the way as you mastered a new skill. Your toddler is doing the same thing. It’s a part of life.

Take a few deep breaths, smile and laugh, and give your toddler grace. This phase of development can be challenging, but on the flip side, it’s fun and magical.

Do your best to remain patient yet still allow your baby to try to do for themselves. Allow your child to practice feeding and dressing themselves. Say “help me” when you’re picking up toys and they may help.

The more your toddler practices, the faster they will learn more independence. #childdevelopment #toddlerlife
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(Photo: Canva)