DS, 8mo fell from trolley yesterday and fractured his skull :(

[rosieposey]

Just wanted to post this to save anyone else going through what we did yesterday.

I never shop at Morrisons (basically because we have lots of other supermarkets to choose from and im pretty loyal to S/burys usually) but yesterday I was nearest to that store so popped in with DS who is nearly 9 months old.

I got a trolley but noticed that it didn't have any belts on it to tie him in. Every other supermarket that i have ever shopped in has a strap and i have always used it. Anyway DS and i were at the checkout and i took my attention off him for about 30 seconds as i began to pack the bags and the next thing i knew he had hit their concrete floor... I didn't see what happened from the time he was happily sitting up in the trolley to when he hit the floor it was all over so fast.

I was obviously in shock and picked him up (he was screaming btw) they took me to the managers office to wait for an ambulance but my DH was working from home and we decided it would be faster to drive to A&E. I asked the manager before i left why they didn't have any straps on their trolleys (the sitting up kind not the baby seat kind) to hold babies and toddlers in and he told me that you had to ask at customer services for them as their trolleys aren't fitted with them due to the straps getting wet and dirty and that is company policy. He also told me that on the handle of the trolley (where you put your hands to push the damn thing) there is a "small sign" - his words- (there is, its the size of a text message) to say to go to customer services if you require a strap.

I have had their area manager on the phone this morning and have explained that as a first time customer i didnt see the two inch notice on their bars to push the trolleys as i had my son in the trolley and i was pushing him?

I feel terrible and responsible for even putting him in a trolley without straps - it could have been a whole lot worse as the doctor said last night that he could have been brain damaged or killed. Whilst i have been in supermarkets i have often seen babies and children in trolleys without straps and thought to myself how irresponsible those parents must be, i myself yesterday was one of them too - i am so at Morrisons for not providing seat belts as a matter of course the way other supermarkets to in their trolleys (or at least the ones that i shop at) but just wanted to say that after all this please dont use a trolley without a strap, its just not worth it, i will never take the chance again and will also be letting Morrisons head office know that next time a child falls out of one of their trolleys because they have no straps fitted to them that it might not be the same outcome.

DS is fine btw, the top of his head is very red and swollen today though. He was admitted at lunchtime yesterday after his xray showed a fracture but by 8 pm the peadiatrician said he could go home as he was his usual bubbly self - needless to say i will be wrapping him up in cotton wool for the foreseeable future and just keeping a very close eye on him for bumps and bruises But just wanted to say IMO Morrisons company policy for having to ask for a strap (when there are no obvious signs saying you need to do that) is Shit.

TBH - I think that very small children - under 18 months - are really not safe even with the straps that are on trolleys. They tend to lean sideways, and the trolley strap is too low to keep them in the seat.

The safest option is to buy a set of old fashioned reins with a harness, and clip the harness to the trolley. Mine actually wore the harness all the time when we were out - they were used to it.

Actually frogs I think the safest option is to shop online and never go near the awful places!

There was no such thing as computers, never mind on line shopping when mine were small!

Glad he is 'ok' - we all take 'risks' now and again and sometimes it goes wrong. Dont beat yourself up, you wont do it again and no doubt alot of people on here wont do it again either.

I would be tempted to send a friend in this morning and ask them to ask at customer services for a strap - see if they actually have any?

Castastro of course you can ( the DM do plenty of cutting and pasting from this site so im sure you can!) The more people that know the better IMHO. Hopefully might be able to get this into the papers too.

3littlefrogs i agree, i don't think that straps totally negate the danger but i know in some instances that it would help or certainly take your lo a little while longer (whilst your attention was diverted) to scramble out of them.

DS is more mobile than i gave him credit for and i obviously found out the hard way as did he but he is 9 months tomorrow and i am pretty sure given that i always shop with him strapped in that he wouldn't be able to get out of straps just yet. Its all conjecture really and as somebody helpfully pointed out earlier in this thread, he's my son and i should know him by now so am pretty sure his fall wouldn't have happened if he had been strapped in.

I also agree on full 5 point straps and if it were possible to get everybody to go out and get reins and clip them to trolleys that would be great but i doubt its that practical (unless everybody knows this story) so lap belts are better than nothing i think.

Orm i am thinking along those lines now too

"I would not have put an 8 month old in an unsecured seat. I would have grabbed the buggy and a basket and picked up essentials. I would have gone to an alternative shop. I would have shopped later whilst DH watched the children.
"

God you make it sound so SIMPLE. It's not.

What if you didn't have the buggy with you? What if you weren't sure when you'd be able to get out again. What if there were no alternative shops that you could get to? What if you don't have a DH who can watch the children?

I shop regularly at Morrisons (well usually do - not at the moment forced to shop online) (usuaully minus children - or at least only with an older child) I have never once noticed a sign on the trolley asking for straps.

And what do you do if you get to the customer services and find they don't have any? Stand around waiting for XXXX long?

If you want to change the fact that not all supermarkets take care of their trolleys then you would be better off contacting hse and trading standards/local council etc. I cannot see what benefit instructing a personal injury lawyer would do. All they would do is focus on that particular trolley at that particular supermarket to ensure you (and they) get the biggest payout possible. You would do nothing to change everything for the greater good.

always there are always ways of managing shopping and looking after young babies. Not all of us have the possibility of having someone else mind the baby whilst we shop. Instead we take the absolute utmost care. I would either carry my ds at that age and the basket or ask the shop for assistance for shopping. They offer it for disabled shoppers and I never had a problem getting assistance if I asked for it.

