The seriousness of the toddler's injuries, and the child's vulnerability, were other aggravating features, he said.
Mr Gilbert said imprisonment of eight years or more would be appropriate starting points as punishment for Sutherland.
The toddler was injured at home, and the 8-year-old at school as an assembly was getting under way.
Judge Ian Mill said the jury had implicitly rejected Sutherland's contention the boys, especially the 2-year-old, were injured by accident.
He said the 2-year-old was injured when Sutherland "intended to really hurt him".
The boy had haemorrhaging between the brain and the skull, and retinal bleeding.
The judge said "very severe force" was needed to cause such injuries.
The court heard the toddler had soiled his bed before he sustained the life-threatening injuries.
Sutherland claimed he slipped on the bathroom floor and landed on top of the small boy.
At trial, a paramedic described finding the toddler pulseless and unresponsive. The young boy was later transferred to Auckland's Starship Hospital before being discharged to a North Shore rehabilitation centre.
Judge Mill told Sutherland yesterday it was "touch and go" for the toddler after he was injured, and any further deterioration in his condition could have been fatal.
He said Sutherland was tasked with looking after several children at the time of his offending.
"You had no easy task. You had the responsibility ... to see that all the children were dressed, fed, off to school."
But the judge said any remorse Sutherland expressed, or other mitigating features, had to be balanced with comments he made in a police interview shortly after the offending.
"I didn't do anything but try and save a f*****g kid that was in the bath," Sutherland said.
"This was extreme violence," the judge said. "This was violence that resulted in life-threatening injuries."
Defence lawyer Jock Blathwayt said there was no doubt Sutherland assaulted the boys.
"Nevertheless, what is not known is the mechanics of how those injuries occurred."
Mr Blathwayt said Sutherland had no previous history of violence or aggression against the children, and whatever happened was "out of character".
"A long and difficult sentence would be oppressive, and unnecessary in the circumstances."
Sutherland was sentenced to seven years' jail for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm, and three months' imprisonment for the assault on the 8-year-old boy. The terms would be served concurrently.
Relatives of the injured boys, who travelled from Masterton for yesterday's sentencing, said they were disappointed with the sentence, as a longer jail term could have been imposed.
During the trial, a statement from paramedic Sharon Cretney was read to the court, explaining how the younger child was resuscitated.
Ms Cretney and a colleague arrived at the Solway house to see a man in the driveway who "waved both hands" at the emergency workers.
But she said the man then abruptly disappeared.
Inside the house, she "discovered a young male child lying on the floor" and a woman with a "detached" look beside him. The toddler was unresponsive.
Manatua Faraimo, who was working as a detective at the time, said when he was first told of the incident on March 3 it was thought to have been a "possible drowning".
Jurors were also told the older boy struggled to hold back tears after he was pushed so hard he seemed to be lifted off his feet at the school assembly.
