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Courtesy Candice Johnson
Candice Johnson, 34, of Sinking Spring, Pa., cradles daughter Annika last November, about a month after the child suffered a skull fracture when Johnson fell carrying her down the stairs. It was a busy morning trying to get Liliana, 6, off to school.
For weeks after the accident, Candice Johnson couldn’t sleep. Over and over, she kept reliving the moment last October when she dropped her 9-month-old daughter down a flight of stairs in their Pennsylvania home.
“I kept seeing us falling,” she said. “I was carrying her down the steps and my flip-flop broke.”
Johnson slipped and Annika flew out of her mother’s arms, striking her head. Doctors at a trauma center diagnosed a skull fracture and bleeding on her brain. Five months later, the child has recovered, but for Johnson, taking the stairs will never be the same.
“It was an accident, but it’s hard,” said Johnson, 34, of Sinking Spring, Pa. “You can’t help but blaming yourself.”
That may be true, but there’s plenty of blame to go around. New research shows that a child younger than 5 is treated for a stair-related injury every six minutes in a U.S. emergency department, on average, and being carried on the stairs accounts for nearly a quarter of stair injuries in children younger than 1.
Read more: TODAY on how to make stairs safer
“We were surprised by the numbers,” said Dr. Gary A. Smith, director of the center for injury research and policy for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “It sends a wake-up call to all of us.”
In the first nationally representative study of stair injuries in young kids, Smith and his colleagues found that nearly 932,000 children younger than 5 were hurt in stair accidents in the U.S. in the decade from 1999 through 2008. On average, that’s more than 93,000 kids a year, or about 46.5 injuries for every 10,000 children under age 5, according to the study published in the journal Pediatrics.
The good news is, the number of injuries each year fell during that period, dropping by 11.6 percent by 2008, mostly because of a sharp decline in stair injuries tied to baby walkers, which once hurt some 25,000 children a year.
Voluntary safety standards enacted in the mid-1990s and wider awareness about the dangers of baby walkers helped fuel that decline, cutting those injuries to about 1,300 a year, Smith said.
Photo courtesy Kate Canterbury
Kate Canterbury's twins, Evie and Jane, were 18 months old when she tripped while walking downstairs in a three-story condo.
But the bad news is, nearly 90,000 kids still were hurt in stair accidents in 2008, largely because of preventable factors linked to stairway design, consumer awareness and parental education.
'Incredibly awful'
Kate Canterbury, 36, of Columbia, Mo., blames the steep stairs in a three-story condo in St. Paul, Minn., for her tumble three years ago while carrying her twin daughters, Evie and Jane, who were then 18 months old.
"It was incredibly awful because I knew in that split second that I had to let one go or all of us would fall," Canterbury recalled.
It wasn't a matter of choice, but momentum. She dropped the twin in her left arm, which was pointing downstairs. The toddler fell while Canterbury and the other twin slid down the steps.
"She immediately started crying, so I knew she was OK," Canterbury says. "I just felt so guilty for letting go of her."
She's not certain and doesn't want to say which of the twins, now 5, she actually dropped. "I don't want them coming back at me, saying, 'You loved her more,'" Canterbury said with a laugh.
She's just relieved -- and feels lucky -- that no one was hurt.
About three-quarters of kids who were hurt on stairs suffered injuries to the head and neck, researchers found, and nearly 3 percent of the children were hospitalized.
It’s not clear how many children may have died as a result of the injuries because the data obtained from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, or NEISS, don’t track deaths, Smith said.
Most of the harm, about 35 percent, came from soft-tissue injuries, followed by cuts, about 26 percent, and closed-head injuries, about 20 percent. Fractures, dislocations and other injuries accounted for the rest, the study showed.
Almost all of the injuries, nearly 95 percent, occurred at home, and about 88 percent of the injuries, or 817,000, were caused by simple falls. Still, children jumping or riding toys downstairs accounted for 2.6 percent of injuries, and another 2.7 percent were still hurt while using baby walkers.
“It’s a mixed message because mobile baby walkers are still sold in stores,” said Smith, noting that studies have shown the walkers not only are dangerous, they also delay children’s progress in walking and learning. “It’s a device that really has no redeeming value,” Smith added.
