Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was holding my two year old's hand one time, and she wanted to let go but we were near traffic, so I held tight while she struggled to let go. Ended up dislocating her elbow in an injury called nursemaid elbow. So everyone.... don't hold your children's hands!
That's super common. When that happened to dd1 and we went to the emergency room, and they actually had pamphlets that they give out describing how to fix it so that people don't have to keep coming back to the emergency room.
A lot of people aren't because they wouldn't even think of something like this happening. I don't get why people are outraged by this warning. When my son goes down the slide he often puts his feet to the sides. If I had gone down with him in my lap the first time I would never have realized he might do that. I think the point is "watch their legs" not "keep your kids inside".
I'm not outraged, but if its been happening for years, I have never heard of it before. And truthfully, we all survived our childhoods. We all went down the slides on our parent's laps and I even sat on my mom's lap on swings. I'm fine. Warnings are fine, but sometimes overdone, and all they do is scare people. If people aren't already careful with their kids, then that is on them. I am as careful as possible without having to keep them tied to a chair. Kids get bumps, bruises, broken bones, cuts...its part of life. Yes try to prevent as much as possible, but please don't stop having fun with your kids because you are afraid they "might" get hurt. Just be careful.
I've seen it several times at the parks and many more where ultimately the parents just lucked out that the child didn't break anything-- but oh boy, the child was hurt anyways and *cried*. I don't get how anyone can be that oblivious. These parents just laugh it off when they reach the bottom and then it takes them some time to really realize, oh shoot, s/he really is hurt.
The problem is the parents put the child on the lap, but don't keep their legs closed, so the child somehow gets caught under. Or their legs are flailing. I've told my friends several times, keep your legs closed, and make sure the child's legs stay close on top of it (keep hands on thigh, above the knees).
When I was about 9 I was at the playground and I used to play with the little kids so I asked this about 2yo's mom if they could ride down the slide with me she allowed it....it wasnt very pretty in the end, his leg got caught and broke and I never went back to that playground. I still feel horrible. :'( I couldnt imagine that happening to my baby.
You shouldn't blame yourself. Accidents happen and you were very young.
Oh boy. I am one of the "dummies" this happened to, with my 2nd child. He had just turned 1, just started to walk, had his little rubber soled shoes on. It was a plastic slide, and instead of sitting on my lap, he was between my legs...we went down many times like this, until the last time, when his foot caught (rubber + plastic= no good). He cried briefly, was able to stand okay and walk to his stroller...still, we went right home.
Upon waking from his nap, he did not want to walk--started crawling everywhere. He would still pull up to standing, but not put any weight on one foot. I took him to the dr, they x-rayed his leg; they could not decide if it was broken on not. About 5 ortho guys came in to look at this x-ray; eventually they came to the consensus that it was most likely a greenstick fracture. They put a cast on his lower leg for 2 weeks (I felt horribly guilty, of course, and was made to feel even more so every time I had to take him out of the house, as only terrible mother would have a 1 year old in a leg cast).
After the 2 weeks, they re-x rayed the leg looking for signs of healing--there were none, leading the dr to then believe my son actually only had a strained ligament, not a fracture after all. However, he indicated to me the treatment for a child his age would have been exactly the same, a cast to immobilize the leg and promote healing.
He has been down many slides since, even with me, though I always made sure after this incident that I knew exactly where his legs were!
PS My DH as a child was a horrible bolter at intersections and also had nursemaid's elbow as a result of his mom tightly holding his hand to keep him from running...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
That's super common. When that happened to dd1 and we went to the emergency room, and they actually had pamphlets that they give out describing how to fix it so that people don't have to keep coming back to the emergency room.
