Wake Up Call for Parents

[janetz]

DO NOT JUDGE! The child had wandered away from the mother. There was a search for the child already underway when the accident happened.

 

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/01/04/child-who-nearly-drowned-on-oasis-of-the-seas-critical/

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-oasis-of-the-seas-child-emergency-folo-20150104-story.html

Edited January 5, 2015 by janetz

[Payd]

Compassion, prayers, empathy, good thoughts...all needed right now.

 

 

 

A family and all others connected with this are already reeling...the last thing they need is judgement right now.

 

 

 

So I will choose to send positive healing thoughts, prayers for a young child and family. I hope this child is lucky enough to recover completely.

[Jane2357]

DO NOT JUDGE! The child had wandered away from the mother. There was a search for the child already underway when the accident happened.

 

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/01/04/child-who-nearly-drowned-on-oasis-of-the-seas-critical/

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-oasis-of-the-seas-child-emergency-folo-20150104-story.html

 

While I have and will continue to pray for this boy and his family - and while accidents are just that accidental and can happen to everyone - this accident brought about horrific consequences.

 

It was though TOTALLY PREVENTABLE - the family took their eyes off the boy or he wandered off or whatever else the wording wants to say - they weren't doing their job, which was to keep the child with them and safe. Regret and devastation I've no doubt - my point was let all parents use this as a reminder to not get into the mindset that the ship is a play ground and your child is forgotten while you vacation.

[phoenix_dream]

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

 

Here is one of the articles I referenced. You can be right next to your child in the water, briefly not paying attention, and they could be drowning.

 

I consider myself a very, very diligent mother/grandmother. But if I look back at my times of raising children, there are surely a time or two where tragedy closely came to call. I remember three of them to this day as it was so traumatic to think about what might have happened in the blink of an eye. In none of these cases was I negligent or not watchful. Luckily, in all cases everything ended well. Had it not, I'm sure the blogs (had there been blogs at the time) would have been glutted with people judging me and calling me a terrible, inattentive parent. I was anything but. Most people called me overprotective if anything. I would bet my entire life savings that there is not a person writing on these boards with children, no matter how diligent, who is any different.

 

Again, I am NOT defending neglect. Just suggesting that we not judge without all the facts. I do agree that it is a good reminder to talk about this to help prevent it happening again.

Edited January 5, 2015 by phoenix_dream

[NLH Arizona]

While I have and will continue to pray for this boy and his family - and while accidents are just that accidental and can happen to everyone - this accident brought about horrific consequences.

 

It was though TOTALLY PREVENTABLE - the family took their eyes off the boy or he wandered off or whatever else the wording wants to say - they weren't doing their job, which was to keep the child with them and safe. Regret and devastation I've no doubt - my point was let all parents use this as a reminder to not get into the mindset that the ship is a play ground and your child is forgotten while you vacation.

 

Totally agree, Jane. It is the parent's responsibility to watch the child, especially around water, around strangers or out in public areas, 100 percent of the time. I can't count the number of times that I see children left to their own devices on cruises, in malls, etc. If the parents or responsible person had been watching this boy, he would have never been able to wander off.

[babyher]

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

 

Here is one of the articles I referenced. You can be right next to your child in the water, briefly not paying attention, and they could be drowning.

 

I consider myself a very, very diligent mother/grandmother. But if I look back at my times of raising children, there are surely a time or two where tragedy closely came to call. I remember three of them to this day as it was so traumatic to think about what might have happened in the blink of an eye. In none of these cases was I negligent or not watchful. Luckily, in all cases everything ended well. Had it not, I'm sure the blogs (had there been blogs at the time) would have been glutted with people judging me and calling me a terrible, inattentive parent. I was anything but. Most people called me overprotective if anything. I would bet my entire life savings that there is not a person writing on these boards with children, no matter how diligent, who is any different.

 

Again, I am NOT defending neglect. Just suggesting that we not judge without all the facts. I do agree that it is a good reminder to talk about this to help prevent it happening again.

