I am often amazed when I read stories of toddlers surviving accidents that we as adults could find fatal, or at least in hospital in a serious condition.

The latest incident involved an 18 month toddler who had climbed a balcony rail and fallen two meters (about seven feet), landed on the roof of a shed where she rolled and fell another two meters to the ground. For some reason there was an old mattress on the roof of the shed which helped to break the first fall, but there was only solid ground awaiting the next fall.

Her injuries? Some facial swelling and a cut lip. No broken bones, fractured skull or spinal chord problems. A fall of two meters for a toddler is probably the equivalent of an adult falling four or five meters (12-15 feet). Adults falling that distance would be lucky to survive without serious injury so why is it that toddlers seem to survive these falls on a regular basis?

There are two components that work to protect out young. The first is that experienced by those under the influence of alcohol or drugs. When these individuals are involved in accidents they often walk away almost unscathed - the reason, they are relaxed; they don't brace themselves when they see the accident approaching. A Toddler, especially a young one, has no expectation so they are reasonably relaxed when they hit the ground. Stunt actors use the same principle. Relax, don't become tense or brace yourself.

The second aspect is their age, or rather the age of their bones. Because they are young their bones are still soft. Where ours will snap with a sudden blow, a toddlers will bend, take the impact and generally spring back to their original place.

Oh to be a toddler again - but then again, I don't want to be falling off balconies either. Although it is nice to know that your toddler could survive a fall like that, it doesn't remove our responsibilities as parents to be ever watchful of our children, especially those so young and vulnerable. This family, in particular this toddler, were lucky. There could have been a fence, for example a picket fence, that could have caused a lot more damage.

Our children do have a right to be protected and as parents it is our role to protect them from their own mischievous ways. I know have at least one monkey in the house who loves climbing. She can shimmy up a door frame or door, climb walls (I don't know how) and I am sure would have loved to climb a balcony rail. What scares me is not the fall - no if she fell she bounce back to feet claiming "that was fun - can I do it again!" - but then - that's kids for you.