Tulsa Police Investigate Near Drowning Of 9-Month-Old Child

Wow, I have a 2 year old and can't imagine putting him in the shower alone. Furthermore, when he is in the tub I have a stool I sit on while he is in the tub.*Never* leave a baby/toddler unattended! I think there is a lot more to the story, hopefully the detectives will get to the bottom of it and I pray for both these babies.

Brandy wrote:

Seriously this is just pure stupidness. I hope they do not let her keep her 19 month old. Who in the **** takes a 19 month old a shower and leaves them alone seriously. My daughters are 6 and 4 and i wouldnt let them alone in the bathtub yet alone allow either of them to take a shower by themselves as a matter of fact i wouldnt even take them a shower the water is going to go directly in thier face. This world is coming to an end. This really saddens me.

You should never wish for the child to be taken away from his/her parents. Mother did a mistake and she will learn from this. Your kids can be taking away just by phone call from somebody who think you do not dress them properly, have too many/too little toys; your house too dirty/too clean, they do not like your decor or anything else for what ever reason. Do not feel superior than other person or karma will find the way to put you in other people shoes. By the way your six year old should have enough life experience to be able to have her shower in a responsible way; Anyway, do not think that because you are such a good mother your kids could not be taking away from you - it is even better - they are perfect adoptable material.

Babies having babies. The news said the mother is 18 years old. That would make her 15 when she got pregnant with the first child.

My prayers are with the baby and the family

Concerned wrote:

My question too.. why was a 19 month old in a shower alone...? and why carry the child to the leasing office? CALL 911...

I can see her in my mind carrying this child to the office, where is the naked, wet and confused 19 month old.... oh yea probably back at home alone...

i bet wrote:

There is something really strange about this story. There will probably be something more coming out. A 9 month is old enough to roll around, probably crawl, and go from laying to sitting. A child is not going to just lay in a puddle and drown, instinct will drive them to move away from the water.(Unless the child is physically handicapped)

I have thoughts on that also, but I have a hard time making sense of it because my son walked at 8 months, so if that were the case, could a child slip and fall and not be able to move out of the puddle? I guess the could slip if crawling also but have less chance of hitting their head right. Very sad situation, very sad... I do hope the baby is okay and that this mother doesn't possibly think she can continue to make her older child grow up faster because she has 2....

There's definitely more than meets the eye (or ear) here. It takes a LOT of water to make a puddle on a flat bathroom floor and it takes a long time letting the water run to flood a room. No 19-month-old "takes a shower," and no reasonably responsible parent leaves their babies alone in the only room more dangerous than the kitchen.

God Bless America -- where you have to prove your competency to sell food, cut hair, do taxes, or practice medicine, but any dimwit can screw around and fire out a minivan-load of babies, whether they're qualified to care for 'em or not.

WhattheHess wrote:

<quoted text>
I can see her in my mind carrying this child to the office, where is the naked, wet and confused 19 month old.... oh yea probably back at home alone...

Ah yes, the 19-month-old who takes showers... Probably making some lunch, ya know, boiling some pasta or putting a meatloaf in the oven and playing solitaire on the computer, makin' sure the dog had some food in its bowl -- doing all those things 19-month-old's do.

{/ sarcasm }

What?? Come on now a 19month old taking a shower with a nine month old?? Something doesn't add up!! She wasn't doing dishes,we all know what she was doing. That's how this happen DRUGS!!!!

"Officers say even a near downing is a tragedy, and want to remind parents that young children need to be supervised at all times."
Wow, after the puppy ate the baby you'd have thought that might have been a clue. However, since there was no punishment for neglecting your baby to (a horrible) death, it's a proven excuse to stay out of jail.

I am SO relieved beyond words in logging in this morning to find that 9 month old didn't die!!! I have a 19 month old son myself, and I don't care if the prize patrol were about to knock my dang door down---NEVER LEAVE A CHILD UNATTENDED IN/AROUND WATER!!! But now, reading some of the other comments, I do wonder if there is more to this story...? Meanwhile, my prayers are with those boys, and also for the mom since if this *was*'just an accident', she needs a LOT of help, to say the *least*.

I hate to say it but I wonder if she was going to hurt/kill that baby and changed her mind. I know that's speculation at it's worst but something just does NOT add up in this story.

Elena wrote:

<quoted text>
You should never wish for the child to be taken away from his/her parents. Mother did a mistake and she will learn from this. Your kids can be taking away just by phone call from somebody who think you do not dress them properly, have too many/too little toys; your house too dirty/too clean, they do not like your decor or anything else for what ever reason. Do not feel superior than other person or karma will find the way to put you in other people shoes. By the way your six year old should have enough life experience to be able to have her shower in a responsible way; Anyway, do not think that because you are such a good mother your kids could not be taking away from you - it is even better - they are perfect adoptable material.

