E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSView more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.
LOS ANGELES — A baby girl was recovering at home Tuesday night after falling head first into a toilet and nearly drowning, according to authorities.
The baby was playing with her toddler sister at a home in the San Fernando Valley when the incident happened, Los Angeles police said. The door was locked and the older sister was crying for help.
The girls' mother kicked the bathroom's door in, and found her baby girl head first in the toilet, Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Scott Harrelson told the LA Daily News.
"The mother then kicked the door open and saw the infant head-down in the toilet," Harrelson told the newspaper.
More stories from NBCLosAngeles.com
Harrelson was unavailable to provide details to NBC4 Tuesday afternoon, but LAPD's Media Relations Division confirmed the report.
The child's mother told NBC4 Tuesday night that she is a nurse, and was able to perform CPR on the child.
"The baby was blue but slightly breathing," Harrelson told the Daily News. "The officers were able to open up her airways and she started to cry, which means she was responsive."
The baby girl was transported via Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter, which had landed at Sun Valley Middle School, LAFD spokesman Erik Scott said.
The child was hospitalized in serious condition but was later released.
Leave a Comment:
This used to be a much more common event in prior decades with infants and toddlers drowning in buckets and toilets. Thank goodness it is a rare occurrence now. After toilets heights were increased and modern mops have done away with buckets for the most part. Like the modern fridge, technology has removed a previous dangerous device once more. I'm so glad this baby will be okay.
Thank God her mother knew CPR being a nurse or this poor child may not have made it. Infant CPR is a lot different than adult CPR.
My kids figured everything out within weeks when we child proofed our house. Kids today are brought into a much more modern world and are as smart when they're 5 then when I was 10.
hopefully Mom doesn't have Munchausen syndrome
@lola
What would make u even imply that ?
Agreed that this was a much greater danger in the past, and modern design has helped reduce the potential for injury and/or death.
Counter to our advances in safe design and technology though we now also have many, many, many more distractions that deter our immediate attention from our surroundings. Mega-channel choices, texts, tweets, fb, commenting on articles such as this, etc. Our attention deficit likely erodes a portion of the safety gains we've made technologically back to being on par with the past.
Nurse or not, CPR training is something that every parent should be exposed to. No matter how safe our designs become, kids will be kids and find ways to stick body parts in places that body parts really shouldn't go.
Kudos to the mom for not panicking and doing all of the right things regardless of how the child got into trouble in the first place.
lola, so this is the first thing that came to your mind..perhaps you may have some experience with the syndrome as it seems you're seeking attention..
I would have a nice long chat with the older sister involved here and figure out how to disable the kids bathroom lock on the doors. The sister obviously locked the door - whether by accident or on purpose.
Good thing she called for help. The quick thinking and immediate action of the mother saved her child - quite possibly because she is a nurse - there are some mothers who would have froze or would not have busted the door down quickly. Here is hoping that the incident did not cause any long term harm to the Baby. Total credit for the Mom for being a SUPER Mom in this situation.
I would also caution against "playing in bathrooms" Bathrooms are places for "doing business" not for playing.
The old, large capacity toilets were much more dangerous for kids because they held a lot more water in the bowl. Good thing that woman acted so quickly.
Kids get into everything, no matter how well you childproof your home. Toddlers are so quick and curious, so accidents can occur at anytime.
It would be great if every mother and father were taught basic CPR skills while the mom is in the hospital - after birth - or soon after. You never know when you might need it!
That happened to my son when he was about a year. I had those door knobs on every door and the plugs in every outlet. I always put the toilet lid down (except once) We were in a small apartment and I was doing dishes and he was playing nearby. I heard a funny sound and turned off the water and nothing, but when I turned the water on again I heard it and went to double check. Jason's head was in the toilet and he was lifting up to cry. SO scary. Fortunately, he was able to lift his head. I took him to the MD and she said that it was not uncommon. He is 38 now and my other 3 never had anything like that happen. Thank heaven.
thankfully the baby won't be a "@!$%#head"
When my kids were little, we used a certain kind of snap "thing" (don't remember what it was called) on the toilets. Unless your hands were big enough to press in with the palm of one hand and unlatch the catch with the other(and this took more strength than a child has), you would have a "locked" lid.
