Reasons NOT to leave older kids home alone....

Fittle

As a regular user of this forum, I thought I'd warn you of the possible dangers for children that you could never imagine might happen...
Earlier today (I had a half day from work) I was pottering around the house when I heard my son scream from the kitchen (he's 9). It was possibly 2 seconds before I dropped my phone and got to him.
He had reached for a bottle of water, on the very top shelf of our fridge - it's a double fridge. The fridge itself is on a small shelf, to fit into the kitchen units - as alot of fridges are I'm sure. It's been in that position for over 2yrs.

So he couldn't get to the water..and he held onto the top shelf, trying to pull himself up on his tippy-toes on the bottom shelf. This is all as a result of me telling him to be more independent and to stop asking me for everything:o

And the whole double fridge fell on top of him.

When I got to the kitchen, he was on his knees holding up the fridge - as I said, it was a split second before I got to him and was able to lift the fridge back into position. There was food and freezer drawers everywhere. He was screaming, I was screaming...I am still not the better of this incident, which possibly lasted one minute from start to finish.

He is fine - not hurt in anyway thank the Lord.

But he's at an age where he kicks up a fuss when I need to go to the shops...I have been tempted to leave him in the house alone on a few occassions, knowing that he's not a messer, would happily sit and watch tv and not cause himself any harm, wouldn't open the door etc etc. Our local shop is less than 2 minutes drive away, so what harm could come to him in 5 minutes has been the question I have asked myself lately...

And now I know. NEVER again will I even consider leaving him alone in the house for 2 minutes until he's much older. I keep thinking about what could have happened had I even been outside in the garden....

Anyhow, he's fine, and I'm fine. I'll be putting the fridge on the floor (my brother is coming up tomorrow to sort that) but I just wanted to share this with anyone who might be considering (as I was) leaving their older kids alone in the house for even 5 minutes....

c07

god, am so glad he's ok..
stories like this scare the bejeebus out of me... you just never know what could happen..
what a fright you must have got alright.. have yourself a stiff drink or 2 tonight to recover

Fittle

The wine is open, thanks:)

I honestly thought he could come to no harm in our house - even when I go to the fridge, it has always felt secure (not wobbling)...U just never know though. I am trying to get the 'what ifs' out of my mind.

He got a desperate shock also..we were both crying. He calmed down after a while...I gave him some nurofen melts and ice cream..he's fast asleep now and hasn't mentioned the incident all evening...it's all I can think of however:o

silverharp

you have to put it in to perspective though , there are a couple of hundred thousand kids in the country some are going to have accidents regardless of what you do. Statistically the accident was very unusual and I wouldnt draw any general conclusions from it. Is it not better to start with the premise that kids should be given as much responsibility as they can handle and do your best to educate them wrt general safety.

Look on the briht side, he learned a valuable lesson, that wont happen again

Fittle

silverharp wrote: »

you have to put it in to perspective though , there are a couple of hundred thousand kids in the country some are going to have accidents regardless of what you do. Statistically the accident was very unusual and I wouldnt draw any general conclusions from it. Is it not better to start with the premise that kids should be given as much responsibility as they can handle and do your best to educate them wrt general safety.

Look on the briht side, he learned a valuable lesson, that wont happen again

You're right of course...think he'll be 25 before I let him near the fridge again though;)

magrat

But - freak accidents aside - at some point he will have to learn independance and to cope alone in the house.

How old do you think he will be before you allow him?

Its a hard decision to make. I'm not sure if I would leave them at 9 ... but then again if I knew I was only going to be a short amount of time and not gone far?

Our fridge is on the floor, and I never heard of anyone having one on a shelf? Is it a common thing?

Fittle

I've no idea - it's the way the kitchen units were built - there's a small shelf in the section where the fridge fits - it's about half a foot off the floor...

I dunno what age I'd leave him home alone now - even if I'd told him not to touch anything etc, he would have gone to the fridge without even thinking I'm sure...I'm getting the fridge on the floor on monday anyway.

cynder

That happened to my son aged 2, the fridge was built in he pulled at the freezer door and it fell, i was in the kitchen aswell about 7 foot away and caught it before it landed on him, he did get hit by objects falling out of the fridge.

we now have a double American style fridge freezer and its not built in. I have heard that tvs are more dangerous with them falling on kids and killing them. Kids have to learn to treat objects with respect and not man handle them!


glad your sons ok.

LegacyUser

Thank God your son is safe! I also had almost the same issue but it was not the fridge. It was the cabinet actually almost the height of my son. But no worries, He is safe and that happened long time ago. Well, he is now 10 and I'm glad he is also learning and can be left alone for a few moments.

chloek

glad he is ok and you have got over the shock.

personally I would never leave my kids who are 10yrs home alone.
you never know what mischief they will get up to.

username123

Im an adult and last year was trying to reach into the back of a high cabinet, pulled on the shelf to get some leverage and tipped the entire shelf of delph on top of myself. House accidents happen - to kids and adults!!

Oink

Thank god he's fine.
I wouldn't leave a 9 y.o alone, but having said that there's only so much you can do. There's a point when you just have to do you best and cross fingers. Statistically speaking, I shouldn't have lived past 10. I remember an episode with sharp bamboo sticks... but I digress.

Enjoy that glass of wine!