Everyday Independence Check
How are your child’s everyday self-care and independence skills coming along?
Have a think about how your child manages the everyday bits — eating, dressing, washing, using the toilet and settling to sleep. A few quick questions and you’ll have a friendly read and a sensible next step.
It’s a supportive guide built around familiar milestones, not a diagnosis. Children come to these skills at their own pace, so take the result as a gentle nudge rather than a verdict.
How old is your child?
Just pick the closest age — that way we can ask the right questions.
If your child does this sometimes, or has ever done it, go with “Sometimes” rather than “Not yet”. “Not yet” simply means it’s still on its way. There are no wrong answers here, and a couple of “not yet”s is completely normal.
Signs it’s worth getting a little help
- Your child has pain, or you see blood, when they use the toilet
- Your child had a self-care skill before and has since lost it
- Your child is well past the usual age for a skill with no progress at all
- Mealtimes or bedtimes cause extreme distress most days
Get help straight away if your child has lost skills they used to have, or doesn’t seem to hear you or respond to sounds (ask your doctor for a hearing test — don’t wait). And if your child is ever in immediate danger or has hurt themselves, call your local emergency number or go to your nearest emergency department now.
✓ Saved on this device — your result and progress stay private, and they’ll be right here whenever you come back.
Based on: CDC “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” developmental milestones (public domain) · ASHA developmental milestones · Our evidence base. A supportive guide, not a diagnosis.
Why Everyday Independence matters
Here’s why this matters: every "I can do it myself" is a quiet win for your child’s sense of who they are. Managing a spoon, pulling on a sock, using the toilet, settling to sleep — these everyday jobs might feel small to us, but to a child they’re proof that they’re growing capable and can be trusted with their own body and routines. That feeling of "I’m big enough" spills over into how bravely they tackle everything else.
In our clinic we love how much smoother family life becomes as these skills come in — and how much they help a child fit happily into nursery and friends’ houses, where a bit of independence eases the day for everyone. Children come to self-care at genuinely different times, so this is never a race. The trick is letting your child have a go and praising the effort even when it’s messy, because it’s the trying — not the tidy result — that builds both the skill and the confidence underneath it.