(Above: I slap my face in disbelief while Lilly freaks out about being stuck. You might think we are crazy parents for pausing to take a photo, but I think it will come in handy in her teen years...)
Last night my two and half year old, Lilly, decided to stick
her head between the railings leading downstairs. She was just trying to get my
husband’s attention and then suddenly realized she was stuck. She began to
panic and cry. I was totally calm. I learned the trick on getting your toddler’s
head unstuck without calling 911 or destroying your banister from my own personal
experience. We even stopped to take a photo before we freed her. Of course that
pissed her off just a little, but I need evidence to embarrass her at her sweet
sixteen one day.
When I was two, I also stuck my head through the iron rails separating
the sunken living room from the foyer in our Long Beach, NY apartment. I
remember thinking I could get down to the living room fast if I just went
through the rails… Which of course turned the routine trip down the two steps
into the living room into a four hour fiasco. My mother had no idea what to do. She
called my father who was a work. She called the building super, who couldn’t be
reached. She called a few neighbors who came over to help. Next my mother COVERED
my entire head with gobs of Vaseline with the hope of slipping me out. It didn’t
work. She set up a TV tray for me with cup of juice that had a long straw so I
could reach it. She put some sesame street on and turned the TV so I could see
while she tried to figure it out. Meanwhile my father raced home from work. My
mother says he was doing 70 mph down residential streets. They were doing
everything in their power to not have to call the fire department who would no
doubt destroy the iron rail in the apartment they didn’t yet own. Then the two
neighbors had a brilliant idea. Since a child’s head is the biggest part of
their body, why not just put the rest of my body through the railing, instead
of trying to pull my head out? They turned my shoulders sideways and carefully
passed me through. Simple as that!
So when Lilly got stuck we immediately knew what to do and, without
any problems, it worked and she was freed in under a minute. Lilly learned an important lesson: Never stick your head anywhere you aren't positive you can get it out again.
I decided to write this post because I was shocked that this
helpful little tip couldn’t easily be found by Googling how to get my kids
head unstuck from a railing. In fact there were a lot of posts suggesting
people rub butter all over their kids heads, get strong men to pull the
railings apart, and even just to keep pulling until you free them. So, if your
kids head gets stuck, there is no need to pull, or butter their heads (it took around
three months for my mother to finally get the last of the Vaseline out of my
hair, just a thought before you break out the butter), cut the railing, or call
911. Relax. Just turn that kid sideways and pass them through the railing. It’s
easier if you have two people, one to hold their shoulders and one to hold the child’s
waist. You might want to pretend you don’t know how you’re going to get them
out for at least a couple of minutes, just to freak them out enough so that
they don’t ever do it again. This probably won’t work with say, a six year old.
Unless you have a skinny six year old. But with a toddler, it works like a
charm. Hope this prepares many of you for the day when your kid decides sticking
his or her head through a railing is a brilliant idea.
(Below: A diagram for you visual learners out there.)
