Mum's warning over common playground error parents make after toddler breaks leg

Jean went down a playground slide with her toddler on her lap, unaware of the risks. Photo / Instagram / mommawillteach

A mother is warning other parents not to make the same mistake as she did after a common playground error left her 18-month-old son with a broken leg.

Taking to social media, Jean warned of her mistake while on the playground with her child when she did something many parents across the world would do.

She explained they both went down the slide together while she held him on her lap. But her son's leg got caught under her and broke.

"Here I was, a mum of 18 months, thinking how sweet to put my toddler on my lap for additional support," she said in a post on the Instagram account Momma Will Teach.

"Boy, was I wrong, and I learned the hard way, just five short months after he started walking he had a broken leg from lapping it on a slide!"

She said she held her son while going down believing she was providing him extra support.

Jean went down a playground slide with her toddler on her lap, unaware of the risks. Photo / Instagram / mommawillteach

Jean's son broke his leg after getting it caught on a slide. Photo / Instagram /mommawillteach

But now she's warning others not to make the same mistake - and her warning is backed up by experts.

"Let your little one go down the slide by themselves, when their core strength is strong enough, of course," she said.

She looked deeper into the safest way to go down and discovered researchers at the American Academy of Paediatrics found that riding down a slide with your child can actually increase the chances that a child could break their legs or suffer serious injury.

"When they are sitting on the lap of a parent, the relative force is much greater because of additional weight," she said.

"This means, you're going down the slide at a much faster speed, making the chance of a broken bone more likely if the child's foot catches on the slide's surface."

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A post shared by Jean • Mom & Teacher (@mommawillteach)

Jean received hundreds of comments with many thanking her for her honesty even during adversity.

"I'd love to see signs up at playgrounds! Lots of caregivers don't have any idea it's dangerous," one follower said.

Another added: "This happened to my daughter. She was 22 months at the time and I had her on my lap and her foot got stuck under her body. Broken leg. The doctor said he saw this so many times."