Particularly worrisome, he said, were the injuries to babies being carried on stairs. About 33,500 injuries, or a quarter of those in kids younger than 1, occurred when the child was being carried on stairs by a parent or other caretaker. Those youngsters were three times more likely to be hospitalized than kids injured in other ways.
“We do live in a multi-tasking world,” Smith said. “If you have to take your child up or down the stairs, only the child should be in your arms.”
That’s not the only precaution for avoiding stair accidents. Smith says any home in the U.S. where young children live or visit should have sturdy, wall-mounted gates at the top and at least pressure-mounted gates at the bottom of the flights.
“[Houses] should come built that way and then parents can take them off,” he said.
Stairs themselves should be constructed to minimize the chance of falling and banisters should allow people to get a good grip in case they trip.
But the biggest boon would be increased awareness about how common -- and how dangerous -- stair accidents can be, Smith said.
“I’ve worked for decades in hospital emergency departments and what I hear over and over again is: ‘I can’t believe this happened to my child,’” he said.
In Candice Johnson’s case, she no longer wears shoes inside the house and she has a basket on the stairs for carrying multiple items.
“When I’m walking down the steps, I take them one at a time,” she said. “I try not to be bringing other stuff while I’m holding her.”
Most of all, though, Johnson says she tries to slow down. On the morning of the accident, she was rushing, trying to get her older daughter, Liliana, 6, off to school.
“Be sure that you’re paying attention,” Johnson said. “If I had given myself a second to take a deep breath, maybe I would have been able to catch myself.”
NBC's Jeff Rossen reports on the common defects in home staircases that safety experts say can cause serious falls and shows families what they can do to protect themselves.
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What's the best age to raise kids? Older parents weigh in
Suck it up, kid: Many docs ignore infant pain
Lingering shortage of ADHD drugs unravels lives
Leave a Comment:
This happened with my friend back around Christmas time. He was coming down the stairs holding his infant son and slipped and fell. Unfortunately it resulted in a broken leg for his son but at least it wasn't worse. I really feel for him. He's a good guy and I know he's beating himself up over it and it was an accident that could have happened to anyone. Even I slipped on the steps at his place when I was visiting. Especially watch the stairs in winter time as if your area gets snow as it doesn't take much for the stairs to become slick if they are wood or linoleum.
Candice Johnson, 34, of Sinking Spring, Pa., Well if she would move her fat a$$ to another town, it would just be called Spring Pa.
Lady, you should blame yourself. Wear some real shoes. You and your kids will be safer. Your tempting Darwin.
I see women driving and talking on their cell phone with their kids in the car. But if someone else did something that put their kids in danger, watch out.
BlueKnight... That's absolutely horrible but Hilarious!! I've never fallen down the stairs with my kid on my arms and actually non of my friends have :/ Clumsy feet? However, isn't it just common sense to NOT walk down the stairs holding twins? I know it's hard because you don't wanna leave the other child upstairs while you bring the first one down, but then you wouldn't have thrown the least favorite child down the stairs (For those who can't tell, it's sarcasm)
BlueKnight - lol too funny!
Time for the Obama Administration to step in and either ban stairs or implement stricter stair control laws.
@Zathrose: LOL! Just what I was thinking, too! Yep, we need the Nanny State to step in here and protect us now from those dispicable, antiquated stairs! Better yet, I believe it is my God-given right to to have an elevator instead! Let's add that to the list of things that are our "rights!" I deserve it, and I shouldn't have to pay for it, either! That's what taxes are for!
Oh no. More regulations for the politically correct bunch to concoct. No more two story houses, or all kinds of new stair regulations complete with a new government agency and another czar to enforce these regulations.
Knock knock. Who's there? Stair police. Let us in or we'll come back with SWAT.
@Bluenight... funny comment! Sinking spring is close by, called that due to all the sinkholes actually but perhaps there should be weight limit warnings on flip flops... how about:
If your weight is greater than 20 lbs more than the average weight for an 11 year old girl from Senegal DO NOT wear flip flops.
If stairs are causing an injury to a child every 6 minutes, how many injuries per minute are attributed to parental negligence?