I taught my kids all kinds of things my own parents had taught me as a child, plus more. Personally, I think all parents should be taught CPR within weeks of a child's birth. You just never know....
Patriot....we have those special knobs on our doors to protect our two year old grandchild and he is the only one in the house who can now open the damn doors! Kids figure it out, no matter what.
I have been playing with my grandson at one time, and he was on the bed. I turned for 1 second! and he took a headdive off the bed! thank goodness he was safe, and landed on the carpet, but I learned a valuable lesson. you can't just leave your kid unsupervised!
Need to remember that toddlers are "head heavy". Their heads are the heaviest part of their body so when they tip head-first into a bucket or over the bedside, the rest of their body follows. And they do not have the ability to get upright.
So happy this story had a good outcome.
That is because we develop from the "top" down. It is called Proximo-distal growth. Body follows the head. This is a mammalian feature... Be careful everyone. Glad baby was ok.
I was glad the day we took the toilet locks off. A bucket with 2 inches of rain water is a death trap for a 1 year old. My nest is empty, my toilet lid is up, just me and the history channel. Life is good. Small children have to be protected, luck is not always with you.
It was more common, BEFORE there were baby proofing products on the market. The first thing I did BEFORE I gave birth 17 years ago (my oldest, my youngest is 3) was to baby proof the house. Even then there were toilet locks and bathroom doorknob covers to keep little ones from the bathroom......there's also gates and easy to remove (if her older child needs to use the bathroom) latches. Also, if you can't keep an eye on your kids, there is a thing called a playpen or activity center. As a nurse and mom to an older child she should have known better.
Kids are sneaky lil devils. It only takes an instant. Don't be so harsh on mom. As an aside, there is a reason we are quick to blame. If something happens due to chance then, well it could happen to me. But if it happens because someone was stupid - well I am not stupid therefore I am safe. Fight that urge and give the woman the benefit of the doubt.
I am just glad there is a happy ending to the story.
Kids are able to make it pass things that are suppose to keep them safe. Child proof caps. Pfft! More like adult proof...
Gates? Pull some toy over, climb and crawl over... seen it happen. Scary. There's no such thing as perfect child proofing...
Sad the child almost died. It's a good thing the mother knew CPR and was able to save her.
Annika3....are you kidding? So, your kids made it through childhood without so much as a scraped knee or cut finger? It is impossible to keep a 24/7 eye on any child. They are quick and curious. They get themselves into situations you could never imagine no matter how well you 'baby proof'. Accidents are called that for a reason: They are unintended and unforseen. This mother was fast-acting and quick-thinking, and she saved her child's life. How quick and focused would you have been in a similar situation?
Keep in mind that outlet plugs, cabinet locks, etc. were only invented after accidental tragedies. You would never have been able to 'baby proof' your home if someone else hadn't suffered the tragedy of losing a child to an accident of one kind or another. It has nothing to do with neglect; it's called LIFE - and in life, accidents happen regardless of how vigilant we may be to prevent them.
Shut up Annika. Although you think you were the perfect parent, trust me - you weren't.
@tessann38: im going to have to agree with annika on this one. INFANTS require 24/7 care. they do not know any better. if you're not going to take responsibility in watching your baby, then dont have one. and i think anyone trying to bash annika doesn't understand that having a baby REQUIRES 24/7 care, whether you want to or not. so yes, in this case, mom shouldve been a better parent.
Well Annika...lock her up and throw away the key! Maybe while she's in there you can go visit her and teach her the "proper" way to be a mother, since you are so superior at it.
