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How would I say a toddler is 2 years and 7 months old correctly? Is this right:

It is a two-year-seven-month-old toddler.

Or do I need an “and” between? I personally think hyphenating here looks ridiculous. In formal English, say a report document about child behaviour or whatever, could I write

It is a two year, seven month old toddler

instead, too?

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  • By the time a child reaches two and a half years old, I'd say the impersonal pronoun, ‘it’, sounds inappropriately detached.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Apr 25, 2015 at 11:58
  • @Mari-LouA They're called the "terrible twos" for a reason, no?
    – Spehro 'speff' Pefhany
    Commented Apr 25, 2015 at 13:15

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I have never actually seen either of those usages; what I normally see is either

thirty-one-month-old [child]

or, if less precision is needed,

two-and-a-half-year-old [child]

You could also say

[S/he] is two years and seven months old

or

[S/he] is thirty-one months old

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