Am I a bad mum?

[dotingnewmum]

My 13 month old dd escaped from the house today and crawled out onto the pavement on the road outside. I had only left our ground floor flat for less than a minute to put the rubbish out and when I came back in the door was wide open. I was sure I closed the door behind me but it is an old door and sometimes the lock doesnt catch. She was nowhere to be seen so I ran out front calling her only to find a man and woman walking towards me with her, the man said sternly "she was crawling along the road" and looked at me like I was the worst mother in the world. Am i?

No, it was just a mistake. A bad mother would look for her, not find her and think meh.

you will laugh about it one day - toddlers are there to test all the things we thought we knew about the world
now you know your dd has the propensity for escape you can be extra vigilant

No, mine run away all the time. We call ds Houdini Jr.

Just write your mobile number on her arm - saves shouting

God love you, you must have been terrified. I have a mega fast crawling 12 month old, it can easily happen. You are not a bad mother.

No, it isn't worth beating yourself up about it (easier said than done I know ). You are human and mums face guilt at every corner. She is fine. Try not to worry.
From, the worlds biggest worrier x

It was just a mistake. Don't beat yourself up about it, but maybe you could get the catch on your door fixed? Then you'd feel more confident about putting the rubbish out in the future.

not at all

I got locked out by my DS1 slamming the front door behind me (aged 19 months)when I was holding my 3 day old DS2 in my arms ... had to phone the local swimming pool to get DH out the pool and back home

obviously whilst my midwife turned up AND my childminder and half the street...

now that is arggghhhh and now I always take a key out with me, even putting something in the bin

Kids wander off all the time. I found one in the Ikea car park recently. Mother was inside by the tills. Poor woman was distraught. He'd gone down the rampy escalator thing on his own.

You either have eyes surgically implanted in the back of your head, or you glue her feet to the floor.

of course you are not a bad mother. we have all done it.
i never used to put rubbish further than throwing it out of the front door, for years

but i still got locked out by ds with dd sitting in her high chair

I don't think you are a bad mother for that, we've all had those moments.

Our worst day EVER was when we were at MILs, DH in living room, me and mil in kitchen, both thinking dd1 (18mths) was with the other. She appeared from MIL's bedroom with a squashed capsule on her T-shirt- AAARGH! WEnt into the bedroom to find the floor awash with pills from MIL's weekly dosette thingy- we had to take her to casualty and sit there for 8 hours to make sure she was ok- absolutely horrific (she was fine- running off up and down the corridors)

Of course you're not a bad mother, you're human!!
Richard Madelely was writing in the - (whispers) - Daily Mail today about fatherhood and how when he and Judy were newly married he dropped his new baby on his head outside, twice, in the space of two days. They have a laugh about it now.

My DH lost his grip of the moses basket handles when DS was tiny and he catapulted onto the floor. No harm done!