That freak time a car seat could have killed?

Cath3114

New member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #1

This boggles my mind...


PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A 3-year-old floated to safety after an argument between her parents led to the family's car plunging into a South Florida lake Tuesday, The Sun Sentinel reports.

Police believe Sariyah Michel's diaper was so buoyant, it propelled her out of the submerged car.

"All of a sudden, this little thing popped up like a cork," Deputy Cazi Navarro told The Sun Sentinel.

Navarro rescued the toddler shortly after pulling her mother, Catherine Copeland, to safety.

The baby's father, Sandro Michel, drowned during the accident, The Sun Sentinel reports.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/2...tal-car-crash/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz1cUXFFIc1

 

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 1, 2011

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megan.amarice

New member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #2

Wow. There's always those rare instances. When I was in high school, a classmate and his older sister were killed when a truck hit their car. Their little sister was sleeping unbelted in the backseat and was thrown from the car. If she'd been wearing her seatbelt like she should have been, she'd have died too. I think I remember school officials doing some safety announcements to try to remind us that this accident wasn't a reason to stop wearing seatbelts.

 

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mommysheri

Member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #3

Wow. What kind of diaper was she wearing? I do not think of diapers as being buoyant.

 

BabyKaykes

New member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #4

Stuff like this is mind boggling to me, too.

DH flipped his Bronco about 15yrs ago while driving angry at night. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was immediately thrown through the front windshield. Paramedics said if he'd been wearing one, he'd have been crushed or torn apart, he landed a quarter mile from where the biggest bits of car were found, the drivers seat off in another direction, impaled by the rear bumper. Hasn't stopped him from wearing a seatbelt, though.

However, I'm sure the sheer weight of the child and the fact she was still alive is what sent her straight to the surface, not so much her diaper...

 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #5

Yeah, um, diapers ABSORB WATER. Duh. Children, like all humans, are naturally buoyant.

 

4boysmom

New member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #6

ketchupqueen said:

Yeah, um, diapers ABSORB WATER.

Click to expand...

I thought that was why traditional diapers are no longer allowed and just "swim diapers" are. Diapers absorb water and are "dead weight".

 

Cath3114

New member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #7

4boysmom said:

I thought that was why traditional diapers are no longer allowed and just "swim diapers" are. Diapers absorb water and are "dead weight".

Click to expand...

Regular diapers allow fecal matter to escape in water. Swim diapers don't (though not sure of the mechanism). Urine isn't a problem though, so swim diapers don't absorb it, it goes through.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

Brigala

CPST Instructor

• Nov 1, 2011

• #8

There's also no way of knowing for sure whether the child would have died had she been properly secured in a car seat. And she's dang lucky she survived either way.

We never really get definitive "what if" answers.

 

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NicoleCPST

Senior Community Member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #9

Uhh, nope. Fecal matter does still get in the water with a swim diaper. DD pooped in a swim diaper once, it was not pretty.

 

Cath3114

New member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #10

NicoleCPST said:

Uhh, nope. Fecal matter does still get in the water with a swim diaper. DD pooped in a swim diaper once, it was not pretty.

Click to expand...

Well, that's the premise, at least.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

4boysmom

New member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #11

cathleencastle said:

Regular diapers allow fecal matter to escape in water. Swim diapers don't (though not sure of the mechanism). Urine isn't a problem though, so swim diapers don't absorb it, it goes through.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

Click to expand...

I don't know that it is a matter of regulars allowing poop to escape vs swim not though as much as regulars absorb both pee and poop and the *only* function of swim diapers is to help contain poop and they don't claim to hold urine at all.

 

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kaleigh71

New member

• Nov 1, 2011

• #12

ISR (rescue swimming) requires that babies and toddlers in diapers "test out" wearing a regular diaper *because* in a real world drowning situation they would be wearing one anyway. They definitely weigh a kid down once they are in the water - no help with flotation.

 

JujuMama

New member

• Nov 5, 2011

• #13

BabyKaykes said:

Stuff like this is mind boggling to me, too.

DH flipped his Bronco about 15yrs ago while driving angry at night. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was immediately thrown through the front windshield. Paramedics said if he'd been wearing one, he'd have been crushed or torn apart, he landed a quarter mile from where the biggest bits of car were found, the drivers seat off in another direction, impaled by the rear bumper. Hasn't stopped him from wearing a seatbelt, though.

However, I'm sure the sheer weight of the child and the fact she was still alive is what sent her straight to the surface, not so much her diaper...

Click to expand...

Did the car continue driving? 1/4 mile is 1320 feet or 440 yards. That's 4.4 football fields.

 

BabyKaykes

New member

• Nov 5, 2011

• #14

JujuMama said:

Did the car continue driving? 1/4 mile is 1320 feet or 440 yards. That's 4.4 football fields.

Click to expand...

Not sure...15yrs ago I would have been jail bait to DH but i do believe some of the car flipping was down hill, and he was pissed at his ex, and admits to have been speeding.

 

tam_shops

New member

• Nov 5, 2011

• #15

When regular diapers absorb too much water, they cut off the circulation in LOs legs and then burst. The *balls* inside the diapers then clog the drain/filter/pump in the swimming pool b/c they expand as they absorb water.

Both regular diapers and swimmers ones contain the poop the same way. Swim diapers do not hold urine or water. And, the liner for cloth diapers does the best job of holding poop and for the same price you can re-use it for all your kids!

I always thought it was the air in a child's lungs that brought them back up to the top when they jump in the water. In her case, her clothes may also have trapped more air and helped to pop her back up.

tam

 

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Eresh

New member

• Nov 6, 2011

• #16

Body composition determines how much a person floats. Some men don't actually float to the surface if they have sufficiently low body fat. Some kids are also so lean they don't float very well.

Either way, What a lucky little girl.

 

lovemybabies924

New member

• Nov 6, 2011

• #17

I believe that was God... Not a diaper

Sent from my iPod touch, sorry for any auto-correct typos!