Well in true confessional style I am here to share a couple of safety mistakes I’ve made. No, not so you can point, stare, and say “and she is a pediatrician?”. No, I am hoping you’ll think more along the lines of “well it can happen to the best us”. Whatever your reaction may be, I share them with you in the hopes that it brings awareness to some of the everyday things we do that maybe we should take pause and think twice about. I am just thankful that I am able to share these stories as my “oops, thank goodness nothing happened”, instead of sharing a horrible tragedy. I still cringe thinking about what could have happened, because as we all know, things can turn tragic in a matter of seconds.
Safety Mistake #1: The unbuckled child: What? I forgot to buckle my child in? Actually admitting this out loud sounds just ludicrous, how could that happen? Well, let’s see, the unbuckled child here was my then 2 1/2 year old son. His baby sister had just arrived a mere 5 weeks earlier and needless to say, I was knee deep in the newborn haze/adjusting to life with two. I don’t even remember where we were going, all I know is that it probably took us (me) a full 3o minutes to get everyone and everything packed into the car (you know the drill: two last minute diaper changes and oh I better bring some extra snacks and a change of clothes just in case). I asked my son to hop in and get in his car seat while I buckle in his newborn sister. Once that was accomplished and it “looked” like we were finally all ready to go, we were off. I was exhausted, not just from that but from trying to manage our daily routine on about 3 hours of sleep. At that point all I wanted to do was take a nap. About a 1/2 mile later (gasp!), my son innocently asks “mom, my buckle?”. Holy (you know what!), I immediately pulled over, frantic, starting to cry, buckled him in and immediately headed for home. It was a terrible day, and even now I don’t completely forgive myself for that. Granted, I was sleep deprived, new at balancing life with two and all that it entails but my mommy guilt just cannot let it go because it could have been one of those tragic mistakes. I count my blessings that it wasn’t and ever since then we have a “buckle” routine. Once I’m pretty sure we are all in and buckled, I do a physical check of each child. And just in case, it’s one of those days that I forget, we do a verbal check, “everyone buckled in?”. It’s become so routine, if one of us doesn’t ask it, I feel like something is missing. My son now leads this buckle check, and he is our buckle “safety patrol”.
Stay tuned for part two of “You Did What?!” for more Dr. Mom safety mistakes that hopefully we can all learn from. I invite you to please share any of your safety mistakes in hopes that by sharing, we can prevent someone else from making those same mistakes. Thank you in advance for being so brave and sharing your story 
WHOA! Where would I begin I have so many…just don't tell my kids:) They are oblivious to mommies mishaps and I like to keep it that way:) There is one MAJOR mishap which comes to mind and the phrase, NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OF YOUR CHILD FOR ONE SECOND is so true. Long story short Ali who was 4 at the time at beach playing in the sand with her cousin Josh while auntie and I soaked in the rays. I kid you not I turned for one split second to get a water from the cooler and turned back around and she was GONE! I literally had a melt down in front of hundreds of beach goers that day. All I could think was that she ran to the water and was swept away by the waves. I stood at the water for what seemed like eternity crying out her name asking everyone and anyone have you seen a little girl with long brown hair etc. I was a wreck! Needless to say here comes a lifeguard with my 4 yr old daughter who was pretty shaken herself and he states, “She must belong to you, it looks like you lost something!” I was like oh great I look like such a loser mom right now. How does a mother lose her child…well it happens and it happened to me. Now I refuse to laugh at those child leashes anymore because I know the mother/father that invented those felt the same thing I did that day. If anyone has lost a child which literally happens in a split second the child leash seems like the greatest invention on earth.
Hahaha!!! I can only laugh because both the car seat buckle AND a similar beach incident have happened to me. And really, it's not funny… but it happens. The car seat buckle has actually happened more than once. (What? No! But yes!) Thank God nothing happened. My beach incident happened differently, though. My son (who was 4yrs. at the time) was told not go too close to the waves. I looked away for a second, and next thing I knew, he was in the water, being pummeled by a wave and dragged under and out into the ocean. I saw it happen in slow motion, and ran as fast as I could. I reached him just in time to grab his ankle and pull him up. Now, he's not allowed to cross a line that I draw in the sand and I'm right next to him when he's near the waves. As much as we try to keep an eye on everything going on with our kids, things happen… we're only human. We just have to thank God that He and the angels are always watching and they move a lot quicker than we do!