It's high time we pass a law banning stairs!
Been there, done that. One the most painful encounters of my life was when I was carrying my 1 year old son down our stairs, and I slipped on the top stair. I cam crashing down on my lower back across that top stair, then went tumbling down the stairs with child in arms. Luckily my quick instinct was to totally envelop my child in my arms, caressed to my body, protecting them. I took all of the bruises, bumps, and sprains, while baby was unharmed. The baby didnt even know to cry/scream until I laid there crying and screaming for my wife. The stupid, now ex-wife, was too busy enjoying her hot bath, and didnt hear me, so I laid there for 30 mins, pretty much unable to move with a screaming child next to me. Good times.
Oh yeah, I don't blame stairs. It was me and my slick-bottomed shoes that made me slip. I traversed those stairs many times under many different conditions and circumstances. A normal coordinated person should have no problems.
Traumatic head injuries can cause lifelong problems with thinking, memory, depression, anger, and headaches. Just because the kid cries doesn't mean he/she is okay. If fact, the extent of the injury may not be obvious until a day or two later when the child starts vomiting and appears confused.
Before my baby started to crawl, we moved into a one-story house precisely because of safety issues. Not everyone can do this, but parents can take precautions and stay vigilant. Don't drink alcohol and carry your child. Don't wear unstable shoes. Keep one hand free to hold the stair railing. Install gates at the top and bottom of stairs. Keep stairs free of clutter. Don't talk on your phone or text while carrying your baby. Etc....
I wonder what percent of these injured kids is due to parental abuse, "discipline," neglect, inmaturity, or drug/alcohol involvement.
My sister fell down the basement stairs at age three. She had developmental problems after that and eventually grew up to be a rethuglican. QED: Rethuglicans are all brain injured.
When I was very little, about 5 or so, I fell off the balcony of my parents 2 story house and landed on the sidewalk below. I still have a scar on my chin from the fall. Anyway, I was home maybe a week and fell down the wooden stairs and busted open the stitches from the first fall. Mom rushed me to the doctor(the same one from the week before)and he looked at me and eyed my mom accusingly, like she was abusing me. My mom looked at him straight in the eye and said;"Doctor....he can climb". I was definately a monkey as a child.
wow seems everything gets political from the trolls....get a life
Accidents happen.
This is one of my worst nightmares as a parent . . . and, I'm not really surprised to hear how common it is.
yeah isnt it awesome how people just have to make something like this about how they hate obama?
so obsessed.
@Zathrose, you're using an article about stair accidents to bash Obama, SERIOUSLY?
Keep your political agenda out of it.
@OshnTreszr, I agree with you completely.
No more stairs! Everyone must install an elevator or escalator!
Me4Texas - Now that I know what happened to your sister, what caused your brain injury?
It's Obama's fault that we all don't have 1 story houses!
isis- Calm down. Zathrose was being sarcastic. Need a definition of it?
Someone somewhere will decide that stairs are too dangerous for anybody to be around. i.e. ttmadison
If you watch your kids and have baby gates installed and shut at all times, there really shouldn't be a problem. My son is 4 and has never fallen down the stairs. Why? Because I keep the baby gate closed.
Ah, ok. So she isn't to blame! The stairs are to be blamed.. This may provide a little comfort for that mother, but It's truly the flip-flop's to be the cause for the blame! If the slippers were perhaps constructed with a little more quality in mind, this wouldn't have happened.. Of course, the question should be asked, why wear dangerously flimsy shoes, when your children are at risk!?!?! Sacrifice your comfort for your children, for chrissakes!
Don't you have a Republican to go vote for?
We must contact the Obama administration at once. Stairs and flip flops must be banned. All homes currently with stairs and flip flops will be assessed an extra tax, until they are razed in accordance with the new regulations. Manufactures, sellers, and those that place stairs and flip flops in homes will be sued, their assets seized and be sent to Mordor. If they have children, those children will be given to the people who's children were injured by stair/flip flop related injuries.
If you are a stoner, a celebrity, a politician, or a member of the Occupy Anything movement, you are exempt from all of these regulations, rules and requirements and have immunity from any legal action.
