Toddlers

1Look

A kitchen, at knee height

This is what an eighteen-month-old sees. Every one of those is a plan.

2The idea

Mobile, fearless, no sense of danger

One to three: they walk, climb, open, pull, and put everything in their mouth. They do not know a hot thing is hot until they have touched it. They are fast, curious about everything, and cannot be reasoned with. A toddler is not being naughty. A toddler is doing exactly what a toddler is for.

Where they get hurt: falls, from stairs, chairs and windows. Burns, from kettles, hobs, hot drinks and baths. Poisoning, from cleaning stuff, medicines, plants and alcohol. Choking, on small objects, grapes, hard sweets, coins and batteries. Drowning, in baths, paddling pools and buckets; a few centimetres is enough. Fingers, in doors and drawers. All at home, in seconds, with the sitter in the next room.

3The idea

Fix the room, then sit

Before the parents leave, or the minute they have gone:
1. Get down to their height and look.
2. Cords, pan handles, hot drinks: up and back.
3. Anything small enough to go in a mouth: away.
4. Bathroom, kitchen, stairs: gate or shut door.
5. Cleaning stuff, medicines, batteries: high and shut.
6. Never a toddler alone in a bath. Not for a second. Not for the phone.

You are not childproofing the house. You are making one room safe and staying in it with them. Ask the parents where the gates and the cupboard locks are. Then your phone goes in your pocket, and you go where they go. When they go quiet, you look.

4The idea

Ben's ten minutes

Ben is sitting for Ayla, who is two. The parents leave. He gets down on the floor. Kettle cord tucked back. Dog’s water bowl up, because she would drink it. Coins off the coffee table. Bathroom door shut. Stair gate clicked. Then he puts his phone in his pocket and sits on the floor with her.

When she heads for the kitchen, he goes too. When she is quiet for more than about ten seconds, he looks. He did not stop her exploring. He picked what she could find. Ayla had a good afternoon. Nothing happened, which is what a good afternoon with a two-year-old looks like from the outside.

5Your turn

The room, from a toddler's height

There are eleven. Find them in under a minute and you are ready for a real one.

6Decide

She is two. She has gone quiet in the kitchen. What is the next thing?

7Look

Three things at mouth height

A whole grape is about the size of a toddler’s windpipe: cut lengthways, then again. The battery goes straight to the parents’ high shelf.

8Find them

Which of these would you sort before you sit down?

Tap the ones that count.

9Do it

Before you leave this page