Why this is worth an afternoon

The NHS states the scale without drama: "each year thousands of under-5s are admitted to hospital following accidents, and lots of these accidents are preventable." The World Health Organization adds the global picture on the most silent hazard: drowning is "the fourth leading cause of death for children aged 1-4 years", and "children aged under 5 years account for nearly a quarter of all drowning deaths."

What follows is the NHS's own hazard list, in roughly the order a toddler will find them.

Falls

Newly walking toddlers "are unsteady on their feet, but can move very quickly. They tend to trip and fall." The NHS's measures:

Keep using safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs "until your infant is at least 2 years old", and close them properly every time.
Teach stair climbing, but "never let them go up and down on their own (even 4 year olds may need some help)."
Keep low furniture away from windows, and fit locks or safety catches that restrict the opening "to less than 6.5cm (2.5 inches)". Make sure adults know where the keys are, in case of fire.
Cover gaps between banisters or balcony railings wider than 6.5cm (2.5 inches) with boards or safety netting.
Keep using a 5-point harness in the highchair and pushchair.
Use corner protectors on sharp furniture, and door devices to stop fingers being trapped.

Choking

"Food is the most common thing for babies and toddlers to choke on." The NHS's rules: think about the size, shape and texture of food; do not give hard foods "such as boiled sweets or whole nuts" to young children; keep small objects such as buttons, coins and small toy parts out of reach; keep toys designed for older children away from toddlers because of small parts; and "stay with your child when they're eating. Encourage them to sit still while they eat, as running around while eating could make them choke."

Button batteries and magnets: the ones to act on today

These get their own section because the mechanism is different and the time window is short. The UK Office for Product Safety and Standards explains why: "button batteries react with saliva to make caustic soda, which is highly corrosive - if a battery gets stuck in a child's food pipe, it can burn a hole. This causes internal bleeding and can kill."

Magnets are as bad in a different way: "if a child swallows magnets, they can be forced together in the intestines or bowels. This squeezes the tissue and cuts off blood supply, which can quickly cause harm and kill."

What to do:

Go straight to A&E. "If you think your child has swallowed magnets or button batteries, take them straight to A&E. Take the product packaging, toy or gadget with you if you can."
Do not wait for symptoms. "Symptoms may not be obvious. It is important to act fast, even if there are no symptoms." Where there are signs, a child who has swallowed a button battery "may be coughing, gagging, or drooling or pointing to their throat or stomach"; with magnets, stomach pain, vomiting, fever or pointing to the throat or stomach.
Do not give food or drink, and do not make them sick.

Prevention: know which gadgets use them — remote controls, key fobs, scales, musical cards, flashing shoes, thermometers — check the battery compartments are screwed shut, and keep spares out of reach. The NHS makes the same point about magnetic toys with small pieces, which "if swallowed, can be harmful as they can stick together in a child's intestines."

Poisoning

The NHS names the most common source, and it is probably in your handbag: "medicines are the most common cause of hospital admissions for poisoning in under-5s. Common painkillers like paracetamol and ibuprofen are the main culprits. Keep all medicines locked away or high up out of reach and sight."

Also on the list: cleaning products high up or behind safety catches; liquid laundry and dishwasher capsules, which "are often packaged in child-friendly colours" and can also cause chemical burns to eyes, nose and mouth; toilet gel discs, which can become stuck in a child's food pipe; and e-cigarettes and refills, since "nicotine is poisonous and can be very dangerous for young children."

One line worth internalising: "child-resistant packaging is not child-proof - it just slows children down."

Burns and scalds

"A baby's skin burns more easily than an adult's." The NHS's specifics:

At bath time, "run cold water into the bath first, then add some hot. Check the temperature with your elbow" and stay with them throughout.
Hot drinks are the classic. Put a hot drink down well out of reach before you pick up your child, and remember "a hot drink can still scald 15 minutes after it was made."
Use a cordless kettle or one with a short flex; cook on the back rings with pan handles turned inwards; put irons and hair straighteners out of reach while they cool.
Keep matches and lighters out of sight and reach.

Drowning

The NHS's numbers here are the ones people find hardest to believe: "babies can drown in as little as 5cm (2 inches) of water. Drowning is one of the most common causes of child death - it's often silent, so you will not necessarily hear any noise or struggle."

Baths are the commonest place. Stay with your child the entire time, "never leave them for a moment, even if there's an older brother or sister in the bath with them", and empty the bath as soon as they are out. A bath seat "is not a safety device". Outside, fence off, fill in or securely cover garden ponds, empty and store paddling pools straight after use, and make the garden secure so a child cannot reach a neighbour's pond.

The WHO's framing explains why supervision beats swimming ability at this age: young children are at high risk "due to an underdeveloped ability to assess risk, and a lack of swimming and water safety skills", and "the risk of drowning increases when children interact with water outside of active adult supervision."

Strangulation, suffocation and fire

Blind and curtain cords are the hazard people walk past daily. The NHS: keep them "tied up out of reach and fixed to a surface - with a cleat hook for example", because "unsecured blind and curtain ropes can quickly wrap themselves round a baby or toddler's neck." Do not leave any rope or cord lying around, including dressing gown cords and drawstring bags, and never tie or clip a dummy to clothing.

Keep plastic bags, including nappy bags, out of reach and away from cots. Avoid cot bumpers entirely — they are "a hazard for choking, suffocation and strangulation", and a toddler can climb on them to get out of the cot.

On fire: fit smoke alarms on every level, test them monthly, change batteries annually or use 10-year sealed alarms, switch electrical items off at night, close doors to contain a fire, use a wall-fixed fireguard that encloses the whole fireplace or heater, and practise an escape plan.

The five-minute version

If you do nothing else this week: check every battery compartment in the house is screwed shut and put loose button batteries and magnets somewhere a child cannot reach; move medicines and laundry capsules up and out of sight; tie up and secure the blind cords; and put a stair gate back where it belongs. Those four cover the hazards most likely to put a toddler in hospital.

Toddler Safety at Home