According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the leading cause of mortality among healthy children age 1 to 4 is accidents, especially those involving automobiles. Other top causes of accidental death in children include drowning, fire, falls and poisoning. Child safety is extremely important for toddlers and young children. Car safety should be enforced at all times, even when traveling short distances. Children 4 years old and younger should always be strapped into a car seat placed in the backseat of a vehicle before driving.

Because of their increased mobility, toddlers and older children are at greater risk for accidents and injuries. Just as during infancy, parental supervision along with a safe home environment continues to be essential at this stage. Young children should never be left unattended – even for short periods – or with siblings or pets. To prevent poisoning, all household cleaners, chemicals and medications should be stored out of a child’s reach.

Children also may be prone to accidents or injuries (e.g., fractures) while playing. Playground safety should be enforced. Parents and caregivers should also introduce and enforce rules about not playing in the streets or crossing these without adults. Keeping a well-stocked first-aid kit as well as a list of important phone numbers (e.g., Poison Control Centers, neighborhood hospitals) handy in case of an emergency is also recommended.

Other ways parents and other caregivers can promote healthy early childhood development include:

• Encourage physical activity. Health experts recommend that toddlers participate daily in at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity such as playing on the playground or playing with a ball. Toddlers should not be sedentary for more than one hour at a time, except when they are sleeping. Three- and 4-year-olds require at least one hour of physical activity a day.
  
  
• Stimulate learning and play. Provide children with safe, age-appropriate toys that stimulate learning including simple puzzles, stacking toys, sculpting clay and paper and crayons for drawing. Most toy manufacturers label new toys for specific age groups.
  
  To help develop social skills, encourage them to play with other children and instruct the child on how to participate in and learn the rules of sporting activities and other group games. Sing, recite nursery rhymes and play hand games (e.g., patty-cake) with a toddler. These are fun activities that can encourage learning. For example, singing the ABC song can help a child learn the alphabet.
  
  
• Nurture language development. Converse with and read often to a child – at least once a day. Read slowly enough for a toddler to understand, as well as expressively, using different voices for different characters and raising or lowering the voice as appropriate, to make it more enjoyable for the child.
  
  Discuss the story or book. Ask the child to name objects in the illustrations and ask open-ended questions about the story, such as “What do you think will happen next?” Doing so will encourage a child to think about the story and ask questions about it.
  
  
• Be a positive role model. Teach children the concepts of saying please, thank you and sharing with others. Also, when teaching appropriate versus inappropriate behaviors, parents should be consistent to avoid confusing a young child.
  
  
• Offer children lots of praise to encourage self-esteem.
  
  
• Limit the time and content of television viewing. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not recommend television for children age 2 or younger. For older children, the AAP recommends no more than one to two hours a day of educational, nonviolent programs.
  
  
• Allow children 3 years old and older to participate and help out in daily household activities. This will encourage learning as well as teach a child to be more responsible and efficient.
  
  
• Expose a child to different stimuli. This can be accomplished by visiting areas of interest, such as a zoo, park, beach or children’s museum.