How can something like this happen

[momofmeg]

According to the report, the toddler was on the pool deck and fell to the balconies 1 floor below.... RCL board speculating it was from deck 12 to the pool deck 11... Either way thoughts and prayers to the kid and family.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/cruise-ship-returns-port-canaveral-after-child-fal/nTc8d/

 

Okay it said he was 14 months olds and crawed through a railing. I can see that happening.

 

I remember when my daughter was 18 -20 months old she crawled through the railing at my friend's house and started running up and down the stairs. (they had a child's safety gate across the stairs on the second floor) Their daughter, 3 months younger tried to follow and got stuck) My daughter was tiny, a preemie, weighed only about maybe 18 pounds at that age, but yet she could do the things of children her age. My friend's daughter was normal sized-probably 25 pounds at the time? which is why she got stuck.

 

So I can see, if this child was small for his age, that this could happen. You know the railing would have had the rails close enough together that a normal sized child could not climb through.

[Karysa]

If the child crawled through the railing on the pool deck this is also the responsibility of the cruiseline as well as the parents. The cruiseline welcomes babies. This 14 month old was doing what normal children do at this age on a pool deck. I think the railings should be too narrow for this to happen. This was bound to happen sooner or later.

[johneeo]

If the child crawled through the railing on the pool deck this is also the responsibility of the cruiseline

 

Maybe they could install barbed wire, or how about caging in the entire ship.

[Karysa]

Maybe they could install barbed wire, or how about caging in the entire ship.

 

That is one idea but closer railings would be more aesthetic looking and would be enough to keep little ones from falling through causing them harm and the cruiselines lawsuits and the rest of us higher cruising fares to pay for the lawsuits.

[Warm Breezes]

I can see how something like this happened. We live in a bi-level and had a railing by our stairs with a child gate at the top of the stairs. DS who was not a climber and was usually content to sit and play with his toys slipped his body through the railing and got stuck hanging by his head at 1. I ripped the gate off the wall to get to him. Luckily I was only a few feet away in the kitchen getting lunch when it happened and I reached him quickly and he was fine. It can happen quickly and I never even thought of something like that happening. We never put the gate back up. We quickly taught him how to go safely up and down the stairs and did the same with his sister when she came a long a few years later as soon as she started being mobile...My thoughts and prayers are with the child and his family.

[joejoe 59]

Wow you guys. How many of you that declared this poor parenting are parents themselves? I have raised two kids, and let me tell you--this stuff happens when you are right there. I am a helicopter parent, and my kids have had their share of accidents. An accident is just that: an accident.

It is possible that supervision was lacking; it is also just as possible that this happened in a fraction of a second, and nothing short of being physically attached to the child could have stopped it.

Don't rush to judgement so fast, lest you be judged....

 

Im with you 100% Haven't any of these peoples kids ever fallen in the blink of an eye & broken something or needed stitches.:rolleyes: I couldn't believe all the judgement, & bet the parents were feeling like crap anyway. :(

[momofmeg]

If the child crawled through the railing on the pool deck this is also the responsibility of the cruiseline as well as the parents. The cruiseline welcomes babies. This 14 month old was doing what normal children do at this age on a pool deck. I think the railings should be too narrow for this to happen. This was bound to happen sooner or later.

 

My friends put up crossboards in their home to prevent that happening as their son when he came along (4 years younger than the girls) was a monkey at under a year old and still small enough to get through.

 

Monarch of the Seas is an old ship. I am sure newer ships have stricter codes. Sadly, it takes accidents or near acidents sometimes for people to realize the danger.

[momofmeg]

I can see how something like this happened. We live in a bi-level and had a railing by our stairs with a child gate at the top of the stairs. DS who was not a climber and was usually content to sit and play with his toys slipped his body through the railing and got stuck hanging by his head at 1. I ripped the gate off the wall to get to him. Luckily I was only a few feet away in the kitchen getting lunch when it happened and I reached him quickly and he was fine. It can happen quickly and I never even thought of something like that happening. We never put the gate back up. We quickly taught him how to go safely up and down the stairs and did the same with his sister when she came a long a few years later as soon as she started being mobile...My thoughts and prayers are with the child and his family.

 

LOL! So similar to what happened to my daughter and her friend. My friend and I traded babysitting so she was on her own-when her daughter was stuck and my daughter was running up and down the stairs. She was a very good mother and resonsible person also-so it was not that she was not watching the girls as some have said about the father of this child on the MOS.

[Dayenu]

To those who blame the parents, don't be so quick!

 

I live in San Francisco. It was in the local paper, a father was walking the Golden Gate bridge holding the hand of his 2-year-old daughter. Somehow the small child slid into the space between the bridge floor and the curb, falling to her death.

 

With a little one, it's only a split second to fall off something.

[Karysa]

To those who blame the parents, don't be so quick!

 

I live in San Francisco. It was in the local paper, a father was walking the Golden Gate bridge holding the hand of his 2-year-old daughter. Somehow the small child slid into the space between the bridge floor and the curb, falling to her death.

 

With a little one, it's only a split second to fall off something.

 

Was there witnesses to this incident? Very sad.