Another playground ettiquette thread... - Page 2

[tuppence]

I have picked up a child before---when she fell and hurt her knee and was crying and asked for help to go to her mom who was on the other side by the picnic tables. Normally, I don't though.

[ErinBird]

I hesitate to run right over because my daughter is shy and would start to freak out if a random adult picked her up.

I usually start looking for the child's parent and if no one is moving toward the hurt child, I move in and talk calmly while trying not to get too much into the child's space. I generally try to figure out if they can "shake it off" or if they need help finding their parent and provide encouragement and help as needed.

[Banana731]

If we're talking scraped knee, or just a tumble, then no I wouldn't pick them up. I would get on their level and ask if they were okay, or if they wanted help up, or point to (or help find) mom.

But if it were a question of preventing an injury, absolutely I would catch/grab or what have you. And if it was a bad injury, then yes I would pick a small child up. My dd1 at 2, tripped and smacked her face on chair and busted the inside of her lip (it was a small, but deep gash that probably could have used a couple stiches.) I was across a fairly large room, but a mom who was just a step away from her grabed her in her arms and started rushing her over to me, and we met about halfway. At first I was a little surprised that someone I didn't really know would do that, but when I saw how much blood was coming out of her mouth I was really glad that she had done so. It was painful and scary enough that my dd needed instant comforting. And I will say that she calmed down really fast even though it was pretty bad, so I think it helped. So if it's an injury that makes me worried as a mom, then yes, I will pick up a LO if mom isn't right by.

[eclipse]

I would grab a child to prevent an injury (if I was close enough and saw them slipping off a play structure or something), but I wouldn't pick up an injured child. I probably wouldn't do anything but keep an eye out if it was very minor. Otherwise, I would get down and ask if they were okay, ask if they knew where their grown up was if I didn't see them coming, maybe send my child to the parent if I felt it warranted it. The only time I would want to pick the child up is if it was bad enough that picking them up would be a bad idea - like a head injury or a possibly broken bone.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by Banana731

And if it was a bad injury, then yes I would pick a small child up.

In the case of a bad injury, moving a person without fully assessing them first can cause more damage.

[kblackstone444]

Originally Posted by eepster

I wouldn't pickup a strangers child for a variety of reasons, but I would do all of the following:

• Catch a child before they fell.
• Ask a child if they were OK.
• Ask if they knew where their parent was.
• Offer to go get a parent.
• Stay with the child till the parent arrived.
• Call for an ambulance or some such if the situation warranted it.

The exception to the not picking up rule would be if picking the child up was necessary to prevent injury (they fell into water for example.)

Basically, this. I don't tend to rush over when even my children fall, nor the children in my preschool class. First, I keep an eye on the situation, see if they get up and brush themselves off, and if they look really upset or really hurt, I will ask them if they are okay and get the neccesary adult, if need be. It's hard to really know what to do in some situations because I am a preschool teacher in a small town, so some parents who know this automatically assume I'M the one watching their child if we run into them and their child in public (free babysitter, I guess) and there was one occasion when I actually stepped in between a stranger's two year old and a main street, while the mother was about 200 yards away, and then got cussed out because "he's smart enough not to go into the street, you have no right to tell my child what to do".

[ivymae]

I do a verbal "oh buddy, are you okay?" first, to see if they are okay with someone strange talking to them. I've had kids reach out for me to hold them (which i will until we can find their parent) and I've had kids get obviously uncomfortable with a stranger talking to them, so i scan the crowd for their mom, and will ask "Can you point to your mom or dad so i can go get them?" if no one comes over.

It's also worth noting that some parents have different levels of comfort with falls. Assuming no one is crying, I'll often wait a few seconds to see what my child will do. Another parent rushing in and makign a big to-do over a small fall can be annoying, since then they start playing it up.