While I do agree with Annika3 about baby-proofing the house, they can still get through at times no matter how much we try. While caring for young children is a 24/7 job, you won't always have eyes and ears on them, especially when you have to take care of something yourself (like using the bathroom....no irony intended). We can argue that this mother should've known better, but things happen. They do refer to the child as a toddler in the beginning of the article, and toddlers are known to get into everything. That's what they do - explore. Whether the other sister was in the bathroom with her or on the other side, I don't know. If it was a push-lock doorknob, then it's entirely possible that locking it was an accident. We don't know.
Let's not crucify the mother here, especially since her quick thinking and level-headedness is what saved her daughter's life. There is no perfect way of caring for a young child. You could do everything right and have something still go wrong. Ask anyone who's ever cared for a young child and anyone who's had training to do so. It's life. It happens. The last thing she needs is for us to say that she should've been watching her child better. Instead of passing judgement, let's commend her for what she did right and look at what went wrong so we know how to prevent it for next time - for her kids and our own.
I remember my chidren at that age. I had child proofed my house. Even put all my knives in the highest cupboard in the house. I woke up one morning to find my 18 mo. old had flipped himself out of the baby bed, climbed onto the counter, scooted a couple of extra 12 packs of soda into position, and was standing on this precarious perch holding the biggest butcher knife I owned. No matter what you do, children can and will find things to get into that could hurt them.
While I understand what Annika is saying, I also understand the others. There is a disconnect for me when it comes to both opinions because nowhere does it say the age of the baby, and that could make all the difference in my own opinion. It only refers to her as a "baby girl" and an "infant." My first thought was, what in the world was an infant doing in the bathroom with a toddler; the mother allowed this? But if the infant was old enough to crawl in there herself, or even walk (my oldest was walking on her own at 10 months, still considered an "infant"), it makes more sense as to how it was such an accident. So the question I would like to have answered is, how old is this baby?? Still, regardless of how it came about the mother did not hesitate to act and saved her child's life. Tragedy averted.
"The officers were able to open up her airways and she started to cry, which means she was responsive." Wow.. Really? - Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was confused... Fail...
How terrible! My prayers are with them for a full recovery.
Like other's have mentioned, this is not a new hazard and the commonly used toilets across asia are still just ground level holes in the ground. This was most likely an unfortunate accident, at least I hope so. But it is rare for a baby to end up in western style above ground toilet, and should be investigated.
Ground level holes that don't contain water until flushed in Japan.
John,
What's there to investigate?
Final results are in!....."The baby seen the water and wanted to touch it out of curiosity. Feet came off the floor, slipped in head first. Sibling tried to pull baby out. Sibling screamed for help. Mom kicked in door. Baby saved"
The end.
Creek dog..................well said!
Or maybe her sister tried to flush her away.
Why was the bathroom door locked? It states the older child is a toddler - so how does a very small toddler lock a bathroom door? Its worth investigating. But please don't convene a grand jury over it.
However, kids can get into all kinds of trouble in an eye blink - you turn your head for 2 seconds and the sky is falling.... just saying
My two year old toddler loves to lock doors! and he's very good at it since it's very easy to do. We're not talking deadbolts; just a simple twist and the door is locked. We had to put a piece of tape on the locking mechanism to stop him from doing it.
Toddlers lock themselves into bathrooms all the time. We keep an old bent butterknife around for that reason, to pop it open when it happens. They don't understand what they did when they locked it - they can't do it on purpose and they don't know how to unlock it once they lock it, but they can definitely lock it from time to time by randomly fiddling with everything in the bathroom which is something toddlers love to do - fiddling with everything that is. That's why child proofing electric outlets is important because you never know when they are going to try to randomly stick something into those little holes that are right down there where they live all the time.
Toddlers need to be watched constantly. The toddlers roamed into the bathroom all by themselves, closed the door and then locked the door. Did the Mother hear the door close? What was the Mother doing? Yes, the bathroom is definitely not a play area, it can be a very dangerous area. The baby sticks her head in the toilet and ends up in a dive position with her feet up all by herself. How old is the toddler? She screamed and Mommy busted in the door. I'm sure it was some type of accident but I think it does need some investigation. There are so many bad things that are happening these days. It's makes you wonder when things like this happen. It can be as cut and dry as the person stated earlier or it can not be. There definitely are questions though.
