A few weeks ago I read an article about a mother of two toddlers who was in the same room with them when her large, sturdy dresser tipped over and crushed her 3 year-old's skull. Awful, terrible, but luckily the child survived though he was left blind. She had turned around for a minute and her son apparently started climbing the dresser. She said she never would've guessed that such a sturdy dresser would ever fall over, much less on her child. This story seriously freaked me out, and I thought about the pieces of furniture around our house that we already know aren't sturdy in the first place. Then there are the dressers etc. that we think ARE sturdy.
I started bugging Kent about securing a hutch and television in the kids' playroom, and a couple of Saturdays went by. Finally, this past weekend we bought what we needed, and Kent secured the hutch and the TV inside of it both to the wall. Well all I can say is thank heavens (!!!) I followed my gut because just this morning my two-year-old Rebekah came running out of the playroom crying that something was falling. I went in there to find the television literally hanging out of the hutch. The chain we used to secure it to the wall had worked, and visions of the TV crushing her little feet, legs, or worse were just that ... visions... and not reality. I thank the Lord for the promptings that moved me to secure that TV.
Moral of the story: Secure your furniture! LIsten to your gut!
A few facts about childhood injuries from household furniture - http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/FOIA/FOIA08/os/tipover.pdf
6 comments:
Scary! I'm glad you listened to your gut!
Wow, Kim, that really was a close call! Thanks for sharing the story and raising some awareness. I'm glad everyone is alright.
Wow! Good thing you're living righteously! My neice pulled a big screen TV onto herself and broke both her legs.
Scary!
I am making a mental list of other large pieces of furniture that we need to secure, including our big screen TV. I actually went around and started trying to tip over furniture to see how easy/hard it would be, and it didn't take much.
There's already so much to worry about as a parent - deadly accidents involving furniture is one I'd like to put to rest. I think my husband is going to be busy and possibly bugged with all the furniture securing I have planned :-)
He will not be as bugged as a smashed baby would make him! Good reporting! I've screwed a lot of things to the walls in my time. All it takes is a drill, an angle iron and a couple of 3 inch grabber screws, which you may already have on hand. That list does not include a husband, but making him do it is handy. (I'd rather be quick.)
Wow, that is crazy!!! I'm glad you listened.
Post a Comment