This by the order of Emperor Food Stamp and Empress Do As I Say Not As I Do.
And none of the stories said it, but I'd like to be a fly on the wall and see how many of these people had their baby in one hand and their cell phone in the other trying to find out what exciting info happened while they were sleeping last night. And the other one that says all homes should come equipped with gates and parents can take them off? Yeah that's the solution, make everyone pay to cover up that fact that we now live in an era of smart phones & dumb people. Oh, and while we're at it, let's outlaw the beloved hardwood stair treads. It's the world folks and it is called the Game of Life; accidents happen and they happen to stupid and/or inattentive people more often.
exactly what i was going to say. Good Point!! Flip Flops? Seriously?
“[Houses] should come built that way and then parents can take them off,” he said.
Unbelievable
I wish people would think before they post. The article says the woman "blames the steep stairs". First of all you don't actually know that the woman "blames" the stairs. It's not a direct quote from the mother. It was the author of the news article that used that word. It's quite possible that the woman merely mentioned the steep stairs as a contributing factor but accepts responsibility for the accident herself. In fact, the article SAYS that she feels guilty.
Secondly, there ARE some stairs that are way too steep.
In today's compassionless world, if someone makes a dumb mistake that results in a tragedy they absolutely MUST not warn others to avoid the same mistake because, you know, merely MENTIONING any contributing factors whatsoever automatically means that you are trying to shift the blame (even if the article makes it abundantly clear that you feel horrible and blame yourself).
I'm sure that I would beat myself up over something like that too. So glad I don'th ave kids.... they scare the crap out of me.
This is the society of "It's someone else's fault" don't forget, so it's not surprising that we blame the stairs.
Accidents happen. People can be more careful of course, but accidents can and WILL happen.
Are these the same people who drive around with their kids in their safety seats and the cell phone glued to their ears? Does it ever occur to them that THAT is certainly as dangerous as the stairs at home, if not more so? I never understand WHAT can be so important it can't wait till you get home. Or stop somewhere to have your conversation.
I do agree, there are some stairs that are too steep. I lived in a house years ago, and it was an old (100yrs old or more) home. It always seemed that in those Old New England homes, the stairs were designed for goats. I was carrying a load of laundry downstairs while I was about 8-1/2 mos pregnant. I slipped on something and down I went. Thankfully neither me nor my unborn baby were injured.
But again, accidents happen. A friend of mine years ago had an "accident prone" 5yr old. This child was her youngest of 4 boys, and of course he wanted to keep up with his older brothers. She was at the emergency room 3-4 times with that kid in less than a month once. Falling off his bike, out of a tree, etc. The ER Intern told her that the next time she brought this kid in, he was going to report her. She was outraged at the time, but then thought that it made sense, and was glad someone was looking out for abused children.
Way back in junior high health class, the text book claimed that accidents don't happen, they are caused. As a kid that kind of took me by surprise, but as I've grown older, it turns out to be a pretty true statement. Look at both of the examples in this article, and there are causes for both "accidents". A flip flop broke and caused the fall. How about you don't wear flip flops on stairs when carrying your baby. The other blames the steep stairs. The stairs didn't get steep over night. How about you carry one child, and use the free hand on the railing? These were not accidents, rather they were careless.
Anything simple machine like stairs based on an inclined plane is a bad idea. Now if we can just do away with levers and wheels the world will be a better, safer place.
Actually native Americans didn't have the wheel. But they also didn't have thousands and millions of people crippled and dead as a result of automobiles. If we got rid of cars not only would our air be cleaner, we'd also have fewer people in wheel chairs.
Zack,
You're right, but we'd also have a lot more people in ox carts and horse-drawn wagons. Sounds like a lotta horse crap to me.
Of course they didn't have the wheel. It was a stone age culture.
I fell down a flight of stairs holding my sister while she was an infant (I was almost 15 at the time) Thankfully, she was perfectly fine, and I only sprained my ankle.
BAN flip - flops what makes you think I want to look at your ugly feet anyway
It's time to require background checks and registration before owning a two story house!
We need to ban stairs unles you complete a safety class and register your staircase. That would solve the problem!
-Oh, wait, those asinine arguments are only accepted at face value when it comes to guns.
