Parenting Australia

Make your home safe for your toddler

The text for this topic is copyright Parenting SA, Government of South Australia.

Make your home safe and enjoyable

* Protect toddlers from the house and the house from them.
* Make your house as childproof as possible.
* Have as few rules as possible. It is better to put your good things away than to always be stopping a toddler from touching them.
* Make interesting changes every now and again, for example, a pile of cushions to climb over, a cardboard box tunnel to crawl through, a cubby house under the card table.
* Make sure that there is a place and space for your child to explore and run every day.
* If children have to go somewhere in the car or wait in a waiting room, take some toys or books to keep them busy.

Reminders

* The most common cause of problems with toddlers is adults expecting them to do things they are not yet able to do.
* Your toddler needs to test out her independence against you—but know you are there for comfort.
* It is a struggle for your toddler in learning to be independent—he needs encouragement and your patience.
* Try to avoid having battles—give simple choices to your toddler.
* Focus on the things about your toddler that please you and tell her often!
* Ignore things that don’t matter too much and be firm on the important things.

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