I put Sara in her high chair and went to clean the kitchen. A moment later, I heard a thud from the living room. I ran in and found her on the floor. Only then did I realize I had forgotten to buckle her in—
Today, Saturday, I did something that could have had serious, irreversible consequences. If I had heard that another parent had forgotten to buckle their baby into a high chair, I would have been appalled. I never imagined I would be that parent.
Thank God, Sara is okay. The doctor discharged us from the pediatric ER at Wolfson Hospital at around three in the afternoon, and only then could I finally breathe again. For six hours, I had felt a terrible tightness in my chest, a helplessness I hadn’t felt in a long time. Now that we’re home, I want to tell you what happened.
The Thud from the Living Room
Around nine that morning, it was time for Sara to eat. She’s teething, and lately she’s been very picky about food. She refused even a sip from the bottle of Similac she was supposed to start her day with, so I gave her a carrot-flavored rice snack.
The kitchen wasn’t particularly clean, so I moved her high chair into the living room. I sat her in front of the TV, where a playlist of RotemMama songs was playing on YouTube. RotemMama is Sara’s favorite children’s performer. I wanted to finish cleaning the kitchen before Sara finished her snack and started crawling all over her kingdom, especially the kitchen she loves so much.
I had barely begun cleaning when I heard a loud thud from the living room. My heart stopped even before I heard Sara crying. I ran in and found her lying on her side on the floor, bits of her snack scattered around her.
I picked her up immediately. I held her, tried to calm her down, and checked for blood or any visible sign of injury. I couldn’t see anything, but it took her a while to settle. I don’t know exactly how long I stood there holding her. Every second felt too long.
Then I understood: I had forgotten to buckle her into the chair.
Sara Started Singing Again. I Was Still Scared.
I checked Sara again and again. I couldn’t see any outward sign that she was hurt, and gradually she began acting like herself. When RotemMama sang “I’m Off to the Market” on TV, Sara started clapping again and making her sweet little sounds, as though she were singing along.
I put her back in the high chair, buckled her in this time, and checked that the straps were secure. I gave her another snack, and she ate it eagerly. I stood beside her and watched her.
About half an hour later, she started yawning. Teething had made it hard for her to sleep over the past few nights, and she was exhausted. I put her in her crib, and she fell asleep quickly.
But even though Sara seemed fine, and it looked as if the whole thing was behind us, doubt began to gnaw at me. The first thing I did was ask ChatGPT whether I had handled the situation properly. The answer I got did not reassure me: acting normally right after a fall is an encouraging sign, but it does not completely rule out an injury.
Was Sara really okay?
I called my mother and told her what had happened. I don’t hide anything from her. After we talked, I realized she was worried about the same thing I was: Sara needed to be examined by a doctor.
I called Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical service. An ambulance arrived shortly afterward. I had to wake Sara so the paramedics could check her, and it broke my heart. My mother made it to our place in time, and the three of us rode to Wolfson Hospital together.
On Our Way to Wolfson Again
Longtime readers of the blog may remember my post “The Scariest Day.” Sara was only ten days old then. She didn’t respond when my mother and I tried to wake her, and an ambulance took her to Wolfson. That visit involved tests and an overnight stay for observation.
Today she is ten months old. She sat in my arms in the ambulance, with no idea where we were going, while I remembered the fear of that earlier trip. My mother was with us again.
Thankfully, the examinations were easier this time. The doctor checked Sara and told us she was okay and that he hadn’t found an injury. We stayed in the pediatric ER for several more hours for observation, then went home. Only when the doctor said we could leave did I feel I could finally breathe.
What I’ll Do Differently From Now On
I can tell myself I was tired. That Sara is teething and neither of us has slept well for several nights. That I simply forgot, and that things like this can happen. But none of that changes the fact that I put my daughter in a high chair without buckling her in.
This is hard to write. Today I also had doubts I’m ashamed to admit: How could I make a mistake like that? Am I fit to be her father? I know how much I love Sara, and that’s precisely why I refuse to brush this off with, “The important thing is that she’s okay.”
Thank God, she is okay. Alongside my enormous relief, I want to remember what I must do from now on: every time I put Sara in her high chair, I will stop, buckle her in, and check that the straps are secure before I turn to anything else. Every time. Even when I’m tired. Especially when I’m tired.
When I started this blog, I promised to write without filters and without holding back. That’s why I’m telling you about today, even though it’s so hard to share. Sara is asleep in her crib now. I can still hear that thud from the living room.
Follow Sara & Me
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to subscribe by email—so you’ll automatically get a notification whenever a new post goes live.
No spam, no ads—just the posts.
Read Next
If you’d like to read more about Sara and our life together, here are two more posts you might enjoy:
