My Scariest Moment As a Parent So Far, Parenting Fail Big Time

I don’t enjoy that I’m writing this post, but I wanted to share it because of how crappy this situation made me feel and how much blame I put on myself even though, in the end my daughter was fine. Also, I’m sharing this because I feel like there aren’t enough stories out there showing that we make mistakes as parents, we’re not perfect and it’s okay to make a mistake, but learn from your mistakes and grow.

Last week, we went on a walk in Vermont and I didn’t think it was too cold for Mackenzie to join. Oh boy was I wrong! The temperature was in the 20’s and I bundled up Mackenzie, but not with too many layers because she gets so hot all the time. She was wearing a body suit, leggings, sweatpants over the leggings, a Patagonia zip up, winter hat, socks, & her Sorel boots. My husband wore her in our Deuter hiking backpack and we set out on the hiking trail.

About half way through my husband (Greg) asked if I wanted to turn around, but I said no and that we should keep going. She was happy and enjoying the fresh air!

Thankfully we were over halfway back when I noticed that her cheek was starting to turn white and started panicking that she was getting frostbite. My husband hook her out of the carrier and carried her back in his arms to try to keep her as warm as possible. She was still happy so I wasn’t too worried.

When we out her in her car seat to go home, I noticed her cheek was super puffy, waxing looking, and white. I knew it was frostbite, but honestly have never experienced it myself so I didn’t know what to do. Thankfully my husband stayed calm and we began warming her up the minute we got home. We drew her a warm bath, not too hot/not too cold, and she was having so much fun splashing around. Thankfully the color was starting to return, but her cheeks were still not fully back to normal. I think it’s important to say again, Mackenzie was happy and acting completely fine the ENTIRE time.

We gave her some lunch and put her down for a nap. She woke up 2 hours later and her cheeks went back to normal and I was relieved.

This incident was by far my scariest moment as a parent in the last 16 (almost 17) months. I blamed myself since I was the one who wanted to keep walking. While I’m not happy my daughter began showing signs of frostbite, I did learn some things from this:

1. An hour walk in 20 degree weather is far too long for a 16 month old child. While looking up what to do for frostbite I learned that children are more likely to get frostbite than adults.
2. A warm (not too hot) bath is great to warm those little bodies up after being outside in the cold. Even when they’re outside playing in the cold, a warm bath can be great once they come inside!
3. Having a calm person during a time like this is key. I was panicking, but not really finding a solution, while Greg stayed calm.

I now overthink how I’m dressing Mackenzie when we go outside in the cold, just because I can’t help but worry. I’m sharing all this not to get mom shamed, but to share that we all mess up and make mistakes as parents. Mine was a scary one, but I learned from it and will definitely do things differently next time!