My son is at that stage where everything catches his attention, he touches, explores, grabs things without thinking, and I am terrified that one day he will end up hurting himself, either because he fell or because he put his hands where he shouldn’t. I try to free him, but fear doesn’t let me. I am always behind him telling him to be careful, don’t touch that, get down from there, and although I know that it is part of his growth, I can’t help but worry
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Ugh, I feel this so much. The constant worry, the watching like a hawk, the trying to prevent every fall, bump, or disaster. It’s exhausting. And then people tell you they have to learn or kids are resilient like that’s supposed to magically make it less terrifying??
I don’t have any advice because I’m still deep in this, but I just want to say, I get it. The anxiety is real. The what ifs play on a loop in my head too. And even when I tell myself to relax, my body won’t listen. It’s like I’m physically incapable of not hovering. So yeah, if you ever find the secret to chilling out, please share! 
Omg, this was me a few months ago! My son was like a little tornado, just zooming from one dangerous thing to another. I swear he had a sixth sense for the one thing in the room that was not safe. I was constantly saying no, careful, not in your mouth!! and just generally freaking out. I was convinced he was gonna break a bone before he even turned two.
It got to the point where I realized I was more stressed than he was learning, and that wasn’t working for either of us. What helped me was baby, proofing everything so I could relax a little. I also tried to shift my approach from don’t do that to let’s try it this way when possible. Like, instead of don’t climb, I’d guide him to a safer place where climbing was okay. But yeah, the anxiety? That part is so real. You’re not alone!
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I actually wonder, do all kids go through this zero fear phase, or is it worse for some? My kid is straight, up reckless. Like, does not hesitate. I swear he sees a ledge and thinks, That looks fun to jump off. Did you notice when yours started being more cautious, or are we just in for years of this?
I totally get it, and I struggled with this too, but something that helped me was giving my little one safe ways to explore and take risks. I realized that when I was constantly stopping him, he just got frustrated, and it didn’t actually stop him from trying again.
What worked for us:
Setting up a yes space, basically a fully baby, proofed play area where he could climb, explore, and fall without me having a heart attack.
Practicing safe risky play, like, instead of stopping him from climbing, I’d guide him on how to do it safely, show him how to get down, and let him build confidence
Teaching a few key safety rules early on. Obviously, they don’t fully get it at this age, but things like feet first when climbing down helped a ton
It’s still nerve, wracking sometimes, but I feel better knowing he’s learning how to handle risks instead of me just blocking them. Hope that helps!
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Oh wow, I swear we are living the same life right now. My son acts like gravity doesn’t apply to him. He’s also in that stage where he runs everywhere, but his feet haven’t quite caught up with his brain yet, so he just wipes out every five minutes. I’ve stopped reacting because if I gasped every time he fell, I’d never breathe again lol.
At this point, I just try to keep the big dangers out of reach and hope for the best. But man, the amount of times I’ve had to fish something out of his mouth… it’s like living with a tiny, adorable daredevil