-Carry on.
I still remember six years ago, I nearly dropped my 1 year old down the stairs. I had just had a baby, and while he was napping I thought I would throw a load of laundry in the machine. I did not want/trust the 1 year old not to bother him, so I decided to carry her in one arm, and the laundry in the other arm. Looking back I no this was a stupid idea, but at the time I did not think about the safety. As I descended down the second step, my left foot twisted( I actually broke it) and I had the same choice as the mother of twins. Fortunately for me, the laundry was the one in front so I dropped it. My daughter dropped to the steps and only slid down two steps before she landed on top of me and we stopped. I was fortunate that day to be the only one hurt, because she would have fell down the cement steps onto the cement floor. After that day, I taught her how to crawl up and down the steps and I never carried anything else in my arms when carrying one of my kids, oh and of course I used the handrails at all times. It has been six years, but I still remember that moment every time I get to the top of steps, or course it does not help that I am terribly afraid of heights to begin with.
This is where one wonders if common sense has been banned in some areas of the U.S.
Stairs are inherently dangerous. Long ramps are better.
YO DOC, she be fallin down da stairs ,,,ya thats it, she fell down da stairs 3 times ,thats how she got all them bruises.she do that all the time
Flip flops and babies don't mix- nor do highjeels or certain sneakers. No socks either. When descending stairs even without precious cargo (children,pets) walk sideways-facing the wall or opposite side -if you trip you only fall on that step and less harm is suffered-your head and neck are safe-worst case a little sprained 'one'ankle. The same is true also while downhill sking -on the skislpe you'll slide. The old staircases- broad- with slipguards and sturdy railings are safer.
Mimi, Seriously!! Walk sideways down the steps???? How about taking stairs one at a time with both feet, never one foot alternating up the stairs, just like when you were two??? How about bunjee cord safety harnesses or better yet, escalators in every home?
Ski down hill sideways?!
Yea sideways, it helps when you have a strong cross wind.
This is a stupid story. I only clicked on it because the catch line was "Child Stairs Injury Warning". I was curious because I thought maybe it was some sort of new fangled "child stair" toy or furniture. You know, perhaps similar to the pet stairs they make for dogs and cats with trouble climbing onto beds. However, I do believe that like mandated sprinkler systems, the government should prohibit people with children from renting or buying homes with stairs. We might extend that to giving citations to adults that carry children up ramps or up hills, or perhaps children should never be carried unless hooked up to a safety harness.
Why does everything have to turn into a "government argument"? Geez!!! So someone got clumsy, chose bad foot wear and this becomes a friggin POLITICAL debate? Whatever happened to COMMON sense and all that? Duh!!!
Given the number of "DANGER" stories that we read, it's a wonder that the human species has survived at all. Once we fought off wolves. Now we raise the alarm because kids fall down stairs (gasp!), out of trees, (gasp!) or off their bicycles, replete with stories and photos of traumatized families trying so hard to get back to "normal" after their ordeal. I'd add more about the dangers all around us, often exacerbated by a lack of common sense, but have to go. A reporter on TV is warning us that our wall to wall carpeting is killing us. As I hear snickering when I walk over our carpeting, I suspect it's true. I must listen.
Ok...from now on we won't run ANY stories that remind parents to be careful. After all, if a parent is careless or just plain dumb, the children DESERVE to have serious injuries for choosing the wrong parents.
the children dont deserve to have serious injuries, but it is the way of nature....only the strong/smart survive.....people wonder whats wrong with people, why people act so dumb or crazy....its because natural selection has become obsolete....
Agreed Niko. I remember making a Skateboard out of a 2 x 4 and old roller skate wheels and hanging onto the back of a friends bike as they flew down the street. Neither of us had helmets of course.
I remember bringing my son home from the hospital when he was born. My husband was driving and my son was laying in my arms. We all survived.
It's amazing the human race had survived all the years before the government told us that this or that was dangerous. Now it's stairs. I wonder what else we need the governments protection from.
Junicon, with all due respect, you're missing the point. Nickolaus isn't saying that stories like this one should ever be published, just that they're sensationalized way too much when they're reported.
