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The health problems of an eighteen-month-old, or one-and-a-half-year-old, are no different from those of other children. Illnesses can vary by season. In winter, when much time is spent indoors, respiratory infections, colds and sometimes bronchitis or middle-ear infections may occur more often; in summer, diarrhea and sunstroke may be more common. We can protect the child from these.
Especially in large cities, a child attending daycare because their parents work, or starting a play group, may catch many viruses from peers and become ill frequently in the first months. These may generally be mild respiratory illnesses that resolve on their own or require very little medicine.
One serious health problem at this age is poisoning from household chemicals. Children may be poisoned by biting and chewing detergents, cleaning supplies, and dishwasher or laundry tablets. They may also want to imitate adults by taking their medicines and may arrive at an emergency department with serious poisoning. To prevent this, all household chemicals and medicines should be kept closed and out of the child's reach.