 

 

 

 

excellent post

 

Yes . we had a couple of those instances too. that Thank God ended well. Each one happened in a nanosecond and an adult was right there with them.

 

My thoughts and prayers are with the child and family.

Edited January 5, 2015 by babyher

[MickD]

My My seems to be a lot of perfect parents on here !!!

No matter how diligent we are it only takes a spilt second for a child to disappear out of site, a few times my daughter nearly gave me a heart attack whilst out shopping.

But for people to say this is totally preventable really !!! Please live in the real world

[parallax]

While in some circumstances people might be a little more relaxed and thereby less self aware while on a cruise, we do no not know what the circumstance was in this case. Even vigilant parents have lapses.

[ReneeFLL]

A productive solution that has taken far to long IMHO for too many cruise lines!

 

Why should the cruise line have to have lifeguards? It's the parents responsibility to be the lifeguard to their children. I agree accidents do happen, but having lifeguards is not the answer. What about the kids that run around and act like yard apes? They have also been hurt and make it miserable for others. Again it's the parents responsibility and unfortunately a lot of them just don't care.

 

I also hope the child is ok, but often the wake up call for parents comes with a very high price tag.

[Can'tstopcruising]

Of course parents should watch their young children.

Of course, something can happen in a nanosecond.

Of course, wherever there is a public pool, there should be lifeguards.

[Queen of Oakville]

A four year old in the wave pool? I too have seen too many children apparently completely unsupervised around the pool, and running around the ship.

 

At four, a parent should either be in the pool with the child or within arm's length, with eyes on the child. And don't depend on floats or other devices either.

 

 

The wave pool? Can't be? We sailed Oasis, when my kids were (I think) 6 and 7. They were either too young or too short for the wave pool. I had booked lessons but then realized they didn't meet the age/height requirements and had to cancel.

 

 

I remember on Disney or Oasis (can't remember which) the pools were so chaotic and packed. the kids were frolicking about and it was so easy for a child to be held underwater and drown. With the noise of the kids playing, you would never even hear someone scream for help. I couldn't take the stress of being in the pool; we took our kids and left.

 

I'm one of those parents who is extremely paranoid, because I cannot swim. My dh has always been the swim parent in the pool with the kids. My kids now at 7 and 8 are both proficient swimmers and can handle themselves in the deep-end. But we are both closeby (like right adjacent to the pool) if not in the pool with them. On Reflection, the pools were never busy, so we allowed them to swim while we were on the adjacent chairs. But with a busy pool they cannot go in the water without us.

 

All I can say about this situation, is "there but for the grace of God, go I". I cannot judge someone's parenting to know what they were doing or not doing to control their own children.

[momto2js]

Kids can and do vanish in a second. Often there isnt much the parent can do other than keep calm and look. It doesn't mean they aren't doing their best. It is just a fact that sometimes your best isnt good enough.

 

As a parent, the overcrowded, busy cruise ship pools are a nightmare. We did survival swimming with my kids when they were babies and it gives you a chance if they slip away. I am glad the rest of you are perfect. I however am human and doing the best I can do. I pray often that my best is good enough.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[go noles]

Is there a single parent out there who has not had that sudden pain in their stomach when they realize that they all of a sudden don't see their child? And how about the sheer panic that ensues?

 

Suggested game rule: Do not make disparaging judgmental statements unless you are a parent who can honestly say that has never happened to you. My hat will be off to you. And if you aren't a parent or too old to remember what it's like I suggest you zip it.

[Can'tstopcruising]

When my 35 year old was 3 or 4, I had him playing in the indoor playground in our local shopping centre. I was not talking to another mother or doing anything, so don't ask me how he left without my knowledge. Needless to say, I was frantic. This was in my neighbourhood, so I bumped into lots of people I know. I asked everyone to look for him. Finally, one friend found him. He took himself to the toy department in the department store at the other end of the mall. After that, for a few years, I took him only to a smaller mall where I could easily see him!

