Chapter 12: Little Ones
Lily: "Little hands, hold tight. Big Rangers keep them safe!"
Many Rangers help with babies and little brothers and sisters. That's a big, kind job. Rangers are helpers. A grown-up is always in charge of a baby.
What Rangers know
- Clean hands first. Wash with soap before you touch a baby, their food or their cup, and after nappies.
- Water is a grown-up place. Little ones can drown in just a little water: buckets, basins, wells, ditches, puddles and rivers. Keep buckets covered or empty, and never leave a little one alone near water, even for a moment. Tell a grown-up about an uncovered well or deep hole.
- Hold hands near roads, trucks, crowds, water and fires.
- Fire and hot things: keep little ones far from stoves, pots, hot drinks and candles.
- Small things are choking things: coins, beads, bottle caps, batteries, nuts. Keep them up high.
- Never give a little one medicine, chemicals or bleach, and keep fuel and cleaning bottles out of reach.
- Baby sleep: babies sleep on their backs, on a flat, firm place, with no pillows or loose blankets over their face. A grown-up decides where.
- Keep babies warm (a hat and skin-to-skin with mum), but not too hot.
- Play and talk. Sing, make faces, tell stories. Little ones learn from you.
- Tell a grown-up fast if a baby or little one:
- won't feed or drink
- is very sleepy or floppy
- has fast or hard breathing
- has a fever, lots of watery poo or vomiting
- has a fit
- is cold to the touch
Older Rangers (12+)
- Help a grown-up carry and settle babies, using both arms and supporting the head.
- Make sure babies' cups and bowls are washed with safe water.
- Know where the health tent is and how to describe a baby's danger signs.
Ranger checklist
- ☐ I wash my hands before touching a baby.
- ☐ I never leave a little one alone near water, even a bucket.
- ☐ I hold little hands near roads and fire.
- ☐ I keep small things and bottles out of reach.
- ☐ I know babies sleep on their backs, on a flat place.
- ☐ I can name three baby danger signs and I tell fast.
Earn your badge (Little Ones Helper 👶, new area)
| Level | Requirement |
|---|---|
| ❤️ Heart | Say: "Little hands, hold tight. Big Rangers keep them safe!" |
| 🥉 Bronze | Name three dangers for little ones (water, fire, small things) and three baby danger signs. |
| 🥈 Silver | Help a grown-up with a little one for a day: hand-washing, hand-holding, play. |
| 🥇 Gold | Help your family make a "safe corner" for a little one: no water, no small things, no hot things. |
| 💎 Platinum | Ages 12+: help a grown-up run a play time for little ones in a child-friendly space. |
Watch and learn
- Planned: Helping With Baby
- Planned: Hungry Signs and the Feeding Tent
- Planned: Tummy Trouble
- Handbook Chapter 2 (danger signs) and Chapter 13 (first aid)
Grown-up note
Breastfeeding is the safest way to feed babies in emergencies: it protects against infection and needs no water. If a baby isn't breastfed, ask health workers for help, because bottles and formula made with unsafe water are a major danger. Supervise children near any water, and cover or empty containers. Older children caring for siblings need a grown-up nearby and should never carry sole responsibility for a baby.