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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Feel sick to think what could have happened

50 replies

Knocksomesense · 26/02/2020 21:40

I was wfh this evening and I heard a bang, a shout and my eldest cried/shouted out. Not entirely unusual and I didn't particularly think anything of it.

Husband called for me urgently.

Ds1 and ds2 both were in the bath (aged 2 and 3) and dh was washing their hair. He moved the shower screen to reach the shower head and the hinge of the screen broke and the glass fell.

It hit Dh on the head, cutting him. Thank goodness he didn't pass out but there was blood pouring down his face.

The boys were covered in shampoo still. I sorted them out and dh tended to the cut.

The shower screen is a heavy, curved piece of glass and i feel sick to think what have happened if it hit one of the boys. If wasnt in. If dh would have been knocked out. My boys are only just 2 and 3 and the three year old is a young three.

I don't know where to take this issue. It's dangerous. How many other people have this shower screen/hinge.

Should I even do anything? Aibu??

OP posts:

pallisers · 26/02/2020 22:27

Was that post meant to be funny Super? Because you might want to work on that.

Rose789 · 26/02/2020 22:28

I leaned over to turn on the taps when dd was about a year old and the glass in mine shattered outward. There were thousands of bits of glass on the floor. Luckily dd wasn’t in the bathroom at the time.
Since then the family bathroom has a shower curtain. We have a walk in shower in the master bathroom and I bloody hate when dd uses it Incase the same thing happens.
I hope dh’s head isn’t too sore

winterwoolies99 · 26/02/2020 22:31

So basically you after compo!

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 26/02/2020 22:32

No this isn't a it just happens thing.
Where did you get it from. Who installed it. How long have you had it.
There may be a recall needed somewhere a long the line.

Troels · 26/02/2020 22:34

We switched our glass screen to a shower curtain. My Mums glass screen exploded in a million bits and she wasn't anywhere near the bathroom, she head a massive bang and found it all over the floor. Hers wasn't the only one, a lady on a bus trip we went on was saying hers had shattered all over the floor the day before, no one anywhere near it.
I'm glad your Dh was able to call you and the kids are OK. It's scary.

londonrach · 26/02/2020 22:35

We had a straight glass one do this at 1am in the morning...awful noise. No one hurt but we have no shower screen now as he had a proper shower put in

Nitpickpicnic · 26/02/2020 22:37

Our shower screen shattered into a million bits in the middle of the night. The most almighty noise. Thought it was the apocalypse or a massive break-in.

My foggy brain couldn’t compute that it had just happened spontaneously. Threw my anxiety for a loop for days. Can’t imagine if my kid had been in the bathroom at the time. Yikes.

HaddawayAndShite · 26/02/2020 22:39

How long as the screen been in place? Things don't last forever.

To be honest I wouldn't trust my 3 year old with a shower curtain as he has some issues with balance and coordination. He would likely fall through a shower curtain.
Does this mea he balances himself on the screen? It could be putting strain on the hinges which caused the break.

Ultimately it was an accident and you can't be sure anything was faulty. If you want to raise it with the manufacturer, then do so but don't make accusations you can't back up. Just be glad everyone was (relatively) ok.

Feelthethunder · 26/02/2020 23:02

I’m sorry this happened, it must have been so scary.

Best bet is to get rid of the screen and replace with a shower curtain. (As people have said)

Lots of cuddles needed for you and your family. 💝

When my sister was younger, she was in the shower and had moved to get the shampoo, just as she was moving back to go under the shower, the tiles came crashing down. She missed being hit by a couple of seconds. Washing shouldn’t be harmful. (Ha) /:

Sending lots of love to you and your family and hope your little boy is on the mend.

Xxx

Feelthethunder · 26/02/2020 23:04

Sorry, I’ve read it wrong. It hit DH?

I hope he’s ok.

justasking111 · 26/02/2020 23:04

It has happened with glass tables too, this spontaneous explosion of glass. I shall be checking my glass screen tonight for sure.

