If you ever take your baby/toddler on your lap on a slide...

[Sanne Panne]

If you do, please be careful especially on a long slide and if they're wearing shoes or anything else with non-slip soles. I took my 18 month old to Gambado last week and took her down the long slide on my lap, as we do so often. This time at top speed my knees parted a bit and the heel of my daughter's sole touched the slide, causing her foot to overstretch and then causing other parts of her foot to touch the slide resulting in a very big scream at the bottom of the slide... she had broken her leg (tibia and fibula fractured about an inch above the ankle) and is now in a cast for 4 weeks.

Of course this was 100% my fault but when we got to A&E they told me this is actually a very common accident. I had never heard of it so I thought I'd warn those of you who also didn't know! My toddler is always very careful so I'm normally not too worried about accidents but there you go, some of these accidents don't have anything to do with how much of a daredevil the toddler him/herself is...

[The Nappy Lady]

Thank you for this Sanne Panne - went down a slide at a soft play like this only a month ago without any awareness of the potential danger.

Your poor little girl, and poor you too - you must feel pretty wretched about it. Hope you both feel better very soon.

Molly

xxx

[ClareC]

I hope she makes a swift recovery! Wouldn't have occurred to me either this could happen, thx for the warning.

[Pickle]

I have heard of this happening before, although tend to forget myself and often go down the big slides with my kids. I hope she's OK, and that you are doing OK too, as I can imagine it would have been pretty horrible for you.

Take care,

P x

[Sanne Panne]

Yes I felt (and still feel) so guilty! Of course, accidents happen, but when you know you could have prevented it you are always going to feel bad. My daughter has adapted very well though, kids just get on with things.

I guess the biggest risk is when they wear any kind of non-slip soles. When a slide is fast you cannot always control the exact position of your own legs - I didn't think of this and assumed I could keep her on my lap without her touching the slide.

[darlin']

Ugghh poor you and her!! This actually gave me goosebumps..can't imagine how terrible it would feel to see your toddler in so much pain :-( Hope she makes a swift recovery and thanks VERY much for the warning x

[candj]

Poor little thing is right! That would be awful to go through and sorry to hear this.

I thought that Gambados had a no shoe policy on their soft play frame thing? Perhaps they should now!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to your little one.

[Sanne Panne]

> I thought that Gambados had a no shoe policy on

> their soft play frame thing? Perhaps they should

> now!

They do actually have a no shoe policy, I thought it was to keep the play area clean so I just put some indoor sock-shoes on my daughter's feet as her regular socks were so slippery and I didn't want her to fall over while running. Big mistake! I will call Gambado to let them know - maybe they should put up a warning that explains it's not only for hygiene but also for safety. to be honest, pretty much all kids are just on socks there anyway. Just not my daughter :-$

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Oh no, how awful! As a nanny and aunty to various kids I am always on the slides with the little ones on my lap, Have done for many years and never had an accident ( touch wood!) it is just one of those things and looks like you were one of the unlucky ones. Hope the little one recovers soon x

[JDR]

I'm an orthopaedic physio and this still made me feel queasy. Poor you (both). Don't blame yourself though. You wouldn't have done it if you'd even vaguely known it was possible. It has to be said that at Peckham they don't allow poeple in without socks either for this exact reason

[njc97]

Oh dear, poor her and poor you. I've not taken our little one on my lap yet but almost has a similar accident the first time he went on the slide with proper shoes on. I put him on and run down to the bottom to catch him, he gets halfway down, his shoes touch the slide, stop, he basically stands up and then tips off the side. Luckily I was just close enough to catch him.

[ryedalema]

We just went to Gambado yesterday and I thought of you as we went down the slide. Our littl'un's old enough to go down the slide by herself. Unfortunately another girl decided to climb the same gulley/channel?? at the same time so the two collided. The mother was on the other side of the netting wall saying to her daughter ' I told you that would happen', leaving our daughter crying, holding her head and refusing to go on the slide again.

Not a word of a 'sorry' to us - grrrrr!

I'm so sorry about your little one - it'll mend quickly I'm sure, and soon enough all thoughts of breaks will be forgotten.

[Fi from West Dulwich]

poor poor you and poor her, but thank you so much for taking the time to warn others, i wouldn't have even considered this before, so thank you, fiona

[Smiler]

How awful for you all, hope she continues to recover well. My friend's little boy (aged 3) got hurt when his shoes stuck to the slide in a soft-play place. Same can happen on the slides at the park etc., though not really feasible to run around in socks outdoors!

[iaineasy]

very bad luck,I hope your not beating yourself up too much about it. thanks for the advice and we wish you a speedy recovery.

hugs

the easy family.xx

[millsa]

hi Sanne Panne, sorry to hear about the accident, and I really hope she will recover well and soon, and you stop feeling guilty. When I started reading your post I worried that something has happened to your baby (in the tummy) so at least it wasn't as bad as I feared. Thanks for the advice and warmest wishes

xxx