[direwolf20]

Dumb question, not a parent — how old does a child have to be before they'll only touch the hot thing once so you don't need to guard it?

[nout]

They learn to not intentionally touch the hot thing between 1 to 2 years, but then they still can fall on it or hit it during play.

As a parent you quickly learn that when you don't actively prevent major accidents it ends up costing you much more time, stress, screaming, etc.