September 4, 2011 5:04 pm

Disaster Shower

Most of the time, I try to time my showering while Wesley is napping, because I don’t have to worry about him getting into stuff or hurting himself while he’s awake. Today was a shower day for me, but I didn’t manage to shower before Daniel left for work.

Wesley seemed cheerful, so I told him I was going to hop in the shower and he could play until Mama was done. He saw me get in the shower and then toddled off to find some toys. I got done shampooing my hair and had just applied my conditioner when I heard a scream.

Parents, nannies, babysitters: You know this scream. The HELP I AM INJURED I MAY BE DYING HELP HELP scream.

I quickly shut the shower off, grabbed a towel and ran into the living room, thinking maybe he fell off the couch or something fell on him, but I didn’t see him! He screamed again and I realized he was in my bedroom. I sprinted that direction.

He was sitting on the floor with one hand pinned inside my pants drawer, scream-sobbing.

(Aside: he is ALWAYS messing with drawers even though he knows he’s not supposed to. He’s gotten his fingers pinched before but it hasn’t seemed to deter him.)

I flung open the drawer and looked at his finger. It was crunched. Like, really crunched. As in, he was not bleeding and the skin wasn’t broken but I was not immediately sure this was a “walk it off” sort of situation. His nail had a dent and was purpley where the drawer smashed it, and his finger pad was white and formed to the shape of the drawer.

I sat there comforting him until he stopped crying. His finger had mostly gone back to the right shape and coloring, so I told him I needed to get back in the shower to finish getting clean. (I was still soaking wet and covered in conditioner.) He seemed okay, but once I stepped in the shower he freaked out and started screaming and wouldn’t stop signing “milk.”

So, I did what had to be done: I kneeled on the bottom of the tub with the shower running, and provided a walk-up milk bar. Eventually, he calmed down enough that I was able to stand up and finish my shower, but man. I am going to avoid showering when he’s awake for a long time!

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6 Comments

  • Hev says:

    Meggan, Do you not have a play pen or a crib that will keep him in one place? Or maybe a room that he can’t get hurt in? Don’t take this wrong, but since he is a toddler, up, exploring, he will do these things. Mom always put me in my play pen with my toys & books while she showered if Dad wasn’t home. I am not saying that you leave him in it all the time, just while you are showering & can’t watch over him like normal. Just a suggestion.

    I am so glad that he wasn’t severely hurt though. Don’t worry, he will do these things all the time. Children get hurt & then bounce back. Though it scares the daylights out of you every time.

  • Meggan says:

    No playpen. Crib yes, but he’s not a big fan of crib-as-playpen time, so I’d rather him amuse himself for a few minutes than spend those minutes red-faced and sobbing because he’s trapped by himself in his crib. I rarely shower when he’s awake anyway, but I’ll probably do it less now. :)

  • Caity says:

    Aww the poor dear. That must have given you such a scare! I am glad that he was alright.

  • Melissa says:

    Have you tried closing him in the bathroom with you with some toys? This is what I always did with Andrew until he learned what not to touch around the apartment (now I can just let him run free). He’d just hang out with his head poking through the shower curtain, watching me and making a game of throwing toys in the tub!

  • Meggan says:

    Yep, and I think I’ll go back to that! He’s been fine running free several times but truthfully he’s probably not quite ready yet.

  • Jem says:

    I gave up trying to come up with a safe answer to showers + occupying Izz, so I just take her in with me. Not quite the nice, efficient, SOLO job I had in mind, but needs must and all that!