In this video, we meet Kanae and Steve and their two children, Kaila and Hugo. Kaila is 2 years old. Find out what Kanae and Steve enjoy most about being parents and their hopes for their children.
transcribeTranscript
Title: Your Child: Two to Three Years. Episode 11 of 15.
Title: Kanae & Steve’s Whānau
[Shots of the inside of Kanae and Steve’s home.]
Steve (voice-over): Children are so curious about the world and I think, when we're in this environment with all these new things for the kids to see and learn about, of course they have so many questions. They want to touch everything and find out what it's all about. It’s wonderful to be a part of that learning experience.
[Shot of Kaila.]
Title: Kaila, 2 years old
[Interview with Kanae and Steve.]
Kanae: My name is Kanae and I'm originally from Japan, and I've been living here for over twelve years now.
Steve: Hi, I'm Steve and I was born in New Zealand. Kanae and I have been together for ten years now, and we now have two beautiful children – Hugo, who is four years old, and Kaila, who's just turned two, and we also have one baby due in the middle of the year.
[Shots of Kanae and Steve’s children playing.]
Steve (voice-over): I think that children have a lot of fun in the house, just playing together. It's really wonderful to see the children with so much laughter, and joyfully chasing around each other, and interacting with each other.
[Carmen arrives at Kanae and Steve’s house.]
[Interview with Carmen.]
Title: Carmen Timu-Parata, Well Child Tamariki Ora Nurse
Carmen: Ko wai au? Ko Carmen Timu-Parata te ingoa. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou kātoa. My role is that I am a Tamariki Ora Well Child Nurse. I’m undertaking visits into the home, doing an assessment of the child's health.
[Carmen sits with Kanae and Steve at the kitchen table.]
Carmen: How's her nutrition? What's she eating at the moment?
[Interview with Kanae and Steve.]
Kanae: We feel we are well supported by our Well Child Nurses. They are here to support – not only for the baby, but everyone in the family. I really appreciate the holistic kind of support.
[Interview with Carmen.]
Carmen: Often it is someone to say, you're actually doing a really good job, that can help you. Often there are issues around safety – making sure that she's safe, not only in the home, but also when she's outside.
[Kaila opens the mailbox and puts her head inside.]
Carmen (voice-over): Anything that's within reach, they'll be wanting to explore.
[Kanae and Steve cross the road with their children.]
Kanae (voice-over): When we cross the road, I normally make sure that I have Hugo's hand in one hand, and Kaila's hand in the other hand.
[Steve opens the bathroom cupboard to show the safety latch.]
Steve (voice-over): Ways that we try and minimise the risks around the house for the children – especially with Kaila as a two-year-old, she's very interested in looking around things. And we do have a cabinet where we keep cleaning products, which has a latch on it, which means that it's safe.
[Kaila eats a sliced pear.]
Kanae (voice-over): We normally feed them very healthy snacks – trying to put in lots of veggies.
[Interview with Kanae and Steve.]
Steve: It's wonderful to come home and have dinner together and the children eat salad. I think that's a really good sign.
Kanae: For me, the biggest thing is for them to have great habits from the very beginning.
[Interview with Carmen.]
Carmen: There's lots of changes in the child's teeth at the moment. It's really important that you clean them twice a day with a toothbrush and a smear of toothpaste.
[Interview with Kanae.]
Kanae: Normally, I have to use some kind of activities or games for them to happily engage with brushing teeth.
[Interview with Carmen.]
Carmen: Often, temper tantrums can be an issue, so it's really important to know that this can be quite normal behaviour at this stage. Just stay positive with your child.
[Shots of Kaila screaming and Kanae comforting her.]
Kanae (voice-over): So when Kaila has a tantrum, I normally try to verbalise how she might be feeling. At that point, she tends to feel that I'm trying to understand her. She calms down quite a bit then.
[Interview with Kanae and Steve.]
Steve: I think our aspirations for bringing up children is for them to be happy, ultimately. We want to provide a supportive environment where they can really bring out the best of themselves. We hope that in the future they'll be able to make positive contributions to society and the people around them. Through raising children, we really want to try and instil positive values that will be a foundation for them as they grow older.
Title: Our thanks to the families and health workers who appeared in this video for the Ministry of Health.
From 2 to 3 years
"Children are so curious about the world . . . of course they have so many questions. They want to touch everything and find out what it's all about. It’s wonderful to be a part of that learning experience."
In the video, we hear from Carmen, a Well Child Tamariki Ora nurse. She explains ...
"There's lots of changes in the child's teeth at the moment. It's really important that you clean them twice a day with a toothbrush and a smear of toothpaste."
"Often, temper tantrums can be an issue, so it's really important to know that this can be quite normal behaviour at this stage. Just stay positive with your child."
"Often it is someone to say, you're actually doing a really good job, that can help you."
Teeth
Your child will have most of their baby teeth by the age of 2. Healthy baby teeth usually mean healthy adult teeth too, so it's important you look after your child's first teeth.
See the KidsHealth page on caring for your child's teeth to learn more.
Nutrition
There are lots of things you can do to help your baby learn healthy eating habits right from the start.
See the KidsHealth section on healthy eating for more tips.
Fussy eating
Fussy eating is common in tamariki, and it's common for them to dislike certain foods. Tamariki will gradually eat and explore new foods as they get older. Providing healthy food and an enjoyable eating environment for your child will help them enjoy mealtimes.
See the KidsHealth page on fussy eating to learn more.
Sleep needs
Pēpi need sleep to grow and develop. Sleep needs vary and change as they grow. Knowing what to expect at each stage helps you understand your baby's sleep needs as they grow.
See the KidsHealth page on normal sleep in toddlers from 1 to 3 years.
Safe sleep
Tips when putting pēpi to sleep
- face up
- lay pēpi flat on their back
- face clear
- gentle handling of pēpi
See KidsHealth for more information about safe sleep for your baby.
Development
Tamariki are natural learners and between birth and 5 years, tamariki grow and learn at the fastest rate of their lifetime. There are many ways of learning - tamariki learn by watching, by listening and especially by doing.
See the KidsHealth section on learning and development for more information.
Safe home environment
Make sure your home environment is safe for your baby. Never leave tamariki, especially those under 5 years of age, unsupervised near water, including baths, buckets and water troughs. Keep medicine in a high place out of reach and out of sight of children.
See the KidsHealth section on injury prevention for more tips.
Managing tantrums
Tantrums are common in tamariki (children). They are a normal part of child development. Find out about what may trigger tantrums in your child and what you can do when they happen.
See the KidsHealth page on tantrums for more information.
Toilet training
Not all tamariki are the same when it comes to toilet training. You may see signs that your child is ready for toilet training from around 2 years old. Some tamariki may be ready from as early as 18 months. Learn about the signs tamariki show when they are ready for toilet training.
See the KidsHealth page on toilet training to learn more.
Smoke-free environment
Make sure your baby's environment is smoke-free. Cigarette smoke is very harmful for your baby.
If you want to give up smoking:
- call the free Quitline Me Mutu on 0800 778 778 or text 4006
- check out the website Quitline
- ask a health professional
When to see a health professional
Pēpi and young tamariki get sick often – it's a normal part of childhood. Get help quickly if your child shows any danger signs.
See KidsHealth for advice about when to seek help if your child is sick.
Call PlunketLine for parenting advice.
PlunketLine is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on 0800 933 922 for advice and support for you, your baby and your whānau. Calls are free from cell phones. You do not need to be registered with Plunket to use this service.
