Tell me your 'near misses' to make me feel better (and make me realise I am not alone)

[OneLieIn]

This is a really difficult subject to talk about, but hopefully YKWIM, those times when something too awful to contemplate could have happened, but it didn't.

DD (7) fell into very deep water yesterday from the pontoon as she wasn't looking where she was walking. She went under, came up, I heard her scream and dragged her out.

I wasn't looking either, I had turned my back for no more than 1 minute.

DD's OK, very shook up as am I- I feel like the worst mother, I should have been watching.

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Jeez, what a shock for all of you.

No personal experience (as a parent) but my little sister was prone to this sort of thing, she fell into my Uncles pond, she got smacked in the face seriously hard with a metal sheep (don't ask!!) and she also managed to fall down the gap between the step onto the train, and the platform, so was actually down underneath the train! How the hell my mum didn't just keel over, I have no idea...

Now she is 21 years old, still a bit clumsy, but no more accidents to date (except the odd drunken fall out of cabs/doors/nothing!

You can't watch them every second of every day, especially if there is more than one, accidents happen, nothing will stop you beating yourself up about it, but it really doesn't make you the worst mum in the world, we've all been there to certain degrees.

I used to look after a friends children whilst she went to work when I was about 19.

The electric went in her house so I took them round to mine, the baby needed changing so I had him, sorting him out when I realised the 2year old girl wasn't around.

I assumed she was having fun with my make-up or something, called her name a few times, whilst putting the nappy back on and then went to look for her.

Couldn't find her in my flat, went to my front door and realised it was slightly open.
She had managed to unlock the door and go out, I went down the road and around the park, everywhere trying to find her, eventually called the police.

She had literally got to the end of my path and been picked up by a neighbour and taken to the police station.

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Petrified Chequers.
Another time we were at DD's cousin's birthday party in the local village hall.
We weren't aware that some older boys there had opened the back door and obviously I was helping with food/drinks etc, thinking DD was safely locked in!
Couldn't find her and went searching round the streets for her, the lad who had opened the back door found her playing in a building site
As soon as I got her back I cried my heart out, was surprisingly calm whilst looking for her though.

I've had numerous times where I've found one or other of the DC's with tablets or knives, or other dangerous objects, Both elder DC's have fallen off the bed as a baby, DS1 fell off the sofa unto his bouncy chair, last week DS1 knocked the buggy over, with DS2 in it, not strapped in and they ended up on the floor together and only yesterday DD's friend who had been over for a sleepover put a bloody cushion on DS2's head to keep him warm He's 8 weeks, could've been really serious if I hadn't noticed!

DS was about 2, we were walking along and he was free range (quiet area), DH and I were both watching him, we looked at each other for a SECOND and he ran onto a crossing we were approaching, just out into the road.

A car had been approaching the crossing and thankfully was moving slowly and stopped. But if the driver hadn't....

Boy is now 4 and can STILL remember the trouble he got into and how he had to hold my hand tight for a whole MONTH afterwards and how he wasn't allowed to free range at all, cause he was silly and ran into the road.

I feel sick just thinking about it because of something I did once whilst driving. I was distracted, came up behind a bunch of cars turning right, pulled out to the left and drove by. No problem right? Looked in the rear view mirror to see that I had just torn through a crossing and there were KIDS on it (why the other cars had stopped) who I could have hit. I pulled over because I thought I was going to be sick (another driver who saw what I did pulled up and started to rip into me, but when he saw how upset I was, decided to be kind instead!). I thank God every time I think about it that I didn't hurt someone, and of course am HYPER vigilant when driving now!

Got to try not to think about this stuff too much though, I am a good and careful driver and in a split second could have killed someone's baby because I wasn't paying enough attention at the wrong moment! ANYTHING could happen!

You are SO not alone,OneLieIn.

We've had endless near-misses, including DS1 deciding to slide down the bannisters and then flipping over and falling down about 15ft over the stair-rail onto his back.

He didn't move AT ALL for about a minute. Sounds like nothing now but it was the longest minute of my life!

When I worked in debhenams a woman got on the escalator with a baby in a pushchair and a toddler . The pushchair slipped and fell down teh escalator. Luckily the baby was fine, but I nearly had heart failure. I always want to grab people now who do that and say 'use the fecking lift!'

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oh blimey feel sick

ds aged 7 mo rolled off high bed while I was watching the Olympics

helpful person held door open for me in shop - ds aged 2 sprinted out of door straight across main road - I screamed - so he turned round and looked at me inquiringly in the middle of the road [vomits at thought emoticon]

ds fell into swimming pool aged 2.5. absolutely terrifying.

ds aged 4 cycled ahead of me in the park a few weeks ago - I was and am too relaxed about this - I eventually found him 1 mile away playing in the pub playground (that we had been aiming for) having cycled through park, along secluded walkway, narrow pavement and then pavementless road for 200 yards... am crap at this physical safety lark

Thank you - I feel just awful today though. I realise it could have been a very different day. Even if I had been watching, DD would probably have still fallen in, but I guess I would have seen instantly.