So it is permissible for a parent to make an almost fatal error in caring for their children, and it's perfectly ok? On very rare occasions do good, responsible parents have their children taken away. A phone call does not necessarily mean a child will be removed from a home. Perhaps a worker might investigate the allegations and concerns of the caller, but if there are no dangers to the child, then nothing happens.
No young child should ever be in the bath (especially shower) alone. Even after a child reaches 5-6 years old, they should still be closely supervised while bathing. A 19 month old to be taking a shower is not only dangerous and irresponsible, but also highly unusual. Never would you leave a child under the age of 5 or 6 alone in the bathroom for any reason. A 9-month-old left in the bathroom with a 19 month old is a disaster waiting to happen.
I question why two children under the age of two were left in the bathroom alone for any length of time, why a 19 month old was taking a shower (alone), and why was the 9-month-old left in there. I question how a 9-month-old baby, who at that age should be able to at least crawl, could drown in a "puddle" of water on the floor. How much water was on that floor? Why did the child not move out of the water? Something is amiss with this entire story. I wonder if the 9 month old was in the shower with the older child. The mother panics and knows she's in trouble so makes up the story about him being in a puddle on the floor. In addition, where was the 19 month old why she ran with the 9-month-old get help?
There are way too many questions here. Until this is fully investigated and any future danger to the children eliminated, this mother should not retain custody of either child. It might sound cruel, but what is crueler - to take the children while the mother is cleared of any wrongdoing, or leave the children and something worse possibly happen? I opt for protecting the babies.

I don't know what will make people believe that you should never leave children unattended in the bathroom...never! We see this same story time after time and they always say "but I just stepped out for a minute." Well a minute is obviously too long! Crazy as this story is, the 19 month old taking a shower is not the crazy part. My daughter loves showers has been taking them since she was 12 months old(with curtain open and me by the tub side)I think a 9 month old could easily slip on a wet bathroom floor and end up disoriented enough to be unable to move out of a puddle. Unless there are other signs of abuse or neglect I think it is a a little presumptuous to say the mother shoul lose her children. I could have been a terrible mistake of a young, over worked, under supported mother. Why do we automaticly assume she is on welfare and doin' work with another baby daddy! I pray that this baby's tragedy is not in vain and that it will prevent at least one more baby from the same fate. I also pray for the baby's recovery and the healing of the family.

the baby was with out oxygen for 15 minutes before the paramedics arrived. hmmmmmmmmm....

Debbie wrote:

<quoted text>
Ah yes, the 19-month-old who takes showers... Probably making some lunch, ya know, boiling some pasta or putting a meatloaf in the oven and playing solitaire on the computer, makin' sure the dog had some food in its bowl -- doing all those things 19-month-old's do.
{/ sarcasm }

I love it, you are right in my same thought track...that is one advanced 19 month old eh?

Did this "mother" think that because the water is running down the drain it was safe for her 19 month old to take a shower and not drown? Some drains can be slow and if the shower is left running long enough water can build up an inch or so in the tub if you don't clean your drains. That is enough water to drown a baby or toddler. Did it ever dawn on the woman that he could fall and hit his head on the side of the tub? Even if he was sitting down to take his shower, what would stop him from falling if he got up and tried to climb out? My boys were pulling up on things by 9 months. Could the 9 month old have pulled up to the side of the tub, leaned over and fallen in? I would be more likely to believe this than the puddle in the floor story. More water would have been in the bottom of the tub, especially if the drain was slow, than there would have been in a bathroom floor. As mentioned above, it would take an awful lot of water to make a puddle in the bathroom floor for that baby to drown in. I never left my boys alone in the tub for a second until they were 5 or 6. I stayed in the bathroom with them. When they were old enough to be left alone I still checked constantly. You can't be too careful with kids and water!

Prayers for that precious baby!

WhattheHess wrote:

<quoted text>
I love it, you are right in my same thought track...that is one advanced 19 month old eh?

I guess we're all on the same wave length, because when I read her post I was thinking he probably did all that right after running the vacuum and unloading the dishwasher.

My best friend, the child's grandmother is on her way to Tulsa to be with her daughter and grandchild. Because of the distance she has to fly, she won't arrive until late tonight. I have known this girl, the baby's mother, since she was a toddler herself. Knowing her, I don't believe she would deliberately try to harm her child. For those of you who are praying and wishing the baby and family well, thank you. Everyone involved knows that this tragedy will affect the entire family, especially the baby's mother and father, for the rest of their lives. They don't need the sarcastic and unkind comments. They do need lots of prayer.
For those of you who are assuming that she is on food stamps and welfare, you are wrong. Her husband has a job and supports his family.

Babies, when left in water, drown. Isn't this Motherhood 101?