I'll start this blog post with the fact I'm not the perfect parent before anyone thinks that I should so get off my high horse. Thought I do try to be, but then don't we all? There has been occasions where my child has has pizza for both lunch and tea, though do I score brownie points by adding that he had salad with it the second time around? He's gone a couple of nights without a bath because either I'm too exhausted to bath or he is. Much easier to sometimes just chuck him into bed and say that we'll have a bath the next morning. But stuff like that is ok, so I may give him the poops with having pizza twice in one day and messing up the good hygiene manners we're trying to teach him but I'm not putting his life in danger.
When it comes to the safety of my
boys I'm happy to admit that I do wrap them in cotton wool there safety is paramount to me. Now that Oli can do things for himself and is starting to become of his senses I am more lenient with things. But as a baby and a new mum I was as cautious as I could be when it came to anything and everything. I think when it comes to safety as a parent it becomes a brain game, you have to think and then think again. Always. I double check and triple check, I asses the situation in my head or even out aloud much to the annoyance of the husband to see if my children are safe. Be it strapping them in the car or keeping them safe in the car, my eyes and my brain are in non-stop mode helping to keep them safe.
Especially as a baby, they rely on you for everything and that means it's your job to keep them safe. When I read the articles a couple of weeks ago about how Bumbo have had to introduce safety straps to the product I was rather annoyed, annoyed for the company but especially annoyed for the children who's parents hadn't used the product in the safe manner. On the Bumbo is quite clearly states 'Warning, Never use on a raised surface, Never use as a car seat or bath seat, Designed for floor level use only, Never leave your baby unattended, As the seat is not designed to totally restrictive and may not prevent release of your baby in the event of vigorous movement.' I know that because I have Oli's old Bumbo right in front of me now which I've just started to use with Dylan. It goes back to using your brain, the seat obviously have straps so why put it on a table? If you want baby at the table then put then in a suitable highchair which comes with straps. I wont be needing to get these straps because I will be continuing to use the seat in the safe way which it was intended to be used. On the floor, under our supervision.This morning I saw a article where a mother didn't strap her child in the pram, causing the baby to fall out of it. The mother blames the bumpy payments but actually she's the one at fault, the pram may of still tumbled over but would baby of gone flying out? I know as a mother it helps to blame other people, and I cant imagine the guilt she must be feeling and how horrible it is to have that horrid parent fail caught on camera to be splashed across newspapers. But then shouldn't that be even more of a reason to of made sure that her baby's safety was the number one priority of her day? I guess I'm really disgusted by this particular incident because she was still on the phone as her child was out of the pram, wouldn't you of casted your phone aside to rush to your child's aid, no matter who you were talking too?
So I'm kinda judging without knowing the facts or
actually being there but then that's where it sucks to have a paparazzi following. To us it looks quite clear what happened, guess she's now learnt her lesson and will make sure that her baby is strapped in at all times no matter how long he's in that pram and no matter where they are. Of course the mother says baby was strapped in and I quote 'the weight of his body popped the buckle open'. Would love to see the response from the pram brand on that so called safety fail if he was indeed strapped in like she said. Though from the pictures it looks like a blanket was over the straps, what do you think? Maybe she should swap for a Stokke Xplory which has a 5 point safety harness.My own risk assessments as a parent sees me not using a sling because I'm terrified of not tying it right so I instead use a carrier. I freak about the thought of traveling on the London underground with Dylan in his pram so instead I avoid escalator's and stairs and instead will take a taxi. But then you may say he could still get into danger in a carrier or in that taxi but I take comfort in knowing that I've taken my own precautions in protecting my children. At the end of the day common sense really should come into play when it comes to babies, toddlers or even teenagers.