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Having nightmares about toddler falling overboard


booder111

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I have been on 7 cruises but never with my little one. All of a sudden I am having nightmares about her falling overboard. Does this happen to others with kids? From what I remember the railings are all above waist height for adults and I keep telling myself that if it were that easy we would hear about it all the time. Has anyone ever had an issues with their little ones? Thanks. Just trying to calm my fears to have a good time:)

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I have been on 7 cruises but never with my little one. All of a sudden I am having nightmares about her falling overboard. Does this happen to others with kids? From what I remember the railings are all above waist height for adults and I keep telling myself that if it were that easy we would hear about it all the time. Has anyone ever had an issues with their little ones? Thanks. Just trying to calm my fears to have a good time:)

 

I would think it would be very difficult for a child to fall overboard. I personally don't have children, but I do understand the concern. I would make sure the chairs on your balcony are pulled away from the railing because honestly that's the only way the child could get high enough up to fall.

Also, maybe get a door alarm on your balcony door that way if your child wakes up and goes outside while you are sleeping it would wake you up?

I think it would be quite difficult to sleep through someone going outside especially if you keep your curtains closed. Don't worry, if you watch your child you will be just fine!

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I don't have kids, but that must be a scary nightmare.

 

First, if you have a balcony room, the lock is pretty high, so always keep it locked unless you are using the balcony...

 

The rest of the ship, the rails are very high like you said, so you shouldn't be worried. But maybe if your kid has a fascination with climbing on that sort of things, have a little talk about the fact that they cant do that or they won't be able to ____ (some sort of cruise punishment...no camp, no dessert, etc.)

 

With a toddler, I'm sure they wouldn't be off by themselves wondering the ship, but this would be more an issue to discuss with them if old enough to be alone on the ship.

 

Have a great cruise and I'm sure he little one will be safe

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There are no open rails to the sea, and you can position yourself in many places never even being near one.

 

We started sailing with ours when she was 4, and although I had passing thoughts about it, never obsessed.

 

And once on board, realized my fears were unfounded, even having a balcony.

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we sailed last year with a 2 1/2 year old who knew how to climb and are going again next month. We took the offer to upgrade to an ocean suite and had a huuuuuuge balcony.

 

as another post mentioned, the railing are high. I don't remember how high, but you can lean comfortably, so they're considerably higher than say a counter at your house. A 4 year old probably can't get themselves that high...they would need to push the table or chair over and even then, it would be a stretch.

 

If you keep the door locked and just watch them when they are out there, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

My fear was he wouldn't be able to see out and would want to stand or climb, turns out he had a great view through the glass.

 

Honestly the hardest time I had is if I picked him up, making sure I was back far enough from the rail that he wasn't in any danger. Just something I never thought about until I was 8 levels above the ocean.

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If I had a small child with me I would choose an ocean view room rather than a balcony roomt. It would be worth it so that you can relax a bit more.

 

I can tell you the balcony is great for putting the little ones down early then hanging out having drinks on hearing the ocean go by.

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On some ships on the promanade deck the railings are not plexiglass. But they are slatted.

 

I can tell you that my 18 month grand daughter could NOT fit through any of the openings. (yes we did measure)

so after dinner we took her out there and let her run her energy off every night.

 

She was not going anywhere.

 

 

If I had a small child with me I would choose an ocean view room rather than a balcony roomt. It would be worth it so that you can relax a bit more.

the doors to the balcony are very heavy and the locks sit up high. that kid isnt going to open that door.

and when the kid is taking a nap or going down for the night-- what do you do?

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Thanks for the quick replies. It was never a thought to me that I would be this worried but now that we sail in two weeks its getting to me. I should have said we did an inside cabin just to be safe.

 

If you don't have a balcony, don't worry! I would just make sure that when out on deck you keep your little one with you. Just don't let them run off without following them. When you are walking next to a railing that makes you nervous just grab their little hand! They would have to be climbing on the railing to fall!

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I have been on 7 cruises but never with my little one. All of a sudden I am having nightmares about her falling overboard. Does this happen to others with kids? From what I remember the railings are all above waist height for adults and I keep telling myself that if it were that easy we would hear about it all the time. Has anyone ever had an issues with their little ones? Thanks. Just trying to calm my fears to have a good time:)

 

I had those all the time... our son is 12 and DH still worries about it! :D

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I have been on 7 cruises but never with my little one. All of a sudden I am having nightmares about her falling overboard. Does this happen to others with kids? From what I remember the railings are all above waist height for adults and I keep telling myself that if it were that easy we would hear about it all the time. Has anyone ever had an issues with their little ones? Thanks. Just trying to calm my fears to have a good time:)

 

We have been cruising with my son since 2010 -- he was 30 months old for his first cruise. All but two of the cruises he has been on we have had private balconies.

 

It would be very hard if not impossible for a toddler to fall overboard.

 

I am more worried about him when he is 9 or 10 and has a lot more independence.

 

The one thing I would do for certain -- help your child on the stairs. My son had a nasty tumble on the stairs going to dinner one night. Luckily nothing serious, but the actual fall looked horrible.

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On some ships on the promanade deck the railings are not plexiglass. But they are slatted.