[shippmates]

Sending prayer for a full recovery for this little boy. I am sure the parents are beating themselves up since this happened. A child can disappear in a second. I know as my daughter was right beside me in Disney World and I went to get her hand and she was gone. I looked beside me and she had grabbed the hand of another lady with the same hat I had on. We were both so scared she never left my side again that trip.

[keithm]

While I have and will continue to pray for this boy and his family - and while accidents are just that accidental and can happen to everyone - this accident brought about horrific consequences.

 

It was though TOTALLY PREVENTABLE - the family took their eyes off the boy or he wandered off or whatever else the wording wants to say - they weren't doing their job, which was to keep the child with them and safe. Regret and devastation I've no doubt - my point was let all parents use this as a reminder to not get into the mindset that the ship is a play ground and your child is forgotten while you vacation.

We had an occurance last year on the North Shore north of Boston. The parent let the child play & when she turned the child was gone. She still hasn't been seen since. There were no people in the immediate area, so kidnapping was ruled out. It's so frightening what can happen if you take your eyes off for even a moment. This is where the "buddy" system hopefully can help.

[attilamom1217]

Sending prayer for a full recovery for this little boy. I am sure the parents are beating themselves up since this happened. A child can disappear in a second. I know as my daughter was right beside me in Disney World and I went to get her hand and she was gone. I looked beside me and she had grabbed the hand of another lady with the same hat I had on. We were both so scared she never left my side again that trip.

 

Same thing happened to me when I was about 4 (I'm in my early 60s now). I saw someone who looked like my mom and wearing the same (to a 4 year old) coat and followed her. Wasn't my mom. Fortunately, the lady i followed took me to security and they found my panicking mom!!!! All was well.

 

I pray that this child will make a full recovery.

[suzzek]

I had a similar incident when my oldest was about 3. We were visiting a friend in a Chicago suburb. In the morning, my friend went to work and I was ready to take a shower so I turned on Sesame Street and told my daughter to watch Big Bird and I would take a really quick shower. When I got out, she was gone. I went outside to the backyard but she wasn't there. I went to the front yard, she wasn't there. I went around the house several times thinking we had passed each other. She was no where to be found. Next, I remembered how much she had enjoyed the park the night before, and it was about a block away. I ran to the park but nobody was there. I was really in a panic and wondered how I was going to explain to my husband that I had lost our daughter in Chicago. Then I thought, maybe she was going to the park but turned left instead of right. I ran in that direction. Sure enough, there she was walking down the street a few paces ahead of somebody's maid, who was all dressed in her maid's uniform, black dress and starched white apron. The maid asked if this was my little girl and with a big sigh of relief, I scooped her up and thanked the woman over and over. Needless to say, it was a long time later before I had the courage to tell my husband that story!

[jerrymanos]

Thank you for the information on what drowning looks like. Several years ago I was fly fishing my favorite river while it was flowing high, fast and somewhat murky. I heard a splash upstream and saw a 9 year-old child's face come up for air and then submerge. I positioned myself downstream of where I thought that the child would be carried by the current and, sure enough, after about 1 minute the child was coming toward me under the water. I picked him up and then he started to scream and cry. He never screamed or thrashed his arms about while he was in trouble. I just thank God that I had decided to fish that spot on that day. I just thought it was an anomaly that the drowning child didn't look like he was in trouble. Now I know better. I will pass this on to my children so that they will have this information when my grandsons swim in their other grandparents' new swimming pool.

 

Thank you, Jerry of Jerry and Lady Kathryn

[DCT61]

Keeping a child from getting into a situation where he/she could possibly drown doesn't require perfection...just a little attention.

[jonsmum]

A child can drown in less than 2" of water. Many puddles are deeper than that. Just an observation for all those who have never let their attention wander for even 1 second when with a child.

[Jane2357]

A child can drown in less than 2" of water. Many puddles are deeper than that. Just an observation for all those who have never let their attention wander for even 1 second when with a child.

