I took this picture after we secured the door shut with a child safety lock. We also found a child lock feature on the settings that, as long as it is engaged, will not allow the washing machine to start. But it does not lock the door. We hadn’t even used the machine yet so we hadn’t looked at any of the settings. Also, it obviously took two curious kids to pull this off. I want to encourage anybody who has this type of front loading washing machine and small children, or even grandkids who visit, to lock the door with a child safety lock and always keep the child lock setting on!
When McIver says “I can honestly say we did not realize the danger of this machine,” I fully identify. I had thought about the dangers of my kids ingesting laundry soap or laundry pods, but never once imagined they would try and climb inside and become locked inside my washing machine. This could have easily happened in my family, or to any family.
Closing out her warning, McIver underscores again the issue of accidents and mom-shaming.
I realize that there are ways we could’ve prevented this from happening. This is the season for swimming pool accidents and kids being left in hot cars and all sorts of other horrible accidents. And that’s what most of them are. Accidents. Shaming the mom doesn’t do anyone any good. We need to be open and honest about our mistakes to help one another keep our kids safe. And trust me, that mom is already beating herself up enough.