If mumsnetters are reporting this I wonder how common it really is and no-one has connected the dots yet.

justasking111 · 26/02/2020 23:08

The dots have been connected it would seem.

www.thespruce.com/glass-shower-door-shattered-by-itself-3972517

VodkaRevelation · 26/02/2020 23:10

Presumably your 3YO is mostly sitting down in the bath so the shower curtain wouldn’t be drawn anyway. And if he is having a shower he’d be supervised and you could make sure he wasn’t leaning on the curtain.

It is worrying to think what could have happened and it’s good your husband wasn’t more seriously injured than he was but I don’t think you can blame a 3rd party unless it was very recently installed. If it has been there a while, it would make sense to make sure the screen was secure by checking every now and then, especially if you have concerns about your children leaning on a shower curtain which suggests they were doing this to the screen.

nonicknameseemsavailable · 26/02/2020 23:11

we just have a curtain as the glass doors scare me. The kids always had baths when younger or like you we were always with them so a curtain wasn't any issue. I have never heard of a problem with a glass shower door I am just a real "what if" person.

Justaboy · 26/02/2020 23:21

I'd report that to their trade assocation and trading standards, the hinge clearly wasnt up to the job. The other ones on here sound like toughned glass thats the one that shatters into tiny little fragments.

Laminated glass is much better, thats what car windscreens are made from nowadays!.

DontCallMeShitley · 26/02/2020 23:44

I think the doors should be made of something else, they are just not safe.

Neither are oven doors that shatter for no apparent reason.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 27/02/2020 01:39

I don't know where to take this issue. It's dangerous. How many other people have this shower screen/hinge.

This doesn't necessarily mean a fault with the product. It could be old & poorly fitted - screws don't last forever.

As a PP said, there is danger everywhere.

Perhaps you would feel better if you started trying to teach your 3 year old how to call 999 - children have to start learning safety at some age.

Original poster

Knocksomesense · 27/02/2020 05:36

No screws came out. The bracket holding the glass actually broke. I almost would have preferred the glass to break because then it would have been less heavy.

I don't want any compensation.

My 3 year old isn't the type of 3 year old who is yet capable of dialing 999. He's a very young 3 year old and while there's no SN diagnosed, I imagine something will come up eventually as we're slowly beginning to go down that path with referrals.

Dh seems ok but doesn't want to get up this morning

OP posts:

Original poster

Knocksomesense · 27/02/2020 05:39

@pallisers the comment made me smile. I thought it was funny.

@Supersimkin2 I appreciate the humour and take on board your point. Especially as dh had blood everywhere. mostly was just thinking a glass screen could kill a 2 year old though. I wasn't just being horrible to dh

OP posts:

CatteStreet · 27/02/2020 06:14

This happens. Our oven door shattered spontaneously a few years ago. The oven, which was a year or two old, wasn't on at the time and nobody was near it. Materials are under stress and physical tipping points get reached. I think anyone fitting a glass shower screen should be aware of that risk. Best to use plastic instead (I find curtains a bit ineffectual and unhygienic tbh, not to mention unaesthetic, but plastic is fine) or fit anti-shatter sheets to the glass.

Original poster

Knocksomesense · 27/02/2020 07:06

That's my point. Nothing shattered. That would be preferable to a massive sheet of glass falling on you

OP posts:

badg3r · 27/02/2020 07:25

I have had a few near misses with my kids, freak accidents each time and nothing we could have done to prevent it. DC were completely fine (and oblivious!) each time. It took me a long time to not think about the first one without feeling really shaken, it was also an object falling and landing near to DC's cot, but subsequent incidents less so. These things happen. They are not nice but in time you will be able to think about it without a knot of dread and worry.

WhenOneDoorClosesAnotherOpens · 27/02/2020 07:34

I prefer shower curtains but DH insists on a shower screen.
So we have a shower curtain in one bathroom and a screen in another.

Goawayquickly · 27/02/2020 08:00

I was actually relaxing in a bath years ago when suddenly there was a creak and the shower screen landed on top of me, it was very heavy but luckily missed my head and didn’t shatter. It was very sudden.

CigarsofthePharoahs · 27/02/2020 08:13

@CatteStreet that happened to my sister. Something went bang on the kitchen and they found an exploded oven door! It's supposed to be caused by a tiny flaw in the glass that gets worse over time. As it's safety glass, instead of just breaking it explodes into a million pieces.
I am about shower screens.

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