Well said ladies and thanks for sharing! I completely remember the beach incident (even though I wasn't there), scary! I can completely understand the leashes too. I like the idea of a line in the sand…great, so simple and easy for them to understand. Thanks!
I have been there before myself. My son was in his infant seat (that clicks into the base in the car)…I heard the click and thought “off we go!”…realized WHEN I GOT TO MY DESTINATION that the base wasn't seat-belted in. I was devastated. Now, of course, I'm obsessive compulsive with the seat belt issue. lol.
Nice to meet you, Dr. Mom…I found you on The Lady Bloggers Society.
I've done that too… it was when my kids were still in car seats and my daughter, I think about three at the time, informed me (after we had already been driving for about five minutes), “Mommy, you forgot to buckle me!” Yikes.
I'm so glad you introduced yourself over at my blog so I could “meet” you and discover your blog as well. Looks like a great resource here. Following back!
And I love how you refer to your at-home journey as on the job training. So true, isn't it?!
Thanks for reading my article in Sac Parent too. We live near each other.
I'll be back by,
Genny
Mrs Fruda: thank you for your comment, finding out that it has happened to almost every mom I have talked to and does make you more aware. Thanks for stopping by…nice to meet you to. I will give you a visit
Hi Genny
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your story. I really like how you are bringing other bloggers together with your “introduce yourself” section and your “Mom Mondays”, your blog is definitely one I will be stopping by on a regular basis
Thanks again!
Hi! I'm stopping by from SITS and wanted to give you a warm welcome! Welcome, SITStah!
Hi! I'm stopping by from SITS and wanted to give you a warm welcome! Welcome, SITStah!
Dr. Mom… ok. Guess what? The car seat un-buckle thing happened to me again today. Only worse…. no car seat at all. This morning, my daughter put it in the trunk to make room for the school carpool and I didn't know. So, 1/2 way to my destination, my son says, “Um, Mom. I'm not buckled in, and I don't have my car seat.” WHAT? AGAIN? Thank God, nothing happened and I found the car seat in the trunk. And I laughed out loud when it happened, only because of your post. My guardian angel must be working overtime! Haha!!
Oh no Roni! Yes, thank goodness for your guardian angel. So crazy how easily these things happen. Thanks for sharing and so glad all is okay
I think many of us have been there. Me definitely!
I think many of us have been there. Me definitely!
I know this is an older post, but I just found your blog through a link from Best for Babes and have been perusing the archives.
Your story hit home for me. I once put my sleeping 6 week old, who was in his baby bucket, into the carseat base without checking his straps. It turns out I'd loosened off the straps earlier when he was in the stroller, because I needed to nurse him, and then he fell asleep. I vividly remember the dropping feeling in my stomach that I had when I realized what I'd done (or not done).
I developed a new routine where I smooch him all over while I'm checking his straps, and I do this every time before we leave to go somewhere. It takes all of an extra 10 seconds, and I get the security of knowing he's buckled, and the bonus of lots of baby smooches (he's almost 1 now so not in the bucket anymore).
I know this is an older post, but I just found your blog through a link from Best for Babes and have been perusing the archives.
Your story hit home for me. I once put my sleeping 6 week old, who was in his baby bucket, into the carseat base without checking his straps. It turns out I'd loosened off the straps earlier when he was in the stroller, because I needed to nurse him, and then he fell asleep. I vividly remember the dropping feeling in my stomach that I had when I realized what I'd done (or not done).
I developed a new routine where I smooch him all over while I'm checking his straps, and I do this every time before we leave to go somewhere. It takes all of an extra 10 seconds, and I get the security of knowing he's buckled, and the bonus of lots of baby smooches (he's almost 1 now so not in the bucket anymore).
[…] …forgotten to buckle my toddler in his car seat. Again, I blame postpartum delirium here. […]