It can happen in a split second.....

I am an experienced Mom....that does not equate to a perfect Mom, or Super Mom, but just an experienced Mom.

I was bathing my two youngest ones. The oldest is a little over 2 years old and the baby is almost a year old. The baby has been walking and standing on his own for some time now, and doing it very well. He was standing and playing in the tub with his older brother. He was going for the washcloth that was sitting on the side of the tub, so grabbed it and turned to toss it in the bathroom sink.

In that split second, the baby SOUNDLESSLY slipped and fell underwater. Well, now that i think of it maybe not soundlessly, but since they were playing and splashing around, his splash fall didnt sound any different. I turned around and saw him there underwater with his mouth wide open, and the scariest part, his eyes. REALLY freaking scary, terrified look in them. I jumped up and yanked him out of the water. Thank God he is ok, and all of this happened in less than 5 seconds probably, but jeez did it scare the hell out of me.

I am so glad it turned out OK, things can happen to little ones so quickly. Just a word of advice, please watch him for the next 48 hours. If he has coughing spasms or gets short of breath, go to the ER, he may have gotten some water in his lungs and that can cause problems 24 - 48 hours later. It does not happen often, but I am teaching a pediatric emergency class this month and this is one of the things we are discussing.

Isn't it amazing how quick our reflexes get whe we become parents?

I am so glad it turned out OK, things can happen to little ones so quickly. Just a word of advice, please watch him for the next 48 hours. If he has coughing spasms or gets short of breath, go to the ER, he may have gotten some water in his lungs and that can cause problems 24 - 48 hours later. It does not happen often, but I am teaching a pediatric emergency class this month and this is one of the things we are discussing.

Isn't it amazing how quick our reflexes get whe we become parents?

oh jeez..... i am thoroughly freaked out now. I have heard about it, dry drowning i believe? He has been coughing, but he also has had a cold.

and yes.....super reflexes, very much so.

I did not mean to freak you out, I guess it is hard to give low key advice in print......it is a rare happening, and the coughing would be beyond normal cold type. Having you have this experience when I am teaching that topic (for 2 solid weeks) just kinda hit me and I wrote. Sorry if I added to your stress.

becky, i can imagine how frightened you and your little ones must have been. i'm so glad everything turned out ok

I did not mean to freak you out, I guess it is hard to give low key advice in print......it is a rare happening, and the coughing would be beyond normal cold type. Having you have this experience when I am teaching that topic (for 2 solid weeks) just kinda hit me and I wrote. Sorry if I added to your stress.

I wouldn't view that as a 'freak out' but rather some good advice. I had never heard of dry drowning. Thank you Suzi for some very useful information I can share with my nieces and their kids.

Nothing to do with drowning, but one of the scariest moments in my life was also a split second thing. My kiddo, Leone Ray, and I were tossing a football around in a playground behind the drive-thru bank at Douglass loop and Bardstown. There is an old-fashioned teeter-totter there. So it is a big iron pole with seats at either end. Big heavy metal object. Well, we were scrambling for the ball, and he grabbed onto the see-saw (teeter totter, whatever you want to call it), and the bolts had rusted out completely and it came loose. He fell, and the whole long rod (probably 16 feet long) landed on him. On his head. I was only a few feet away, but the image of my kid motionless on the ground with this huge metal object on his head got me more than a bit scared.

I pulled it off of him, lifted him up, and he was out cold. The initial fear was unimaginable. Pulling a huge piece of metal off of your kid's head. But fortunately, he came to in a couple seconds, crying of course. To make a long story short, he was ok. I ended up over at urgent care behind Kroger to get him checked out. He was ok! Whew.

The thing weighed 60 pounds, and is now gone. Tough kid. Scary moment.

Moral of the story, give your kids freedom, but stay close.....