MsPiven, Nickolaus' post doesn't say that the article could have been written differently. The entire post simply poo-poos the warnings themselves.
Just off the top of my head. How to carry a baby down the stairs. Put baby in carrier or plastic chlothes basket. Start to back down the stairs. Set the carrier on the next stair down, Step down (backwards) one step. Repeat procedure.
Plan B. Seriously consider a ranch house with a first floor laundry. When you are old, you will not have to deal with stairs and neither will your grandchildren.
I moved into a 2 story home when my youngest was a year old and put sturdy gates up at the top and bottom of the staircase so she could'nt "mess around the steps" as I can't have eyes in the back of my head" every minute. I put protective covers on the doorknobs leading to the basement so she could'nt open the door to the basement stairs and risk falling down THOSE and most of all, I didn't carry her on the stairs. Problem solved!!
We need a senate subcomitte to investigate stairs. Homeland Security needs to look into this matter. It is quite
possible that Al-Qaeda is involved in the manufacturing of stairs in order to hobble us so that we cannot react to
their next terroristic plot. Where is Joe McCarthy?
Oh Boy! Another misleading headline. The headline says a child is treated every six minutes for stair mishaps. The article says stairs are only to blame one fourth of the time a child goes to an emergency room.
Don't these entry level journalists have an editor-in-chief to catch these deliberate statements?
Oh No! Matt Lauer just quoted the same misleading headline on the Today Show. They'll be back to tell us all about it after these messages (about 7:40).
Oh my god, we HAVE to ban stairs. It's for.....the children.
Stairs are sooo dangerous! They should be banned because you can 'never be too careful!' - How can we live with ourselves knowing at any moment our children could be injured on these extremely dangerous objects we all just casually have lying around the house?
Seriously folks. Everyone needs to take a breath. Humans have been climbing stairs for centuries. It's upsetting when children get hurt and some caution is required but the breast beating and panic expressed in this article is pathetic. If you don't want your kids to get hurt on the stairs, teach them how to use the stairs and stop carrying them around.
Flip Flops? Walking downstairs with a baby wearing Flip Flops?! Clearly we need to ban stairs.
For sure Rick. It just proves what I've been saying for years. You need a license to have a dog, but any idiot can be a parent.
...there are two simple answers for this dangerous situation:
--ban stairs! there will be no multi-level housing built, or elevators will be mandated in all multi-level structures
--require everyone who already has stairs in their abode to wear a pack that will deploy a protective bubble around the person in the event of a fall
a government that's big enough to give us everything, is big enough to take everything (including personal freedom) away
Awesome response!!
Who said anything about the government "banning stairs"? They're too busy trying to ban birth control. Get a life.
“[Houses] should come built that way [with stair gates] and then parents can take them off,” he said.
Now I am far from a T-partier-get-rid-of-the-government-in-our-lives kind of person. But that is just ridiculous. How many homes do NOT have kids? And most people have one or two kids, how many years are the kids living in the house when there are little? To force all homes to have stair gates because someone with a small child might live it in is just plain silly.
Besides, the article itself noted that many of the injuries occurred when parents were carrying babies or small children on the stairs. The gates wouldn't help in those incidents.
That's what I was thinking, that the stories highlighted were all about women dropping their kids down the stairs. Put a mandatory gate at the top of those stairs and next year we'll be hearing about the dangers of stair gates because of people falling trying to step over them without fiddling to unlock them.
ps I slipped in the bathroom while holding my infant son and nearly seriously injured him. Are you gonna ban water in bathrooms because of all the bathroom injuries??????
OMFG! Are you kidding me. I have lost all respect for NBC news. This story is so outrageous I felt compelled to write my first 'blog' comment EVER. Even my 8 and 10 year olds are laughing. I said maybe they ought to do a story on uneven pavements, we could seriously be injured walking down the street and hit a twig or something. C'mon folks is this what America has come to...finding something to blame for falling down the stairs?
Don't blame the stairs, blame the idiots too stupid to know to put one foot down, then the other, or....one foot up, then the other, dependin' on if you're goin down or up. This isn't escalator science kids....it's STAIRS!. They've been around for centuries, and if ya can't navigate 'em by now, you've got some really serious issues!