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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

This Morning, children stuck in things...

58 replies

usernameisnotavailable · 09/02/2018 11:38

Has anyone else just watched this and thought people could have sorted it themselves instead of ringing the fire brigade or going to A&E?!

Plastic things stuck on head could be cut off carefully with a saw, the baby gate could have been cut well away from the child's leg with a saw and bent.

Ridiculous the NHS is doomed.

OP posts:
metalmum15 · 09/02/2018 11:55

What about the people who don't own a saw and would have to leave their child stuck while they went off shopping

Could be an interesting trip round B&Q with a child with a bucket stuck on their head.

lettuceWrap · 09/02/2018 11:56

My 3yo thought it would be amusing to stand in the middle of his hard plastic toddler toilet seat and pull it up over his hips. We heard him screaming for help when he realised he couldn’t get it off again - the slightly funnel shape of the inner part of the seat meant it went over his hip bones but wouldn’t come off again. We tried forcing it and it wouldn’t budge.
We poured cooking oil round his waist and rubbed it in, and were then able to get it off (with bruising and a minor scratch on his hip bone. He has never tried to wear a toilet seat since Grin

If we hadn’t got it off with the oil, A&E would have been the next step- there’s no way we would have tried to saw off a hard, thick plastic seat from a hysterical 3 year old. There would be too much of a risk of seriously injuring him!

Afreshcuppateaplease · 09/02/2018 11:59

How about a mini saw to fit in first aid kits!

KurriKurri · 09/02/2018 11:59

When I was about 4 I got my knee stuck through one of the gaps in a radiator, I was sitting beside it playing and somehow my knee must have slipped through and then wouldn't come out.
I remeber my Mum and her putting butter all over my knee and both pulling hard - eventually they got me free - but it was pretty painful.

The fact that I'm now 58 and still remember it quite vividly maybe shows some epxert advice might have been a good idea.

I also remember getting my finger stuck in a small bottle - my dad broke the glass with a blow torch while Mum shoved sweets in my mouth to distract me (again - clear memories, and I would never have taken a blow torch to one of my kids ! But I survived the DIY approach)

CuriousHedgehog · 09/02/2018 12:03

When I was at secondary school idiot fellow pupils used to get their legs stuck between the railings all the time (well, at least once every two years). The solution was always to go to the Design Technology Department and the technician would come out with a saw...

GetsPostByOwl · 09/02/2018 12:13

Im actually surprised to see that people don't own saws. Really? I've always had a small tool kit since moving into my own place. Screwdrivers, a small hacksaw, hammer, nails, screws etc. Is this not normal? I used the hacksaw just last week to repair my house brush. And the week before that to cut a new rail for a fitted wardrobe and I'm not the least bit handy. DIY is definitely not my thing.

Personally OP I too would be very reluctant to use any emergency services when all it would take is a hacksaw or bending bars. A couple of simple tourniquets would easily pull stair gate bars apart if you didn't have the physical strength yourself. And never underestimate the power of oil or fairy liquid. Google could show you a hundred different things to try too.

upsideup · 09/02/2018 12:20

DD (then 3) once got her head stuck between the railings, we spent about half an hour trying to pull her head back through to where her body was and were just at the point of having to call 999 when she decided to show us that she actually go like that by walking her body back through the railings and that she wasnt actually stuck, 3 year olds heads are bigger than there bodies and I cant beleive we didnt try that!
Not once did we condider taking a saw to dd's head though, Its great OP that you want to save NHS resources but I think if we have parents accidently slitting their childrens throats then hospitals and police are going to have a lot more work on their hands.

AllButterShortbread · 09/02/2018 12:21

Gets I’m also surprised at the lack of saw ownership on this thread.

MsWanaBanana · 09/02/2018 12:27

If I had a saw I’d be too tempted to do this with it.......

NorbertTheDragon · 09/02/2018 12:30

My ex did have to saw DS out of his cot once as he got his leg stuck. He was sharing a room with his sister who instead of calling us tried to push it back for a while so it was completely swollen. Butter was no help, so the saw had to be used.