So sorry you went through that, very glad he is OK. Trust me, we all take our eyes off our kids or take risks/make mistakes at some point. Please don't keep beating yourself up. My DS knocked himself out playing at a friends party and he was being really boistrous with the other boys, I had a newborn to feed and kept telling DH and others to calm them down but they didn't, DS got pushed down steps by an older boy and banged head very hard knocked out, terrifying, I so wished I had forced them to calm down and could have prevented it, if the hosts and DH wouldn't stop them running round I should/could have but i didn't and feel guilt about it quite often. Thank goodness he is OK but it will never leave me that terror and feeling wish I could go back, I still feel sick when think about it. I am very overprotective now.

This is putting me off going to Morrisons. Why can't they just have decent straps? Shocking.

MollieO our intention is to try and make sure that not only do Morrisons change their policy on straps in trolleys but by trying to get it into the press perhaps all retailers will follow suit. Would be great to get some kind of law whereby retailers are responsible for putting (and keeping) straps on their trolleys intended for babies and toddlers. We are going to contact health and safety, (or DH will) Morrisons head office and see if we can get it into the press at all.

MollieO are you suggesting that Rosie didn't take the utmost care? I think that is a bit unfair. Accidents happen and we can't all be as perfect as you.

well glad you didn't have huge 8 month old babies - as I couldn't have carried any of my 3 DS's around the supermarket with one arm and pushed a trolley with the other at 8 months old - they were all too big.

And I'm glad you've had assistance when you've asked for it - I'm rarely able to find anyone to ask where something else let alone ask for assistance, and on the few occasions I have asked for help there's been no-one available

I started shopping online for this very reason, and haven't stopped now the children are older - it is so much easier.

If more shops are going to go the Tesco way and have all self service checkouts, I don't see how you could possibly mind children at the same time (if they were of the age/behaviour that needed minding). If parents are going to have small children with them, it would useful to have unpackers and packers in the shop. Not sure if this is really an affordable option, tho.

SLF - Is Tesco going to go to completely self-service checkouts?

rosieposey, what an awful thing to have happened to you and I am glad your DS is okay. I too have a 9 month old and I am glad you have posted this as you have made me aware of the dangers of not strapping them in and at Morrisons for their stupid regulations. I always strap DD3 in when I go shopping but there has been a couple of times when there have been no straps on trolley seats and I have had to just place her in, not thinking she could launch herself out. I am going to buy a set of reins and keep them in my handbag so I can always make sure she is secure.

Hope your DS makes a full recovery and don't feel guilty, DD3 fell out of her bouncy chair when she was tiny (I had stupidly put it on the table) onto the floor, I had to rush her to A&E, I will never forget the feeling when I saw her lying on the floor.

Squishabelle - they've done it in one store and are rolling it out - I doubt completely tho...

article in retail week

SLF _ I hope not - ive not managed yet to not have an 'unexpected item in the baggage area- drives me insane!

my unexpected item is normally dd1 playing silly buggers. Online is SO much easier!

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect all parents to purchase a harness and reins though. It is no different than buying car seat or a buggy IMO. Then you wouldn't have to rely on the supermarket's scruffy, chewed straps. I think it would just make life easier all round TBH.

Mind you - I do realise that is an all together different thread. I am a veteran of the "reins" brigade, as I have no doubt that my two would have been under a car or bus had I not used them!

I had a look at the (new) trolleys at our local morrisons today - they had straps on all of them.

How horrible and scary for you

Glad your DS is bouncing back

BUT the bit I don't get is that you're trying to make it into a campaign - the supermarket is at fault, it's health & safety, lets get the press involved

I think that's wholly inappropriate and you're going for the "victim" mentality that someone has to be to blame. It was an accident, the parent is responsible for their child not the supermarket. The trolley is provided for convenience, you have to decide whether it's safe or not.

Postal, i really cant be fucked to keep explaining why i want this in the public domain to you over and over again. i have reiterated in my posts repeatedly that i do not wholly apportion Morrisons the blame. My son sustained a fractured skull on Monday because i did not know there were straps available to put on him and as i keep having to point out to you ad infinitum I always use straps. Yes you have made you point, this time i did not, i think everybody who has read this has the gist by now.

All you have done is post how you think i am solely to blame,and thats up to you - if you are of that mindset then thats fine. I dont want to explain why i want to raise awareness of what lack of straps on old trolleys do to you again as you seem to be seeing this a different way to me.

I Posted originally because i just wanted to warn people about what happened to my son not for you to keep telling me that i am to blame - fine i understand your point - you keep posting it and it went in fine the first time i just don't happen to agree with you so id be really grateful now i understand you if you would stop repeating yourself about me being to blame, you may not understand me but i understand you perfectly well.

FWIW if you read my DH's post he says quite clearly 'we are not trying to shift blame we are just trying to ensure this doesn't happen to anyone else'

If by doing that we need to highlight that IF straps are available then they should always be used then thats great, if in the process of raising that awareness we can get Morrisons to change their policy thats great too. You are of course entitled to your opinion - we don't agree and thats fine by me but from now on its just easier if you don't understand for me to not try and make it any clearer to you yes?

I wonder if they order their new trolleys from different places. As our Morrison which got new trolley's about 2/3 months ago definitely have straps on the trolleys.

Alwayslookingforanswers, i think you might be right maybe they do as i think that different stores probably have different criteria - my local one has all old trolleys. The store manager phoned this afternoon for a chat. He said although he couldn't comment on Morrisons policy because he worked for them he said he totally understood my concern at their lack of straps on trolleys at some of their stores as a father of a three year old. I also bought up that other stores don't have them, co op, b and q ect so it would be great if retailers had a collective responsibility towards their target market who use trolleys which is mothers with children.

Maybe i should have just said nothing and just left the fact that there are no straps at my Morrisons and plenty of other places but seeing what happened to my DS on Monday left me so shocked and upset that i really just wanted everyone else to know thats all and i still feel like that regardless if some people directly apportion all the blame to me or not.