Out and back again

Throughout the second year your toddler will swing back and forth constantly between fierce independence and clinging to you — toddling off to explore the room one minute, back at your knee the next. Both halves are the same skill in progress: the exploring only works because coming back to you is reliable. Staying put as their steady base, and welcoming every return the same warm way, is what keeps the far end of that swing feeling safe to try.

🛡️ Staying put only works in a room that is safe to be crossed unaccompanied — sweep it first for cords, blind pulls, unsecured furniture, stair openings and anything small enough to swallow, and shut the doors to rooms you have not swept. Staying put is not the same as looking away: keep them in sight the whole time, and go to them rather than calling out if they head somewhere you would rather they did not.