Frames above babies bed. Learn from my mistakes

[badmum82]

When my mum pointed out maybe I shouldn't have frames above my babies cot I just thought of all the Instagram nursery inspo pictures I'd seen and thought that she was being irrational. She wasn't, at some point last night/this morning my toddler either pulled down a print, or it fell down. We woke up this morning to screaming from the baby monitor, pulled the covers back to find broken glass everywhere, the frame and blood on the mattress Cuts to 4 fingers on one hand, 2 on the other, the palms of the hands, cheeks, belly. I've cried all day, been to A&E, we're home now and I'm feeling like the worst mum in the world. Please learn from my mistakes, it could of been so much worse

[CouldItBeCake]

I’m so sorry OP, how upsetting for all of you.

[Sceptre86]

Hope your lo is ok and it must have been incredibly scary for you. Lots of Instagram nurseries are decorated like that, yours won't have been the only one. Lesson for us all, thanks for sharing x

[Procrastination4]

You poor thing, what an awful shock for you. I hope your child is better now. It was an accident. These things happen. It doesn’t make you a bad mum. By posting it here, you could be helping someone else avoid making the same mistake.

[ivfbeenbusy]

A few Harsh lessons to learn there OP and for everyone I should think

1- sometimes our mothers do know best

2 - you shouldn't live your life through Instagram

3 - wall stickers are the way forward

(I've not long decorated my twins nursery - so many nice things to hang above cots but discounted it straight away.....)

To be fair to @Isadora2007 whilst this was an awful accident it was a preventable one but I'm sure the OP doesn't need anyone to tell Her that

[AbsolutelyPatsy]

we had a wardrobe someone gave us, a friend who had worked in child care pointed out it was dangerous, so we turned it round but dd went in there anyway and the whole thing toppled over, broke a toy on the floor, where dd3 may well have been lying
dont beat yourself up,
share the story though.

[MarmaladeToastAndAMarmaladeCat]

Don’t beat yourself up about it. Not your fault but good on you for warning people.
It also makes me feel really uneasy when I see bunting hung over cots. If it came down it could be a strangulation risk but I’ve seen it on so many photos of people’s baby’s rooms

[MaryMow22]

So scary :(

[earthyfire]

I knew someone who had a large mirror above their bed and it fell on them during the night so I've never put anything above my bed or my children beds/cots.

[Rockdown2020]

OP, please don’t feel bad. It was an accident. We had similar in our kitchen the other day. An oversized clock that had a glass face feel off the wall narrowly missing me as I was feeding the baby. No one was hurt but I’m actually not sure how we weren’t. It hadn’t even procured to me that the glass wouldn’t be shatterproof. These horrible things happen and no one intends to decorate their house in a way that would make it dangerous.

Please don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re all safe and it will soon be a distant memory. Sending love

[Thebookswereherfriends]

Not to do with baby safety, but when I was a teenager I had a shelf above my bed and it had a cactus plant on it. One night the shelf came slightly loose and the cactus tipped on to me in the middle of the night! Cactus spines are very painful and quite difficult to remove!

[Rockdown2020]

*occurred to me

[Sweettea1]

This went through my mind when I put frames up I remove them every night at bedtime then bk up of a morning takes a couple of seconds. Hope your dc is OK.

[Notavegan]

I didn't know this.
What an awful shock for you all.

[BrilliantBetty]

Surely it's obvious not to hang a glass framed picture (or anything, really) directly above or beside a baby's cot.

But very glad baby is okay, it's a lesson learned. We all make loads of mistakes.

[HopingForOurRainbowBaby]

I had a shelf above my bed when I was little. One night I reached up and pulled all my teddies off and promptly pulled the shelf off at the same time and broke my nose

[Lovestosing]

Please don’t feel bad OP, that wouldn’t have occurred to me either, at least your LO isn’t too hurt. A few years ago I woke up very early in the morning and went in to check on DD2 for some reason. The fairy lights that were above her bed had fallen on her and were over her neck, not tightly but as she is such a deep sleeper she could easily have strangled herself whilst moving around I was so shaken up and so cross with myself at the danger I’d put her in. So please everyone no lights, bunting or anything like that above beds or cots!

[megletthesecond]

Hope your nerves have calmed down now. .

It was a kaleidoscope incident in this house. Two year old and broken mirror shards all over the floor. Somehow she wasn't hurt at all.

[MenoMom]

Hope you're getting over the shock, small children are incredibly resilient and heal so quickly. It was not deliberate, it was not your fault, you are obviously a caring and loving mother. Try not to beat yourself up - you would be kind to a friend who this happened to, so be kind to yourself.

[MMMarmite]

@BrilliantBetty

Surely it's obvious not to hang a glass framed picture (or anything, really) directly above or beside a baby's cot.

But very glad baby is okay, it's a lesson learned. We all make loads of mistakes.

Clearly it's not obvious, as several people have said they've made the same mistake.

[BrilliantBetty]

@MMMarmite
Clearly it's not obvious, as several people have said they've made the same mistake

Indeed. And that is pretty surprising. Sometimes logic goes out the window.

[Tbortb]

Op, thank you for sharing your story as a warning to others. I'm glad your DC is ok, these things happen and we taunt ourselves with the 'what if's' which is so hard to get out of our mind.

You've helped me tonight as I've just removed a circular mirror from above our bed which was just ornamental, you couldn't even see in the mirror unless you stood on the bed! It has been up for 3 years but this has now made me realise that although it looked gorgeous, it was an accident waiting to happen if it fell off.

[ExJasper]

Op thank you for posting but please don't be too hard on yourself. You've learnt a lesson, your little one is fine, and you've warned lots of other people.

I think most parents will have similar tales of narrow misses. I have 4 dc (youngest is 16 now so despite my incompetence they've all managed to survive!) and with each one of them I can think of at least one accident they've each had. We've had rolling off the bed, swallowing tablets, pulling a chest of drawers over on themselves, escaping from the garden and being found sitting in the road - I could go on!

After each incident I was beside myself and vowed never to let it happen again. But - guess what? - it did! Not the same mishap but some other hazard that I managed to overlook. Anyway, they're all healthy and they all love me (I think!), and I'm sure that you are feeling 1,000,000 worse than your little one.

[RhubarbFairy]

You're not a bad mum. Accidents happen.

I pulled a gas fire out of the wall and on top of me when I was a baby. Apparently I'd used it to pull up on and it wasn't secure. Fortunately it wasn't switched on but it gave my parents such a fright. I don't remember it, but they do, vividly.

IKEA have changed all of their frames to safety glass now. I have two identical frames bought several years apart. One has glass, the other has plastic. Can't tell the difference to look at them.

Have a cup of tea and give yourself a break.

[VanillaCokeZero]

Try not to beat yourself up OP.

It’s human nature to think ‘it’ll never happen to me’, we all do it. It’s why despite the advice everywhere about safe sleep practices people still bedshare with tiny babies and babies still die from it. Everyone likes to think they’ll beat the statistics and that they’ll be okay. As creatures we’re pretty short sighted and happy go lucky unless the risk is right in front of us.

You’ll learn from it and I am grateful you shared, you might save someone else from doing the same

[Isadora2007]

@LST

Nah I won’t “fuck off” thanks- you said a freak accident, which is an accident highly unlikely to occur which no one could have prevented. In your case a two year old knocking a dish rack with a freshly boiled mug of water nearby is completely preventable with common sense and carefulness.
Yes it was an accident, as was the OPs. But they’re not examples of freak accidents and it’s silly to suggest that they weren’t preventable. Yes accidents happen but we should do all we can to prevent them happening and anticipate risks with babies and toddlers around.