Once Baby takes his or her first step, the world opens up. Suddenly your little one has the power to go where he wants and reach many objects that were once impossible to explore. This can be nerve-wracking for moms and dads who may have thought they had the whole parenting thing under control when Baby was easy to keep track of. The ball game changes when Baby becomes a toddler and starts digging in the house plants, splashing in the dog's water and reorganizing the book shelves.

However agitating it may be that your toddler's favorite activity is ransacking your home, the freedom to explore is an important developmental phase that every child experiences. The key to managing your child's exploration includes understanding, patience and serious toddler-proofing.

"My husband and I decided early on to just make every single room in the house toddler-proof," says Rebeca Seitz, a mom from Fulton, Ky. "The way we see it, he lives here just as much as we do, so he should have the same freedom as we do to move from room to room."

Independence is an important confidence booster for toddlers, and they learn to master their environment as they play throughout the house. There's nothing more curious than a toddler, and this curiosity is more than just play. It helps cognitive learning and both gross and fine motor skills.

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