"Warning: Sledding is a dangerous activity...

[mommaU4]

Serious damage, injury, or death is possible."

Wow, that was on a big yellow label attached to a sled I just bought yesterday. I feel like a bad parent now because my kids go sledding all the time. I guess I never thought about it as being anything other than a fun childhood activity. Now, I might have to think twice.

 

[T1130]

When I was 4 or 5 my father took my brother and I sledding. We were going down this big hill on a radio flyer sled the ones that have the sharp blades on the bottom. My father told me to keep my hands down. I put it under the sled and sliced my hand open from the thumb to the wrist. I still have the scar.

 

[mommaU4]

When I was 4 or 5 my father took my brother and I sledding. We were going down this big hill on a radio flyer sled the ones that have the sharp blades on the bottom. My father told me to keep my hands down. I put it under the sled and sliced my hand open from the thumb to the wrist. I still have the scar.

Oooouch!!! I cringed when I read that! Ugh now I have the creeps thinking about it!

 

[caitycaity]

when i was a preteen, some kids in my neighborhood biuld a bump to sled over. one of them hit it too fast or at the wrong angle or something and broke a rib!

my dad would also never let my sister or i go sledding in the woods like a lot of our friends did eventhough there was a well marked path because he was afraid we would hit a tree.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Head injuires are not that uncommon with sledding. Helmets should be worn. Those round plastic things look innocent enough, but a kid does not have a lot of control over where it goes. A local kid died due to a head injury while on one of those a few years back.

 

[Dismom+two]

I had a sledding accident as a kid. Hit a metal pole face first. To this day, I do not go sledding with my own kids. I will let them go but stress to them to be VERY VERY CAREFUL!!! I don't feel right keeping them from sledding, it's part of childhood.

 

[powellrj]

My great-grandfather was killed in a sledding accident many, many years ago. He was walking down a sidewalk and some kid on a sled ran into him and killed him. While I think it was a freak accident, thats why I've never been keen on sledding.

 

[Chicago526]

My older brother went right off a cliff once, while sledding. Got a big bump on the head for his trouble! I've always just pictured the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip whenever my parents tell the story!

 

[Disney1fan2002]

There is a "radical!" hill here...police had to ban sleeding from it, after years of ambulances carting people off on a daily basis...I've never been there, but I heard a few years ago, it was the winter that the snow was red with blood that they had had enough.

Sledding is dangerous, and to not realize that, then I really don't know what to say.

 

[Disney Ella]

My aunt (never met her) died in a sledding accident when she was 17. She was on the front of the sled and her friend was in the back. They overshot the hill and slid under a truck. My aunt was killed, but her friend just had a broken arm.

 

[ChristmasElf]

I'm sorry to hear about your Aunt. That is terrible for any family to have to go through.

I always think of Chevy Chase in that movie Christmas Vacation when I see those round sled thingies when we have gone up North to visit in the winter.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

When I was 4 or 5 my father took my brother and I sledding. We were going down this big hill on a radio flyer sled the ones that have the sharp blades on the bottom. My father told me to keep my hands down. I put it under the sled and sliced my hand open from the thumb to the wrist. I still have the scar.

One of my uncles sustained a similar injury. Of course, as my mother tells the story, there were about six kids all piled up on one another on the sled and well it just went bad from there.

I survived my sledding years scar free!

 

[mommaU4]

OMG you guys, this is really scary! I never thought about it.
Last winter was our first winter here and the kids had a blast sledding. They took a couple of nasty tumbles and when I think back I get really freaked out. They could have broken their neck or something.

Of course I guess that could be true for horseback riding too. Actually alot of kids activities could be dangerous if you really think about it. I just never thought about it before.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

They could put the same kind of warning on a bicycle, ya know?

 

[Disneymaddness]

My husband will no longer go sledding or snow-tubing. About 10 years ago he broke his thumb while sledding so last year we decide to go tubing, safer right? Wrong! He breaks his wrist! No more winter sports for him!

 

[Sleepy]

They could put the same kind of warning on a bicycle, ya know?

Or any piece of playground equipment.....like a swing or monkey bars.

 

[RonnieJo66]

Visited our friend in Michigan and he took us sledding....


My first trip down the hill with my daughter and we flipped 3 times before landing (me on top of her) don't remember it, just remember waking up and hoping she was alright. She was fine (thank goodness) me on the other hand....cracked a rib!

Live and learn I guess


btw: it was fun on the way down

 

[Jennasis]

I still have a reminder of a sledding injury I sustained as a kid. I'm 30 now and injured myself when I was 7. I went downhill on my stomach, face first, and collided with another sledder. I managed to crack his sled in half with my face. The kid stood and turned around to yell at me for breaking his sled but immediately shut up when he saw my face...My entire left side immediately swelled up so much my eye sealed closed and the entire left half of my face turned black, blue and purple. The tissue beneathe is permanently damaged (I can actually feel to this day a little dent in the muscle under my cheek). When I cry or go out in the cold, that side of my face turns bright red/pink. Lcukily there is no surface damage, it's all underneath.

Sledding is dangerous. At least make your kids wear a helmet, like they would if they were skiing.

 

[golfgal]

My niece was sledding last year and ended up hitting a branch of a tree with her jaw. She broke her jaw in 3 places, chipped a bunch of teeth, broke her nose, some facial bones and put her teeth through her lip. It was pretty nasty. She had several surgeries. She is very small for her age luckily or the branch could have connected with her neck.

We were dangerous sledders growing up. We had some luge runs, iced over, we had one hill that we stopped ourselves at a brick wall. We had a huge hill that we ended up in the middle of the street if we went far enough (my brother slid all the way under a MOVING car once--being kids we thought it was really funny). We had great fun but I am surprised none of us got hurt or killed.

 

[monarchsfan16]

I think the key, as with anything, is being careful. No sledding isn't perfectly safe, but most of us survive our sledding years just fine. I started sledding when I was about 2 and would still be if we had a decent hill. I think the big thing is to make sure the path, and surrounding area is clear, and that you sled with only the amount of people that can be carried by a sled. Also don't do anything stupid on sleds (don't stand, try to roll off, etc)
I did witness a pretty scary sledding accident. When I was in middle school there was an activity for each grade at the end of the month for the kids who had not been written up or received demerits during the month (discipline systems varied by grade). The school had an awesome hill out behind it, so sledding was a popular choice in the winter months. The year I was in 6th grade, one of the 7th graders got on a snow tube (meant for 1) with 3 other girls. The added weight caused the tube to flip, and the girls went flying. One landed on top of another one, and the one on the bottom of the pile was hauled off to the hospital by ambulance on a backboard in a neck brace. She ended up making a full recovery, although she did wear a neck brace for about a week after. It could have been much worse though, and would have been prevented had she obeyed the instructions that say a tube like that is only for one person.
BTW, we still had our sledding party the next week. The teachers just made sure that no one road more than one to a sled, even if the sled could hold multiple people