It happened to me. And if it happened to me, it can happen to you, too.
It started off like any other morning. A sweet, happy baby and a tired mama, just getting out of bed and getting into the morning routine. I had just clicked him into his high chair, given him a toy, and was stirring up my morning coffee. I heard a loud sound and looked up to see my five and half month old tumble down to the tile floor – an almost 2 1/2 foot drop.
His screams followed, and I ran to soothe him as best I could. Thank goodness, Michael was home that morning and could help to calm ME down. I was able to get the baby to stop crying fairly quickly, but we could already tell that his eye was very swollen. That seemed to be the only thing wrong.
I guess that when I had clicked Parker into his chair, the table wasn’t on as securely as I thought. And since I had bought the chair used, it didn’t come with a restraint system. So when Parker reached across the table for his little rattle, it snapped off, and down he went with it.
Notice that it didn’t come with a restraint system – Friends, fellow mamas, THAT is where I went wrong. That restraint system could have prevented my son from getting hurt. If I had just called Graco prior to the accident, like when I first got the high chair, this would not have happened. Trust me, you don’t want to feel the guilt I felt every time I looked at my baby’s swollen shut black eye.
When we went to the ER (because I was FREAKING OUT!), they gave me symptoms to look out for brushed it off. “Oh, babies fall from their high chairs all the time,” the ER doctor told me.
Um.. is that supposed to make me feel better? There are lots of babies running around with huge black eyes that COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED?
So, I looked it up. Turns out he was right, kids DO fall from their high chairs, like, all the time. There are almost 10,000 reported cases of high chair accidents a year and they ALL could have been prevented had the proper safety measures been taken (i.e restraint system). Not to mention that number only reflects the cases REPORTED. I’m sure there are WAY more incidents that don’t get reported.
Personally, this makes me very upset. Maybe I’m just an over-sensitive first time mom. And while that may be a very huge possibility, it doesn’t change the face that as new moms we are crammed with information on car seat safety and not something as simple as HIGH CHAIR SAFETY! Just because it’s easier, doesn’t mean it should be talked about less.
Heck, for some people, high chairs are used even more than car seats.
So moms, dads, grandparents, babysitters: let’s prevent head injuries, black eyes, and scared care-takers; let’s talk more about high chair safety; and let’s strap our babies in!
a version of this was originally posted on Happy Girl, Happy World.
About Alli:
Hi, I’m Alli! a Texas-born, Florida-living stay at home mama to a little boy and a couple crazy animals. lover of peanut butter, baby bums, sandy toes, & happy thoughts. thanks for stopping by and checking out my happy little corner of the world! more about Alli
