Every year Heather Clare puts out a warning to her extended Facebook community: don’t ride down a slide with your child on your lap.
The US mum learned this the hard way when she did it herself and her daughter ended up with a broken leg. Now, she shares her story in the hopes others won’t make the same mistake.
And in case that written warning isn’t enough to scare parents out of it, she has stomach-turning photographic evidence.
Heather said in her post this week that in 2015 she went down a playground slide with her then-one-year-old daughter Meadow on her lap and the little girl's foot got caught between her mum and the slide.
"This picture is the moment her leg was breaking," Heather told her followers of the image. "She’s still smiling... because it was happening at this exact moment."
The mum-of-three said she was surprised to learn from the not-so-sympathetic doctor her daughter saw, that this was a common injury.
So common in fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement last year warning parents against sliding with their kids.
"An estimated 352,698 children less than six years of age were injured on slides in the United States from 2002 through 2015, and many of those injuries were leg fractures."
However, Heather said she had "no idea".
"I thought everyone took their kids down the slide," she recalled.
Heather said she believed there should be warning signs at playgrounds, but because she had never seen one, she decided to share her own "public service announcement".
"I share this picture every year in hopes that the pain Meadow felt and the guilt that I still feel will save other babies and parents from the same.
"Don’t ever go down a slide with a baby on your lap. There is no safe way to go down a slide with your little one."
It's also a good idea for parents to avoid letting their children play wearing necklaces.
Last year NSW girl Phoenix Clucas, then seven years old, was almost strangled to death when her necklace got caught on a slide at a friend's birthday party.
She suffered severe injuries, but thankfully was saved. However, as The Sydney Morning Herald reported in June 2017, many Australian kids aren't so lucky.
More than 55,000 children were hospitalised due to falls from playground equipment between 2002-2012.
Top Comments
We rode our bikes down the slides, with some serious face-plants.
Don't tell my mum, she'd have conniptions
When my kids were younger I swear to God if I had found them swimming in, playing on, playing under or doing half the things that I did when I was a kid I would have wrung their necks for them. It was ok for me to do these things because I KNEW I was invincible.
Signs in playgrounds? Seriously? C’mon I think we’ve all slid with our children at some point and I’m guessing most of us and our kids came out the other side okay. I myself will continue to play slide roulette just like I will let my kids climb trees, play in the dirt and be adventurous.
When my kids were little they would sit on the slide then I would sit behind them with my legs either side of theirs. We never had any issues with injuries. Kids get hurt. It’s part of life. Signs aren’t going to stop all injuries. People need to start taking responsibility for their actions.
My policy is that is I just don't watch...surprisingly, my kids have never had an accident that required medical attention because I have let them figure out the risks themselves. Telling kids to be careful, watch out, slow down blah blah (they never listen anyway) just wears your voice out...and it inhibits their gross motor development and risk-taking and decision-making abilities.