Reminder to all mamas about child safety

[DebbieJ]

Wow, what an evening. I am telling my story as a reminder to everyone.

I will start by saying that my ds is fine, so no worries.

We were upstairs getting ready for bed. DS had a poopy diaper, so I changed him and then went into the bathroom to dispose of the poop while he played in his room. I heard him start opening and closing drawers but thought nothing of it. The noise I heard next was the most fear-inducing noise I have ever heard. You guessed it, the large six drawer Rumble Tuff dresser fell over.

I dropped the wet poopy diaper and ran into his room. He was crawling away and crying hysterically. I picked him up and got him to calm down. Upon inspection, the only injury I can find is a goose egg on the side of his head. Thank God. A little arnica cream and he is fine. I cannot stop thinking about what could have happened, though! Oh, yeah, and I'm home alone tonight because DH is at Bible study. So you can imagine how panicked I was.

You can't imagine the guilt I feel. A few weeks ago, I had told DH we should get some furniture straps, but he brushed me off and I never pursued it. Guess where I'm going tomorrow. Hand me the drill!

Now ds is sitting in his rocking chair eating goldfish snack mix and watching They Might Be Giants. He is fine. I called my mom the nurse and she agreed he's fine. Whew.

So that's my story. Glean from it what you may.


~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfed for 20 months and 6 days

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[billysmommy]

Oh Deb, I can just imagine how you felt. I am so glad everything turned out okay and DS is fine.
I have been meaning to get furniture straps for awhile now, thank you for spurring me on

[sarahsthreads]

Oh my gosh, how scary! We have that same type of dresser, and we were thinking it was too heavy and sturdy to need to strap to the wall, but I guess we were wrong!

Thanks for the warning, and I'm glad your DS is fine!

Sarah

[trumansmom]

Oh no! I'm so glad he's okay! How terrifying that must have been for you!

I'm printing this out and giving it to DH. This has been an ongoing issue for us since DS was born.

(((hugs)))

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04
Independent Consultant, Do-Re-Me & You!

[bcky2]

what a horrible scare, im glad that your little man is fine. your heart must have skipped a few beats there. my ds fell down the stairs a few days ago and that just about gave me a heart attack!

[alexsmommy]

Oh I am so glad he is ok. That must have been terrifying. We've had some scary moments here the past week so I know how it makes you count your blessings.
Alaina
Alex 2-4-03

[lizajane]

ohmigosh, my heart stopped. i worry about the same thing. dylan pulls up on EVERYTHING and i have the biggest fear that he will drown in the potty. as if i would leave him alone in the bathroom, but still!

[Toba]

I am shaking as I type this. Please know that you have convinced at least one person to get those furniture anchors that came with our nursery furniture installed. You never think it can happen to you, KWIM? My son routinely plays in his nursery while I'm getting his bath together, etc., and also loves to open and close all his drawers. We have one wide dresser that also serves as a changing table, a tall dresser as well and a very large armoire. I just can't imagine the intense guilt if something serious happened (I mean something that is irreversible). Thank God your son is okay. Hope his goose egg heals quickly and he's not too scared to play with his drawers anymore. ;)


~Kimberly Anne~
Noah Nevan, March 12, 2004
*the light of my life*

[randomkid]

I'm so glad your DS is ok.

I didn't think furniture anchors would be necessary, but now I do. DD is 9 months old and already loves to climb. I know she will most likely open drawers and climb up her dresser when she is older. No doubt that I will use the straps now. Just like the tot loks I keep telling DH we need to install. He kept putting it off and guess who figured out how to open the cabinets today? I never let her out of my sight, but accidents happen quickly and when you least expect it. I've already told DH - "Guess what you're doing this weekend?"

Thanks for the reminder to all of us!

[jasabo]

How terrifying! We keep meaning to anchor our furniture too, but haven't gotten around to it. This is a good reminder of how important it is. I'm so glad your kiddo is ok.

Lisa - mom to 2 yr old twin boys

[squimp]

Thank goodness he's OK. And have DH break out that drill!

[jgriffin]

Scary, but maybe not a completely bad thing to happen, since your house will now be safer for it. Living in California, we earthquake proofed the nursery, so we should be ok there. But looking around the house there are a lot of smaller items that we wouldn't normally earthquake proof that I think we'll have to childproof pretty soon. Thanks for the reminder!

Jen

[mommyj_2]

I'm so glad your DS is okay. Hugs to you, as I am sure this was awful for you.
Also, it's great that you posted your experience. These types of posts have been really helful to me in the past when I had forgotten something I needed to do around the house.

[dr mom]

Thanks for the public service announcement. DS has just learned to climb using the knobs on my dresser drawers - like a little rock climber. Cute, but scary! I will be putting up furniture straps this weekend...

[bluej]

Oh Debbie, I'm so glad that your DS is okay. Thank you for sharing your experience with us so that those of us who have yet to do this (yes, that would be me) can get it done.

[mary b]

Deb,

Huge hugs!!! What a scary time! I am SO glad he is OK. I am dealing with a broken arm on my DD right now so I can relate. I am thrilled that he is fine!!


Mary

[ribbit1019]

Oh my! How scary! I am so glad that he is o.k.!

Christy
"My Mommy" to Maddy born 06/09/04
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
and soon to Little Man due 03/02/06
http://bd.lilypie.com/cKLom4/.png

[Melanie]

How scarey! Thanks for the reminder...most of our taller furniture is strapped since we live in Earthquake country. But I do have a few things in our office we should strap before this little one gets mobile. Ds let us off really easy in the daredevil dept.

[KBecks]

I believe a child was killed here recently who tipped a range over and was crushed by it.

I need to get this done, and thanks for the reminder. Glad your baby is OK.