Strollerderby

There is a difference between playing airplane and throwing a baby up in the air.  When we play airplane, my daughter is on my bent legs and my hands are to her sides in case she bucks left or right.  No one throws her up in the air because I have some basic common sense as a parent.

I'm having trouble picturing how the adult falls on the child during a typical game of airplane.  Isn't the child usually in the air above the adult?  I can imagine the child being dropped but I'm not sure how the adult falls on the kid as a result of the game.

However, a daycare provider once fell on my child while simply carrying her, and broke her leg, completely accidentally (there were multiple witnesses). Sad, freak accidents happen, doesn't mean life is too dangerous to live.

It depends on how you play.  We don't toss our little one up into the air -- that's dangerous and stupid.  But we hold her securely to spin her around and she squeals with delight.  I suppose it's a shade more dangerous than plopping her in front of the TV, but we think her joy is worth the teeny-tiny risk.

And, because I haven't mentioned it this week yet: reject the culture of fear!  These sorts of freak accidents are so rare they can't even be statistically measured.

Thanks for the perspective Knitty!  We can't live our lives if we are afraid of everything.

We do a one-handed throw with our baby (one hand on his side, one hand free). Are we dangerous and stupid?

My husband throws our 2 year old up in the air (no hands) and I would hardly call us stupid parents.  I won't do it anymore because I don't have the strength and I don't trust myself that I won't drop him, but my husband has strength and common sense on his side.  He knows what he's doing and knows his own limits.  He's neither stupid nor a danger to our child, thank you very much.  And I will continue to reject the culture of fear, although it is getting harder to do so when I'm surrounded by fear-mongers and the government is constantly stepping on parents' toes.  <sigh>

there's a BIG difference between tossing your toddler around and throwing an infant into the air - the latter IS just plain stupid.

It's a sad story and could happen to anyone. On a personal note, I didn't allow my children to be airplaned only because my cousin had to go the ER when he was a toddler--both of his arms were dislocated during an innocent game of airplane.

I didn't allow my children to be tickled either, but that's another story :0