 

I can tell you that my 18 month grand daughter could NOT fit through any of the openings. (yes we did measure)

so after dinner we took her out there and let her run her energy off every night.

 

 

Admit it, by measure, you tried pushing her through cause she was acting up at dinner :eek:

 

Just kidding!

 

I feel that the ship does a great job in designing it to be hard for even adults to fall off...even chairs aren't right up to the rail, unless u move them...

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first of all i think that kids are smarter than we give them credit for. even their small brains can see that there isn't anything to step on if they climb up and over a railing. the railings on ships are 4' high, chest level for many adults and way above the height of kids. in all the years of cruising i can't remember a single instance of a kid falling overboard, they are much smarter than the adults many who do.

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We took our first cruise in October 2012, we booked it in July 2011, we brought our son with us on the cruise. He was 2.5 when we cruised, almost 16 months old when we booked. From the day we booked until the day we boarded the ship, I worried all the time about him falling overboard. I spent hours looking at pictures in reviews from people that also sailed on the ship we booked, and then over analyzed how he'd be able to fall overboard, no matter what I saw in the pictures that would suggest otherwise. I friended the cruise director (Big Sexy) on Facebook and asked him to reassure me that my son, who is a big time climber, would not fall overboard. I figured he lives on the ship, he would know best. He sent me a very nice message back, assuring me that my son was going to be safe, and that the most of the people who do go over are ones that are doing it on purpose. I didn't worry quite as much after he got his response. When we got home, I messaged him again (he was home with back issues when I cruised so we had a different cruise director) and told him that my son made it through the cruise with no issue! He was fine, thank goodness he never really took an interest in trying to climb anything near the sides of the boat, we had an interior room, so no worries about him going out on the balcony, and whenever we were outside on the boat, someone always had a hold of him, but even if we didn't, it just was not possible for him to fall overboard.

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I took the grandson when he was three, and at that point in his life, I was convinced there was some monkey DNA in him someplace. We had a balcony, the door was locked always. When we were out there an adult was always with him. He never even tried it! I think he was too busy, and looking down from deck 7 was a little scary for me, so he did not want to get to close. Just keep an eye out and it will be fine. Enjoy your cruise!

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Started cruising with my son when he was 2yo. He is 6 and has been on 5 cruises. I do (still even now) have nightmares like yours. When he was younger I was one of those mothers you see with the kid with the harness. I only felt the need for it though while in the airport. Think I might have put it on him once on the ship before I realized it was silly. I agree with the person who talked about the danger of holding your child near the railing (why do I flash to Micheal Jackson :rolleyes:). Realize that your dreams are just visualizations of your fears and nothing else. I bet once you have your little one on board you will realize it's OK.:)

 

I do agree with those that state it's the 9 year to teens that parents should possibly worry about. I once saw a young teen sitting on a railing & started to go say something to them (couldn't help myself), but was beaten to the punch by a crew member.

 

I hope your little one enjoys attension. The crew usually fuss all over them. My son eats it up.

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I have been on 7 cruises but never with my little one. All of a sudden I am having nightmares about her falling overboard. Does this happen to others with kids? From what I remember the railings are all above waist height for adults and I keep telling myself that if it were that easy we would hear about it all the time. Has anyone ever had an issues with their little ones? Thanks. Just trying to calm my fears to have a good time:)

 

Had the same reoccurring nightmare, but we all survived! Hey, we have a boat and I still have those same thoughts the night before we go out... and my kids are 14 & 9!

No worries, your little one will be just fine! ;)

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actually we did-- we tried to fit her head in there-- :D

no kidding

 

We did that for a balcony in a timeshare we were staying in, in North Myrtle Beach. She would have fit through.

 

We locked the balcony and never used it.

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We did that for a balcony in a timeshare we were staying in, in North Myrtle Beach. She would have fit through.

 

We locked the balcony and never used it.

 

 

our balcony in Aruba site very low. No way would I put a little kid out there either-- even if I was out there with them

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Sounds like I'm in the miniority but I could not relax with my 2.5yo. She's not what I would call a climber but her going near the edge just to try to look over was nerveracking.

I definitely would not book a balcony room. I am so glad that we were interior (or with a window would be good). We were on the Carnival Freedom, and there were definitely areas they could climb and fall through. Around the edge (ie certain death below) there were light box type things that they could step on and climb over if they wanted. 2 year olds don't know there is a long drop below (our railings weren't glass). We didn't let them touch the edge (although the 4yo knows better) and always held their hand while walking near guardrails.

Also what was more of a realistic risk were the deck to deck rails on the freedom. They were horizontal and a child could easily fit through. The worst part was from the top of slide that went all the way down to Lido. Most of the levels surrounding Lido were climbable and had large spaces between.

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On some ships on the promanade deck the railings are not plexiglass. But they are slatted.

 

I can tell you that my 18 month grand daughter could NOT fit through any of the openings. (yes we did measure)

so after dinner we took her out there and let her run her energy off every night.

 

Here's a photo of one of the slatted type railings. This is above the pool on the Golden Princess, but others will be similar. That's my "little one" standing by the railing. For reference, he's 5'11". He wouldn't fit through. :D I don't think most toddlers would fit either. Hope this helps.

 

185392_2298214012287_2598558_n.jpg

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