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Parenting after 35
I got the scare of my life!
Today, Caleb was sitting in his high chair playing with some toys on the tray. DH changed the paper towel roll and gave him the empty roll to play with. I went on washing dishes while DH was sweeping. A little while later, I looked over at Caleb and he was opening and closing his mouth. No sound was coming out, and his eyes were tearing up- he was choking. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!! I snatched the tray off of the high chair and pulled him out of it in one motion (I still don't know how, since I didn't even take time to unbuckle the strap). I flipped him over and began whacking him on his back- still no sound. While DH was holding him (nearly upside-down at this point), I swept my finger in his mouth and out came a quarter-sized chunk of cardboard from the paper towel roll. Then, Caleb finally started crying (how sweet the sound)! I felt soooooo horrible!!!! I know that accidents happen, but I just never thought that the paper towel roll would be a hazard! I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn't been home. Would DH have known what to do? Would he have panicked? Would he have even paid attention? I started not to post this, because I was so ashamed at what I allowed to happen, but I decided to post about it just in case it helps someone else down the line. I thought this would be an innocent, interesting little thing to play with. Boy was I wrong! So, as bad as I feel, please don't make this same mistake, though you all probably are no where near as careless as I was in this instance!
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Re: I got the scare of my life!
Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. I know you feel just awful about what happened. I would have been scared to death (and probably crying uncontrollably myself once it was over). Try not to be hard on yourself. It was a totally innocent mistake. It was an accident.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us. Your warning can keep this from happening to someone else. I will definitely be telling my parents and DH not to let Keira play with an empty paper towel roll (or toilet paper roll) because honestly, that's something that I can see one of us doing, thinking that it's harmless.
Kristel, thanks so much for your words. They really do help. I've really been beating myself up over this. I have been trying not to allow myself to think about what could have happened because just the thought sickens me and takes all of the air out of my lungs. I'm resisting the urge to take Caleb out of his crib and put him in the bed with us tonight, just to snuggle with him all night.
This post scares me because I don't know infant CPR. Neither does my DH. Tomorrow morning, I will make some calls to find out where there is a class for us to go to.
Richelle, you did nothing wrong. Really. Unless you have a crystal ball and knew that he would eat the cardboard. How could you have known? In fact - it sounds to me like you did everything right. Kudos to you for potentially saving your child's life!
Babies put things in their mouths to discover what they are. This can happen to any of us. Thank you for posting this. It's a reminder for people like me to get my act together and learn what to do in an emergency.
Anytime I hear of an incident one of us bumpees has I share it with my husband because accidents do happen with the most innocent things. There are just things you wouldn't think are dangerous. I gave DD a hard book to play with while I was on the phone & next thing I know there is a tiny chunk missing. Ok she didn't choke on it, but that's ink from the books she was eating. Yuck.
I told DH about little Aaron getting burned & the next day we were out at breakfast (outdoor cafe) & DH was holding her, (made sure his coffee was out of reach), talking on his cell, the waitress came & put his omelette down in front of him & Sienna instantly reached down to grab a handful. It was kind of funny for a quick second until she let out the scream. Yeah eggs & cheese are pretty freakin hot when you pick up a fistful.
Thank you for sharing. We never flame.
Oh my god! I am so sorry that happened, but so relieved everything's okay! I got a shudder just thinking about how scary that must have been. We give Margaux paper towel rolls all the time... but not anymore!
*hugs*
Soooo scary, and good for you for keeping your head enough to remember what to do!
No flames for sure. It's so good that you turned around when you did and recognized that C was choking and knew what to do.
Thank you for posting this. I just read it to my DH. This totally sounds like something he would innocently do, thinking only of how much fun it would be. Just this morning I had to take a *toy* monster away from Maddie that he gave her and remind him that they are just decorative - I put them high on a shelf. It has sewn on eyeballs that are just the wrong size for babies. Plus I got them at the dollar bin at Target - so heaven only knows what sort of toxic crap could be in them. They are really cute, but they may just go in the garbage now...
This really is an important post to share. Thank you and no one else could have done any better in your situation. You reacted the way we all hope we would. Accidents will happen in spite of our best intentions and efforts. All you can do is be prepared.
Oh no! I'm so sorry you guys had to go through this. How awful!
Thank you so much for sharing with us though.
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So so scary! But thanks for posting this. I would totally give my kid a towel roll to play with.. it seems completely harmless.
We're just starting to think about baby-proofing our house since he's nearly ready to start crawling. I don't think there's ANY way you can completely keep your child 100% safe from harm. If there's a way to find trouble, a kid's gonna find it somehow, if they're determined enough.
Oh, Richelle... how scary! I'm SO glad Caleb is OK! And taking an infant CPR class is next on my "to do" list!
It's true that accidents happen and you cannot place blame but it's how you handle the situation and learn from it that's most important. I'm so careful about what's near Aaron now and I know he'll pull stuff and put items in his mouth. That's what babies do at this stage. And soon he'll be crawling?yikes!
Thanks for posting... you may have saved another baby's life, too.
(((HUGS)))
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OMG I can't even imagine!! Please don't beat yourself up; I can totally see myself or husband doing the same exact thing with a stupid paper towel roll!! I'm sooo glad Caleb is OK and that's what really matters.
Big hugs to you both!
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Holy 'Almost' Batman!! That was a close call! Glad you were there and everything is OK.
Thanks for posting - Ada chews on tags, paper, wrappers, ANYTHING she can get her chubby little fingers on. Good to know I should be taking this seriously and saying "No!"
You guys are all awesome for being so non-judgey and non-flamey! I hang out on the 12-24 board, and things can get a little harsh over there. I may have to start checking this board more often!
We had a similar incident with board books. My LO decided they made the best teething toys, and you can guess what happened next...