PSA for the day: Keep your kids' shoes on at the playground!

[citymama]

Toddler suffered second-degree burns from a protective rubber surface at an NYC playground - he was running around in bare feet. Poor little guy. I agree that protecting kids from falls is most important, but surely it's possible to do this w/o burning kids in hot weather? For the moment, please keep your kids' shoes on at the playground as much as possible! (I've seen broken glass at our local SF playground enough times to make sure shoes are always left on).

http://www.yahoo.com/s/922017

[maestramommy]

I've heard about this before. Rather sad since the rubber is supposed to protective. There was a story in SoCal where on a cloudy day a kid tripped, fell, and suffered burns to his hands and knees (aack!). The sun is just really intense out there, and sometimes worse on a cloudy day.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I am not a fan of barefeet anywhere. I even prefer water shoes at the pool though I have gotten lax on that this year. That story though...yikes!

Beth

[buddyleebaby]

NYC playgrounds have signs posted saying footwear is required, and have for a couple of years at least, after a similar incident. I feel very sorry for that little boy but I have to say I am a little annoyed with his parents, especially since they saw the sign and chose to ignore it.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We were in NYC this past weekend, playing at several of the playgrounds, and I noted how hot the stuff was. Fortunately for us, DD was soaked by the water features and willing to run around in her sopping wet shoes each time. Usually, though, when she sees someone else taking off their shoes, she follows suit. Thankfully, no one had done it.

At one playground, kids were very loosely supervised by parents after work. At another, we saw several nannies hanging out, some on their cell phones. I can just see someone not wanting to mess up their nice shoes and letting the kid take the shoes off, thus risking these burns.