The house where I grew up had a push button lock in the bathroom and if you opened the door all the way, the wall would pop it in and lock you out. Pain in the ass man.
Dad took care of that though with a twist locking mechanism.
I'm so glad everything turned out alright. I've had so many people mock me for putting toilet lid locks on when my kids were little (even the adults had trouble getting them open) but THIS is exactly why we do such things. Hurray for fast thinking mom!
I'm thankful the baby is fine, but my question is WHY was the toddler allowed to carry the infant around without the mother being right there? My son when he was about 18mos old would carry or hold his younger brother, but not without us being there. You just don't know when they might drop the baby.
Cassie-1682838 Well we don't know how big the toddler was (for example mine was huge because he was 10lbs 3 oz when born, so his toddler stage meant he was a big toddler).... or what kind of lock (like the push button kind, or twist kind?) Either way it doesn't sound malicious.
Kids tend to panic and the simplest task becomes the hardest thing. My son likes to lock doors (he is 4 now), and if for one second something gets him scared or panicked (like my daughter turning off lights or chasing him), he forgets or "can't" unlock the door and starts to cry, which is when I step in (this is normally during the ocurrence of him playing with his sister who is 9).
Well at least the toddler learned to stay away from the toilet when playing, maybe even the baby too... though potty training may be a little traumatizing......
Toddler is defined between the ages of 1-3. For all the people that believe a TODDLER can't lock a door, show me a 3 year old that isn't capable of locking a door once shown how. I know mine all could!
Or the door is left locked and the kid just closes it, I was lock out of the toilet today by nobody. Call the ghostbusters.
Just don't let them drink from the toilet and this will not happen.
Lots of luck with that.
The mother should install a hidden camera in the bathroom. The toddler may be trying to kill the sibling , that is why the toddler "locked" the bathroom door ( so they wouldn't get caught in the act ) and then feigned a traumatic scene of despair after drowning the infant sibling with the alibi of playing around in the bathroom . If you note the timing of the event sequence the mother heard the toddler crying in despair from behind a locked door , note the toddler didn't begin the crying until "after" the infant had already "drowned" in the toilet . The toddler will now deduce that the attempted "siblingcide" has failed and most likely will be smart enough to not draw attention to itself by utilizing the same method twice , at least not using the same playing around alibi, the only way the toilet scenario will work now is if the toddler has the alibi of NOT being near the infant , such as , when the infant is able to walk , they can walk the infant to the toilet while the parent is asleep, then drown the sibling in the toilet, then go back to bed and fall asleep , awaiting the parent to use the bathroom upon awakening , then it will appear that the infant has now accidentally fallen into the toilet again , this time without the older child around to cry in despair for help, or the toddler will opt for a different method such as a bathtub accident , wherein it will be proffered that the sibling must have slipped and hit their head , presumably causing un-conciousness and then drowning.
Karl, as terrible as that scenario sounds, I agree, it should be investigated.
My thoughts are more innocent though, a toddler playing with the baby innocently and without malice in the bathroom. Tragedy resulted.
My only question is, how did a 3 year old end up with infant alone in the bathroom?
Are you kidding me???? Do you spend your day running in circles screaming "The sky is falling!!" ?
Rhonda, I don't know who you are replying to, but some people are jaded to creative ways to kill their children and are skeptical when we first hear stories like this.
Most likely this was a tragic accident, but it is unusual. And questioning the facts should be done in depth.
@ Rhonda ... no i don't spend my day running in circles ... "siblingcide" is a REALITY most would rather live with in denial .... but trust me if a 3-4 year old toddler in their mind feels cause and justification , somehow they will have the "intellect" to devise and execute such plans , call it "devine" intervention or whatever , as their would seem to be NO plausible way that a 3-4 yr old would have such knowledge or the means to even develop such intricate plots .... but it can and does happen.
I "nearly" won the Powerball last night-where's my story, NBC News? Glad the tot's OK, but really, NBC News, is this newsworthy?
