Mum WARNS fellow parents about a common playground mistake after her 18 month old son suffers from heartbreaking injury – “I learned the hard way"
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Mum WARNS fellow parents about a common playground mistake after her 18 month old son suffers from heartbreaking injury – “I learned the hard way”
Who knew something as innocent as riding down a slide could end up in a horrific injury? One mum was forced to live through this nightmare, taking to Instagram to warn fellow parents about a common mistake she made that led to serious consequences.
Jean explained that she sat her 18 month old son down on her lap while riding down a slide, something that most parents do with younger children, in hopes to provide him with extra support… Except that wasn’t the case.
“Here I was, a mum of 18 months, thinking how sweet to put my toddler on my lap for additional support,” she wrote in her Instagram post.
“But boy, was I wrong, and I learned the hard way. Just five short months after he started walking he had a broken leg from lapping it on a slide!”
She detailed that as they both went down the slide, her young son’s leg got caught, leading to an urgent trip to the hospital.
“Let your little one go down the slide by themselves, when their core strength is strong enough, of course,” she said.
Image Credit: @mommawillteach
Jean added that upon doing further research, she discovered that a study made by the American Academy of Paediatrics confirmed that riding down a slide with your child can actually increase their chances of breaking a leg or getting seriously injured in a different way.
“Of those under 6 years old, toddlers aged 12 to 23 months had the highest percentage of injuries. The most common injury overall was a fracture at 36 percent, usually involving the lower leg.” the study stated.
“In the majority of cases, these types of fractures happen when the child's foot catches the edge or bottom of the slide, then twists and bends backward while sitting on a parent's lap.”
"Many parents and caregivers go down a slide with a young child on their lap without giving it a second thought," said lead researcher Charles Jennissen and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Staff Physician.
"And in most of the cases I’ve seen, the parents had no idea that doing so could possibly give their child such a significant injury. They often say they would never have done it had they known."
Several parents flooded the comments section of her Instagram post to express their thoughts and some also shared a similar experience.
“This happened to my daughter. She was 22 months at the time – I had her on my lap and her foot got stuck under her body. Ended up with a broken leg. The doctor said that he had seen this so many times.” one mum wrote.
Jean’s 18 year old son suffered from a leg injury. Image Credit: @mommawillteach
“I'd love to see signs up at playgrounds! Lots of caregivers don't have any idea it's dangerous. There are so many things we can't protect our kids from, but this is one that's completely preventable!” said another.
“Yup, my little brother snapped his leg going down a slide on my lap!” a third added.
“We were talking about this in child development and parents do this all the time thinking it is the safest option. No good parent (like you) WANTS to hurt their child. Luckily kids bounce back pretty quickly.” commented one more.
The next time you go to the playground with your grandkids, remember to not make this mistake, folks! What are your thoughts about this story? Share them with us in the comments!
Watch Jean’s full Instagram video below:
Video Credit: @mommawillteach
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