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Is it safe to carry a child on your shoulders?
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Anonymous
| I carry my two year old on my shoulders all the time - I have wonderful memories of my Dad carrying me like this. This is all about personal comfort - what one family is comfortable doing, another is not. Please do what works for you and try not to judge others. |
Anonymous
Straight back, tiiiimber, like a tree? How often does that happen in real life? Like, ever? |
Anonymous
No - you trip and they fall off your shoulders, and because you the adult are falling you can not necessarily catch them. I don't know, but I'd guess the most likely scenario would involve the parent tripping forward and the child falling *backwards* off the shoulders. |
Anonymous
| I'd say that if the adult is holding their feet, they would go forehead first into the sidewalk |
Anonymous
|
How about this for a decision tree:
Can child ride on parent's shoulders? Is parent klutzy or prone to trip? If yes, stop, If no, go to next step. Is parent wearing flip flops, high heels, or other unstable footwear? If yes, stop, If no, go to next step. Is parent familiar with terrain or able to see clearly? If no, stop, If yes, go to next step. Is child the wiggly sort or prone to jump off? If yes, stop, If no, go to next step. Before proceeding, one of the last two questions must be answered yes: Is parent an ex-football player such that s/he is inclined to tuck in the "ball" (kid) while falling? OR Is shoulder-riding a fun part of a current family activity? How about that? I think we could get the DHs on board with this. 
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Anonymous
| PP - I love it. You forgot that if DH is "goat like" then you're good to go too. |
Anonymous
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This thread is populated by people who are so risk averse that their children must be cottonwool wrapped, nervous, pathetic little bores. Live a little! I'm all for shoulder-riding (notwithstanding the odd low hanging branch), trampoline-bouncing (notwithstanding the falls), tree-climbing (notwithstanding the height), sea-swimming (notwithstanding possible shark attacks), plark-playing (notwithstanding the various hazzards) kids. It's no wonder that obesity rates are climbing and half the nation's children need to be prised away from their video games, computer or television to do anything. Not their fault when neurotic parents keep wanting to suck the fun out of life by avoiding anything that MIGHT be risky. Life is risky. Baby could choke on a jellybean, fall off a chair or slip in the snow and die. Should we ban chairs, jellybeans and snow? Hey I've got a good idea - let's stop kids from doing anything AT ALL because then there's no risk. Maybe we should keep them in little cages for their own protection.
I am so pleased I was a child before the politically correct nanny-state nutcases took over the neighbourhoods. I actually recall having a darn fine time (and I wore the breaks, bruises and dings with pride). Let your child have shoulder rides. No brainer! |
Anonymous
| Why are the "risk takers" on this thread so mean and sarcastic? |
Anonymous
Makes them feel better. Why, I don't know. I'm sure there's some way in which PP is more cautious with her child than I am with mine, some risk I take that she doesn't, but because I choose not to do THIS ONE THING exactly the way she does, I'm raising a cotton wrapped marshmallow who doesn't leave the house. Whatever.
This is exactly what I'd prefer to avoid. I don't feel safe with my child on my shoulders. You do. I don't see the problem. |
Anonymous
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Yes, it is about the risks that you are willing to take.
However, if someone tells you about something that is risky, and you have never heard of it before, just be kind. Don't shout or snap back. BTW, last time I tripped, I did not see it coming. As a matter of fact, I have never seem it coming. |
Anonymous
OP here. I've been watching the thread but not really participating in most of the back-and-forth. It seems to me though that the mean/sarcastic/critical/judgmental comments have been running pretty steadily in both directions (unfortunately a common event on DCUM). I started the thread because I am a shoulder-carrier and have been for many years, and I was curious whether I was in some small minority that had missed some common-sense parent memo telling me that shoulder-carrying is a stupid high-risk activity (along with driving without seatbelts, babies in front seat, second-hand smoke, etc). Clearly, there are some people who think it's dangerous, but there's at least an equal number of people who don't see any major problem. Also, my own internet search for articles/research on the topic came up empty, and no one else seems to know of any other research I missed. So I'm left to my own discretion. That's what I needed -- thanks for all the opinions. |
Anonymous
Hi Op - One thing I wanted to clarify (I'm the PP who admitted this happened to them) - when my daughter fell, I hadn't been specifically focusing on carrying her, so when I tripped, my physical reflexes took over and I actually let go of at least one of her feet to put my hand out to catch myself. It was an instantaneous reflex that I corrected as soon as my thinking brain took over, but I wasn't able to really catch her while I was falling, and it was part of why the experience was SO scary. And that's why when I carry her now I'm really focusing on her and on holding onto her, as I think having my conscious brain already really focused on it gives me a better chance to override those ingrained physical reflexes should I ever trip with her again. (Though I also am now extra careful to try to prevent situations where I might trip.) |
Anonymous
Many thanks. Good thoughts. I understand your point about needing to overcome what might be natural reactions when carrying children. The same thing is needed if you ever trip while carrying an infant in your arms. And it's always good to be extra careful. Thanks again. |