CLT,
What's newsworthy of you "nearly" winning the powerball last night when it goes off "tonight"?
Well CL Tjim - change the channel if you don't like it.
There 50 comments on this thread - and so far the political punters haven't blamed the kid in the toilet bowl on Romney or Obama yet.
I almost dislike the people who continually ask NBC why this is news as much as I do the people who find misspelled words or comment on politics and do not stick to the subject matter.
The "Why is this News?" comment is common low hanging fruit - find another trick to pull out of the bag or move on.
Not sure what world you are living in but 'siblingcide' does not exist. There is no dictionary reference, no articles on it. Google comes up with a whopping 800 entries, most of which are amusing, random comments.
There is however a meme for it. So I guess that makes it real.
http://cheezburger.com/3455206144
Yeah Karl, because a toddler knows how to premeditate murder....duh, pull your head out of your ass. I hope you don't have any children yourself, you're too dumb to be a father. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt though and hope you were being sarcastic, if not....please do not breed.
ok, hate to acknowledge this, but my oldest child tried many ways to eliminate younger sibling from existence - from the age of 2 onward -- they became best friends later in life. i admit, it's my fault. bad parenting, bad genetics...?
Karl-----no. Not that it does not happen. But, NO.
My Prayers are with this baby for a full recovery. And I would keep an eye on this "family" for awhie and try to find out how it happened in the first place. My expectations are that it was innocent accident, but it needs to be determined to the satisfaction of the public.
For what logical reason does this need to be determined to the "satisfaction of the public?" The only ones who seem to think there is some kind of attempt at intentional harm are the nut-job conspiracy theorists. The rest of us understand that it was a freak accident and the mother is lucky to have reacted quickly with the skills necessary to save the baby's life.
Dog bites man.
Unlockable knobs should be placed low on doors and locks placed higher up on the door for more mature/taller people.
How many times has a young person locked themself in the bathroom and can't get out
God Bless the little children and those who watch over them. This sounds like a typical curiosity incident. When I was about 6 months old, my older sister who was 6 (who hated being de-throned as the princess haha) took me in my carriage (Canada - February - wind, snow, ice and colder than a witches you know what in a brass you know what) and left me on a street corner. Did she intend to "do away" with me? I dont know - we never did have a good relationship and its been over 60 years haha. However, siblingcide is rather rare I think. As to keeping our children safe? I lost count of all the things that happened to my children because I didn't wrap them up in cotton wool and never let them out of my sight haha. Stuff happens, and children are sneaky and sly about getting into what they want - all we can do is be as careful as we can without stifling natural curiosity. I was not a perfect mother but my kids turned out ok - still living and no permanent damage from childhood ills. Let's pray that this sort of thing influences parents to be a bit more careful with their precious gifts. Merry Christmas y'all.
I know, turn your head for a minute and they're up to something. Your sister left you on a street corner? for how long? your story sounds as interesting as this one.
Pops1952, our bathroom doors have the button locks in the handle that can be accessed from the outside with a toothpick in an emergency, through that little hole.
In addition, we deliberately installed one of these IN REVERSE on our young grandkids' closet door. The idea being: we keep it locked so they don't trash my neatly stored closet, but if they accidentally get in there, they can open the door from the inside--they are kindergarten age, not toddlers. Either way, again, we can unlock with the toothpick.
One other habit that I have made my whole family do: the toilet seat cover is always put down after flushing. I cringe when I walk into a home with little ones and the toilet seat is up. Not to mention the accidental flushing of....fill in the blank....
So scary. This could happen to absolutely anyone. I have a three year old and am constantly amazed by her drive to cause serious bodily harm to herself. Turn your back for a second and she assesses the most dangerous thing in the room and heads right towards it. Thank GOD the mother knew CPR and got into the bathroom on time. And that maternal instinct - kicking the door in! Thank goodness this will just be a scary story they remember and not a family tragedy.
Chuck Norris......Eat your heart out! Sure glad the baby is doing well....
I don't see why people are trying to defend the mother.
