Climbing frame with sheer drop

[Afraidoftheclimbingframe]

Really looking for advice on how to manage this. There are two kids playgrounds a short walk away from our house. Both have a really dangerous design: At the top of the climbing frame, next to the slide, there is a sheer drop with a climbing wall and rope attached.

My DS is an extremely active 20m old. He loves slides and is great at climbing, so he is easily able to get up to the top of the ladder on these climbing frames independently (I always stand behind when he climbs up, just in case).

The issue I have, is the sheer drop next to the slide. Until this month, DS would climb up the ladder by himself and go straight down to the slide, so I would just make sure he didn't go near the sheer drop by hovering just behind it while he went down the slide.

However, recently, he has started to wander off near the sheer drop when he gets to the top of the ladder. This is getting stressful and dangerous, because I then have to pull him back towards me (I am standing on the floor and having to reach up quite high while this happens, and I am only 5'5).

He's also started thrashing around and having a tantrum whenever I do this, as he doesn't understand the danger of the sheer drop, and why I don't want him there.

Last time this happened, I had to hold for ages him while reaching up and wait until he stopped having a tantrum before I could safely move him down off the climbing frame. I was really petrified he would move out of my reach while he was having the tantrum.

Do I just not let him use the big slide in these playgrounds until he can understand the danger of the sheer drop? It's very sad and depressing, as that seems years away, and he's perfectly capable of climbing up and using the big slide.

I have thought about complaining to the council that the design of both these playgrounds is dangerous and unnecessarily excludes smaller children from being able to use a large amount of the playground equipment.

It's frustrating, because both playgrounds in the area have this set up. I don't understand why the climbing wall with rope and sheer drop can't be an entirely separate from the slide, so that it doesn't turn the slide into a death trap? Would raising this make me a PITA though?

You know your child best, but on the flip side you would always view your child via your own lens of anxiety.
Would he actually have a chance of falling off or is it just your worry?
Might be worth asking the council what the target age range for the slide, and what equipment for your child's age.

Also might be worth taking another adult that you trust and letting them take your child and you hang back, and they can catch your child literally as they fall off (hence why you have to trust them!!). Then you can find out your child's attitude to the sheer drop. They may well refuse to go near it or they may try to barrel over the edge. Then at least you know either way!
I was surprised my son was quite sensible about that from an early age, but yours may not be! Maybe because he knows if he falls it will hurt(although his falls that he learnt from were not from that high up)

The park near where we live has the same problem... infact I think it was safer when we we were kids... the climbing frames/ forts are far to high with dead ended 7 foot drops. One drop has a pole and the other has monkey bars.... my son is 7 and is/was a little monkey for climbing.. he is strong but
no child of any strength or fitness has the ability to hold there own weight from a 7 foot drop...there arms just will not be strong enough...I've always thought they were unsafe since they were put up but I have 2 active boys ,take your eye off one of them for one second and that is a hazard waiting to happen.. he broke his arm in 2 places falling from the monkey bars and braking the arm he used to save himself on nothing but wood chip underneath and had to have an operation...totally traumatising. My little boy thought he was going to be on the news lol... he is recovering now with his arm in cast but now he says he has a phobia of heights and parks and wishes he didn't go to the park that day...time will tell I suppose. Total award and cudv been a lot worse than a broken arm :(

Total hazard that meant :)

we live in an area with no park at all. Just count yourself lucky you have two! be ready to go on the equipment with you 1 year old or don't go at all. Buy a slide for the garden!

he is strong but no child of any strength or fitness has the ability to hold there own weight from a 7 foot drop...there arms just will not be strong enough

I'm sorry that your son has been injured. However, you're wrong about this. Almost every 7 year old has the strength to hold their own weight on monkey bars unless they are particularly heavy. That's the beauty of being a kid - they weigh so much less than adults. And if they do drop off the bars, they generally tend to land on their feet.

It's not about the science or the mathematics it's about safety.precautions before hazards happen.. that height drop is far to high for any child.. and tbh monkey bars take arm strength and abdominal strength than can weaken or strain muscles with any person. my son loved to climb but if you want a statistic then here follows .... 62 % of monkey bar accidents in children result in arm fractures so how is that if a child automatically lands on their feet whilst hanging from one arm on the monkey bar when they've never fell from that height in their lives..he's no gymnast..or cat its a bit like how does the butter side of bread always fall on the butter side? coz its heavier.. next time if he ever tries it again he might know to save him self by landing on his feet #catboy??! Lol

I had playgrounds I just had to avoid while my son was about that age - the worst was one with a big slide where the gaps between the ladder rungs were too big so he could fall through. It honestly wasn't that long though - less than 6 months later he's absolutely fine on it. If your son has never fallen off the ladder and seems competent on it, I'd probably just pop round to the sheer drop side and hang around there.

I was.. he managed them once. but my other little boy was playing aswell took my eyes off him for one second to see what younger son he was doing(he's not as daring) and he was trying them out again nd that's when he fell .. I already said good work 1st time but not to do it again coz your arms will be tired but his will power is so strong.. it cudv happened anywhere but the park is supposed to be designed to be safe for the purpose of children but ya spend the time your child should be having fun with your heart in your mouth coz ul let them go so far then your instinct tells you this climbing frame is not safe he's recovering now but awful to see your own child go through that.. but like they say "kids bounce back"

We have a slide in the garden..and I wish it could be that way but with 2 active boys I have to take them out... if I could wrap them up in cotton wool for the rest of their lives I would but but we would all go crazy and they wouldn't thank me for it I'n the long run

I find this really stressful too! I usually go up with my LO but I see other parents with children the same age happily letting theirs go up alone and I feel like I’m being silly.

I feel the same... as if I'm been over protective... but when your Instinct tells you to stay close what else do you do... I think some parents are far more chilled out nd layed back than me.. but when I look around there's loads of accidents waiting to happen.. I do think too much tho... maybe a good thing/maybe bad coz I look like and feel like a nervous wreck and sometimes feel guilty coz kids love to explore.. I'll probs be worse now with the broken arm incident..is it normal to still get flash backs and cringeing about my son falling from that height and actually seeing him break his arm? coz I sure am... not a good thing to witness... its gut wrenching,,.then u panick .... then uv got to snap out of it for the sake of your child and don't cave coz I nearly did a few times :(( but he's been a brave lad... braver than me lol

Other parents might be worrying but pretending not to - DP and I have worked really hard at making sure we don't communicate our fears to our toddler. Yes, we'll tell him to be careful on the stairs etc., but we don't want him to be anxious and fearful. Children have to be able to take risks and work out for themselves what they can manage. So I'll be hovering the other side of the sheer drop, but I won't be looking worried about it.

DS used to have a tantrum if I tried to go up with him too - so if there was anything I wasn't happy for him to try, we just skipped that playground for a few months. It was a pain at the time, but with hindsight it was a really short window in between 'too small to be interested' and 'big enough to manage'.

At that stage I got a map of where I lived and marked off where every park in the area was. There were so many that I wasn't aware of. I would research and find other parks in meantime.