 

While your statement is true it really is talking oranges and apples. This was on a ship with many dangers to a child that is under supervised (I'm not saying un supervised). Railing, pools, crowds of strangers (think child molesters don't cruise?), hot beverages carts. A swimming pool is not the only danger on a ship. Embarkation day, sail away (I guess this happened shortly after) can be hectic and crowded on deck. Parents need to be on high alert on a cruise ship - that is the warning to avoid this type of tragedy.

 

Edited January 6, 2015 by Jane2357

[jonsmum]

Jane I couldn't agree more, but the point is that people have made some extremely disparaging comments about the parents without knowing the full facts. Just before Xmas I was shopping with my not quite 3 grandson. He had hold of my hand, I needed to change direction, which meant swapping hands, but I was carrying a lot of bags. I went to take his other hand - I couldn't see him. I tell you, I panicked for the 5 sec it took me to realise he was behind me hiding! Now I wasn't inattentive - far from it, I'd weighed up the dangers and knew he needed to hold my hand but on the side that was safe, and still I didn't lay eyes on him for a few seconds. Does that make me a bad grandparent? No, it means I'm human and have a grandson full of mischief! I fully agree that at a sailaway, you need to be extra vigilent, but in a crowded environment, it is very easy for adventurous little ones to do what they want to do. Whilst I hope it would never have happened to me, I don't think I could 100% guarantee that it wouldn't have. And that's the point I'm trying to make. We don't set out to be bad or negligent parents, but kids are kids - even the most well behaved. Those poor parents must be beating themselves up without a load of people they don't even know casting aspersions on their parenting skills.

Edited January 6, 2015 by jonsmum

[pxy cda]

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

 

Here is one of the articles I referenced. You can be right next to your child in the water, briefly not paying attention, and they could be drowning.

 

.

 

What a great article. We should all be diligent. It would be good to see this as part of the muster drill or the welcome package so people are made aware.

 

Thoughts and prayers for this family - sounds like one of those split second distractions that could happen to anyone and in this case it ended badly. I hope he pulls through and they all make it home safely.

[phoenix_dream]

Jane I couldn't agree more, but the point is that people have made some extremely disparaging comments about the parents without knowing the full facts. Just before Xmas I was shopping with my not quite 3 grandson. He had hold of my hand, I needed to change direction, which meant swapping hands, but I was carrying a lot of bags. I went to take his other hand - I couldn't see him. I tell you, I panicked for the 5 sec it took me to realise he was behind me hiding! Now I wasn't inattentive - far from it, I'd weighed up the dangers and knew he needed to hold my hand but on the side that was safe, and still I didn't lay eyes on him for a few seconds. Does that make me a bad grandparent? No, it means I'm human and have a grandson full of mischief! I fully agree that at a sailaway, you need to be extra vigilent, but in a crowded environment, it is very easy for adventurous little ones to do what they want to do. Whilst I hope it would never have happened to me, I don't think I could 100% guarantee that it wouldn't have. And that's the point I'm trying to make. We don't set out to be bad or negligent parents, but kids are kids - even the most well behaved. Those poor parents must be beating themselves up without a load of people they don't even know casting aspersions on their parenting skills.

 

Exactly the types of points I was trying to make. For one of my nightmare instances, I was walking along a sidewalk next to a riverbank (which had quite a steep drop) with my two year old son. My husband and his brother were there also. I was always very careful with my kids, so I had ahold of my son's hand. We were walking along peacefully with no indication that anything wrong would happen (and as the eldest of seven children, and mother of two other sons before him, I am quite good at reading kids minds:)) All of a sudden for a reason I will never know, he suddenly jerked away from me causing me to loose my grip, and started making a mad dash for the riverbank. Luckily, by brother-in-law grabbed him before he could go over. I hate to think of what would have happened had he not been able to reach him. I'm also just as sure that I would have been labeled a negligent, careless, unwatchful mother, which was not the case at all. Stuff happens to the best of parents. Let's hold the judgmental remarks and just use this as a reminder to be diligent with young children around pools.