COMMON SENSE HERE:
Why the hell would anyone leave an INFANT unattended???
Classic example of what happens with bad parenting. Babies require 24/7 care. Can't do it? Then don't have a baby. And on another note, it says the infant fell head first into the toilet. Which means the baby must've been sitting on a counter? If that's the case, then really bad parenting.
Uh, no. If that was the case, the baby would have a cracked skull as well because gravity and porcelain doesn't mix.
Amanda, unless you live in a one-room apartment or walk around with the baby strapped to your body all the time, it is virtually impossible to run a household with a baby and a toddler/pre-schooler and NOT leave them alone sometimes. And things can happen quickly! When my daughter was three years old, she was playing in the playroom and I went to clean the bathtub (she had just finished her bath) - and we were living in a very small one-storey house at the time. During the few minutes I was doing that, she unlocked the front door (I had no idea she knew how to do that) and went across the street because she had decided to go pet the neighbor's cat!
Lisa,
BTW, there's no such thing as gravity. Actually, the earth sucks.
amanda,
Really!? I mean.....really!? How do you know she wasn't painting the ceiling or something? Heh heh...
Funny but not funny. Hope she will be ok
I always thought this was far-fetched, but STANDARD home safety recommendations for homes with small children is to make sure that bathroom and bedroom door locks on the inside are ABOVE the level where children can activate them. Those standard push-button, handle turn locks aren't good with little kids. Thank goodness Mom was able to kick in door and do CPR. Guess it is good to make sure your kids can't lock themselves in bathroom. Kids should not be able to lock themselves into any room.
I lived in Australia, and door latches and locks in many homes were at a higher level than is usual in the US. Much better when you have little kids.
I locked myself in the bathroom when I was little back in the late 1950's. My dad had to get a 2-storey ladder and and bust the screen to open the window to get in and unlock the door!
homesick - I had a similar experience. Locked myself in the bathroom as a little one. My parents tried to tell me how to unlock the door throught the door, but I was too young to understand. However, my head wasn't in the toilet! My dad came in through the window to get me out. He was my hero! :-)
In many many cases like this it's just a simple accident where the child simply falls in due to curiosity, wanting to see their reflection in the water, that kind of thing. However, there are many documented cases where the older child not liking the fact that their not getting all the attention any longer "accidentally" pushes the younger one into the pool, down the stairs, or like this story into the toilet. Simply sitting down with the older child and questioning them, with the parents permission, will determine what happened. The child may have planned to push the baby into the toilet but at that young age they are not developed enough to be successful pathological liars.
Could you link to one of these many documented cases, because I couldn't find a single one.
How did the situation occur in the first place?
regardless, I hope the baby doesnt have brain injures & will be OK!
LOL.. I like the 'kicked the door in' part..I imagine a super-ninja mom
My very first thought was, " What was a toddler and an infant doing in a bathroom, without adult supervision?" Sooo many things could have happened, aside from the baby nearly drowning in the toilet. Im very glad that this turned out to be a happy ending. But, I hope this mom re-evaluates her supervision skills and priorities.
The mom saved her babies life, how different things would have been if she had not known CPR. I have two and have had several encounters, it only takes a split second for it to happen. Even at daycare, with lots of caregivers, my son nearly lost his eye while on a scooter. Just a little bit higher and he would have. No one was to blame he had all the protective equipment on, the face is fully exposed, so it just goes to show accidents will happen no matter how vigilant a person may be.
Another troubled mom. Thank the Lord she changed her mind. We are on such a serious course to help BC. We might want to consider helping these women with whatever they need.
Well, you have a dark mind.
what?!
Banning toilets is the answer! Don't the people who sell these death machines have any conscience?
Great idea. We will just box up our s*** and send it to you.
A litterbox works for the cat.....and a baby can't drown in it - this might just be the answer!! :)
How awful. Hoping the baby recovers fully, and mom disables the bathroom lock. How scary for the other child, as well!
Hahahahaha
What is your point? Are you announcing to us all that you are a psychopath?