DS slipped my wrist and ran out in front of a car when he was 3 and that still petrifies me. We had taken a photo of him maybe 30 minutes before and I still look at it and shudder.

NatalieJane, being under a train is pretty exceptional though.

Its awful isn't it? That knot just under your breastbone.

I remember "losing" DS at a playground once - it was indoors and totally fenced and safe and I was sitting at the only exit. But he didn't respond when I called him for about 15mins, had total panic attack (little sod was in a helicopter pod thingy and said he didn't here me).

You're right choosy, makes me feel sick too.

When my niece was about 18 months, I put a mug of hot tea on the chair arm(me being childless at the time)whilst we were all visiting at my parents. Niece pulled my mug over onto herself, so I rushed her up to the bathroom, chucked her into it and put a cold shower on her...she was absolutely fine, wet, but fine. She wouldn't come anywhere near me for ages though

You are not alone. My DS, aged 10 months fell down a full flight of stairs because I hadn't shut the stair gate - I'd carried him upstairs at arms length as he'd done a huge poo that was everywhere - no hand to close the gate so I didn't as I was going to change him and carry him straight back down. In the menatime, DD (who was potty training that week) follwed me up to go to the loo - she yelled that she'd done a poo, so I put DS down in the bedroom and went to deal, forgetting that the staigate was open. I turned round to see DS had toddles after me and was disappearing down the stairs headfirst. It was horrendous. He was absolutely unscathed (goodness knows how) but I was still bursting into tears from the shock, 2 weeks later. I thought I'd killed him. It still makes me feel teary even now.

My parents took the ds's to legoland a couple of weeks ago. It was bank holiday weekend so you can imagine how busy. Anyway, my mum told me that ds1 (3) was with my dad at the counter in one of the cafes and she had gone to sit down with ds2, and apparently ds1 just disappeared. They were both frantically looking for him and then my mum said he just appeared at teh table with a pot of tomato sauce and a couple of stirrers. My mum said 'Where have you been?' and he just replied, a bit bemused at all the fuss, 'over there, getting some tomato sauce off that man' pointing at a member of staff.

When I was a toddler, my dad was carrying me on his shoulders alongside a very busy river (Watersmeet in Somerset) and he slipped and we both fell in the water. He was dragged down by his flared jeans (it was the 70s!!) but he managed to hold me up so I was above the water (my hero)! He then managed to somehow get us both out! My mum couldn't stop swearing at him apparently!

And...I know you are all going to shout at me now, but...If you have seen my profile pics, you will have seen that I ride a rather large motorbike. Well, my Ds has always been very big and mature for his age and I couldn't wait for him to go for a ride with me. So! I'd often ask him once he was big enough to sit properly on the back if he'd like to come out with mummy and he'd always say no, until one day when he said yes! he was 3.6yo. So...we went for a ride, visited a friend and on the way back, I decided not to do the dual carriageway(which is more like a motorway)and go through the towns. We were about half a mile from home and when I checked Ds as I had been of course the whole time, I discovered that he was asleep! I had to stop going uphill with one hand holding him upright, wake him up and then keep him awake for the last half mile home! Funny now, but not at the time. He has never looked back. He absolutely loves riding with me.
I'm going to duck now!

sorry bunch but LOL at Flares Danger

surely there was a school safety film about that - 'Flaps of Doom'

Lifted Ds up into the air at mums when he was a baby and only just realised that the fan was going full pelt above our heads...
He fell down the stairs, off my bed, cut his eyebrow open by hitting a wall...cut the end of his thumb off...He's fine, fine I tell you.

Dd last week, fell off the sofa and although I caught her by a leg, she still hit her forehead on the laminate. Bruised, but fine!

This is a horrid, recent one...

On saturday my little girl who will be 2 on Friday got out of the side gate of our garden. I asked my DH if he'd locked the gate as I thought I heard it. He said it wasn't locked but ok as there is a high latch that they can't reach to open it.....

With that, he jumped up & I heard him scream her name. I ran behind him to see her stop inches away from the road - just as the ice cream van hurtled in front of her...

Luckily, she was pushing her buggy and not running or I dread to think what could've happened.

I was trembling for about an hour. She said she was going to see Harvey, her friend!

Solo, I've fallen asleep on the back of a motorbike before. It was a very hot day and I'd had very little sleep. I was coming back from alton towers with my dad. The heat made me keep falling asleep, so eventually he had to pull over and I had to take all my leathers off for the rest of the journey. Thank goodness we didn't come off, hey?
It was either that or fall asleep again and probably fall off.

Christmas last year.
Took ds and the mountains of presents into my aunty's house.

Ran out leaving ds playing (or so I thought) to park my car up.

DS is 2.

Reversed car and drove out onto main road to park up properly.

Turned round to see ds running full speed down the middle of the road crying for me!

He must have realised I'd left (very much in a clingy phase at the moment) and managed to get out the front door with nobody noticing what was happening.

I was a total and utter wreck. Just one car driving past at that moment and I can't even begin to think of the consequences.

Beat myself up for months for not specifically asking 1 certain person to watch him and assuming that with so much family there they just would. Still makes me feel sick when I think about it.

Awful!