Tragic Drowning Reminds Us TV Isn't a Babysitter
Tragic Drowning Reminds Us TV Isn't a Babysitter
A story out of Florida serves a heartbreaking and terrifying reminder for all parents of small children that toddlers have to be watched at all times. It happened last Friday afternoon in Lauderdale Lakes. Two-year-old Jona Lilavois
was watching TV while her mother reportedly went outside to get some
laundry off the line, and her father went to the restroom. They thought she'd be fine there.
At some point, however, Jona lost interest in the show and headed out the front door of the family's home. When her parents saw she was missing, they looked everywhere, then began knocking on neighbors' doors. By the time she was found, it was too late.
According to CBS Miami, rescuers retrieved her body in a nearby canal where she had apparently drowned. After being airlifted to the hospital, she was pronounced dead later that day.
It
is absolutely gut wrenching to think of your child sitting there one
minute giggling at a cartoon, and the next gone, just like that. But it
or a similar tragedy could happen to so many of us.
"Where's Lila Claire?" I repeat to my husband incessantly. Because while at 3, I feel like I can trust her alone a lot more than I could when she was younger, I know that doesn't mean I can trust her much at all. Still I do go upstairs and put clothes away, or run to the restroom, or other little things while I think she's occupied in front of the TV on occasion.
But I shouldn't because toddlers are just too unpredictable.
A show that mesmerizes them one day could quickly bore them another
day. A leaf blowing outside a window, could send them on an adventure.
You just never where their little minds will take them, and whether you
live by a body of water or not, there's plenty of dangerous situations they can get themselves into both inside and out without nearly constant supervision.
This
doesn't mean this family should be blamed, of course. Based on the
reported facts they deserve nothing but support and sympathy for what
appears to be nothing more than a tragic accident. But I think it's a
story that should be shared in hopes that it can perhaps help some other
lives.
Do you have mechanisms in your home to keep your toddler from wandering out?
this is a sad story. and this is why i have child proof locks on all doors leading outside so they can not open them.
We have gates up. One by the foyer to keep Ds in the living room and one by the kitchen. Again to keep him in the living room. We close all the other doors. Except for his bedroom door.
I never leave my four year old stepson alone in a room unless he has to go through a room that my husband or I are in before he can reach the front door, and even then I check in on him often. I've heard from so many people, both on here and in life, who think its perfectly fine to take a nap on the couch or go take a shower while their toddler, 1-4, watches tv or plays alone with toys. I trust my stepson, he is a good boy and listens when we tell him things, but he's also a four year old boy, Im realistic, four year olds don't have the best judgment and may do something harmful without even realizing its wrong. We have a very heavy sliding door to get out of the house, so up until a few months ago my stepson couldn't open it on his own. My husband was behind the shed chopping wood, I was inside, I went into the other room for a minute thinking that it was fine since he couldn't open the door, and I came back to him up on a chair, unlocking the door and starting to slide it open. In his mind, he was just going to see his dad, didn't see anything wrong with it. Its 20 degrees outside, he wasn't wearing socks, shoes, or a coat. My husband wouldn't have seen him coming out from behind the shed and theres unfenced woods next to our home. If something caught his eye and he wandered off and got lost, he would have froze. There are coyotes, bobcats, and the occasional bear in those woods. Things could have gone terribly wrong. Never underestimate a child just because they haven't done something before, watch them always. Even though the chances of this happening are slim, it can happen, and its not a risk worth taking. Tv's dont have eyes, they cant supervise a child, dont use them as a babysitter.
pulling my son from preschool
- Cafe Kelly
on Feb. 14, 2012 at 10:19 AM