Before the Capability Arrives

Every injury mechanism maps onto a capability the child has just acquired: the infant who has learned to roll falls, the toddler who has learned to walk drowns and is poisoned, the adolescent who has learned to drive crashes. Prevention advice that is not matched to the child’s current stage is wasted breath. Put the restraint progression, the screening timeline and the injury mechanisms into order, deliver each piece of guidance at the visit before the risk arrives, and then run the question every paediatric nurse holds open — does this injury fit the child’s developmental stage and the history given?