Luckily ex had a multitude of tools.

Independentstateofeyebrows · 09/02/2018 12:35

Somewhere in Black & Decker's product development office a telephone rings ...

HollyBayTree · 09/02/2018 12:37

Borrow a saw, buy a saw?!

And how are you going to strap a child in a car seat with a gate attached to it, get it in a trolly and round B&Q ?

ijustwannadance · 09/02/2018 12:38

My instant reaction to the knee stuck in the stairgate was that they needed a wet towel or sheet then wrap it round the next set of bars and twist it.

Always works on crime shows!

Roomba · 09/02/2018 12:39

I'm picturing driving my child to B&Q to buy a saw, while they sit in the car seat with a baby gate stuck over their head now Grin Not really seeing that being a great option tbh.

I've dealt with various thing stuck in noses and ears, plus heads stuck in things. I've generally been able to sort it out myself and have only ever sought medical help when other attempts have failed and it would be dangerous to keep trying myself. I wouldn't use a saw anywhere near a hysterical wriggling child's head! And I definitely couldn't have done much when DS1 swallowed magnetic balls at nursery, that was absolutely an a&e job (and a strong complaint to nursery then a ban on the toys being used there).

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 09/02/2018 12:56

I was sawn in half at Butlins by The Citrus Brothers.

Sawing should only ever be done by Professsionals (like the aforementioned Citrus Brothers. Grin

I don't own butter

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 09/02/2018 12:57

You wouldn't saw a baby gate ..get out the car jack and shift the bars .

usernameisnotavailable · 09/02/2018 13:24

I would think the majority of people would have someone who could help, ie borrow a saw off someone, buy a saw, brute force! and the children in the photos were all sitting quite calmly.

Obviously if you're on your own and have no other way of freeing them then there's no alternative but the majority of the the people who had contacted the show had used emergency services and looking at the photos it was clear it could have been sorted, some of the things were round their neck but wouldn't go back over head so plenty of room to saw away from neck and not cause any injury, and who better to calm them down than their parents? How do people think A & E and fire brigade remover these things?!

OP posts:
BettyMorris · 09/02/2018 13:29

I have years of DS getting stuck in things to come, he's already showing signs of being that kid. First thing I do usually is take a photo. If truly stuck (and no immediate threat to life and limb), I'd phone my dad, he'd say "send me a picture" and then we would formulate a plan.

Now I think about it, he got stuck trying to exit my person as an infant so it's no surprise he's the way he is.

shouldnthavesaid · 09/02/2018 13:30

I got stuck in a bouncy castle as a kid.. that was a 999 job . You wouldn't think that could happen but it did, got my face trapped in the corner somehow. Needed head/neck assessment and O2. I wouldn't be sawing anything off a child's neck at all, unless professionaly trained!

Scribblegirl · 09/02/2018 13:32

You likes saws dont you op ?

Oh god I'm dying Grin

5foot5 · 09/02/2018 13:36

My Dad used a saw to get my friend's head out of the high chair it had got stuck in. My highchair. Her mother was there too and was presumably OK with the arrangement. Apparently friend had a nightmare about it.

When I was at secondary my finger got stuck in the hole under the desk. Biology teacher sorted that out with margarine.

Elementtree · 09/02/2018 13:42

but the majority of the the people who had contacted the show had used emergency services

Did they? Or did producers choose the caller's where emergency services were called upon?

helpconfused · 09/02/2018 13:58

My son got himself stuck in the TV unit once after I had removed the drawers for sorting. I took a photo and then realised he was actually stuck. I panicked thinking I was going to have to cut the unit up but I managed do it in the end.

ChickenPeanut · 09/02/2018 14:00

I'm with you OP. I really don't know how humans have survived for so long.

I guess it's just the norm now to rely on other people to provide our food, clothing, heating, everything else. And I think most people would be scared of making things worse.

ChickenPeanut · 09/02/2018 14:08

I guess it's just easier to call somebody out to fix it. The responsibility is on someone else then.

Easier than common sense and a bit of bravery/saw skills Shock

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