Comments on: If your toddler falls from your window, will it necessarily die?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 20:35:04 +0000

In reply to natural cynic. That was so sad.

By: Khaled

Khaled — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:59:35 +0000

If you are using an acrylic base, you could try a gel mdiuem. Golden makes excellent gel mdiuems by the tub. They are white when wet and dry clear with a very plastic consistency. They come in light (puddle like) to heavy bodied (thick and hold brush strokes and peaks) gel. They also come in a matte or gloss sheen. I would try a mdiuem bodied gloss gel and smooth it (depending on how thick you’d like the glass) onto an actual glass surface. Be careful of air bubbles. Let it dry completely until clear. peel off gel (like a fruit roll) and cut it to size the window in your piece. Put flatest side up and adhere to painting with super glue. I say super glue because you don’t need much and it would be the least noticable. You can paint over this gel with acrylic or oil if you’d likeIf this is an oil based painting, I would just bite the bullet and paint it to look like glass. Unfortunately you can’t put acrylic over oil because the oil never dries completely. If you were to do the process above, I’m afraid that the gel will cloud ..however, that might be a great effect. Hope this helpsKimberly

By: KeithB

KeithB — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:05:45 +0000

It would be relatively easy and safe to get the terminal velocity of a baby. Simply use one of those free-fall simulators that project air upward at terminal velocity.

As to why Babies don’t end up like the aftermath of a Gallagher concert, this seems to be a job for Mythbusters and some ballistics jell.

By: peicurmudgeon

peicurmudgeon — Tue, 31 May 2011 13:30:50 +0000

I have three children who despite their best efforts, survived to adulthood. They all had the propensity to climb very shortly after they learned to walk. It was a lot of nail biting for years, but as soon as possible, they were signed up for gymnastics. The idea being, if they were going to fall anyway, they should be taught to fall correctly.

By: gwen

gwen — Mon, 30 May 2011 23:10:14 +0000

I can tell you (from PICU nursing experience) that it depends on what they hit when they fall. If they fall onto their heads, they die, or have significant brain injury. The article is somewhat misleading in that it does not break down the fall height survival, nor does it break down into the children (I’d bet it is significant) who suffered either significant or devastating injuries. Nor does it tell you what heights the survivor fell from. Infants/toddlers falling from not too great a height, who land on something soft, or have had their falls broken by something on the way down, and do NOT land on their head, have a greater chance of a short ICU stay for bruising and observation. Their soft bones and chubby baby fat can absorb a lot, their heads cannot.

By: Giliell

Giliell — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:42:39 +0000

@Birger Johansson # 16

But, but wouldn’t that mean they’d have to be naked all the time? *petrify in shock at the thought of naked toddlers*

By: wwwloujostcom#78674

wwwloujostcom#78674 — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:57:03 +0000

Tomato Addict, data would be welcome, but as P Smith suggests, getting it would be a problem. Meanwhile it is safe to think about it theoretically–a watermelon is much less dense than a baby, and has a similar cross-sectional area, so the bit about its terminal velocity is probably right.

I think the baby’s advantage over bags of jelly or watermelons is that babies are both flexible and hard to rip. Ligaments and muscles are very strong but slightly stretchy, and hold the body together even under severe stress.

By: Tomato Addict

Tomato Addict — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:33:10 +0000

@ #17: “… the terminal velocity of a baby is greater than a watermelon …”

We need data! I wonder if we can slip this one past the IRB … 😉

By: P_Smith

P_Smith — Mon, 30 May 2011 17:34:04 +0000

wwwloujostcom#78674: ” P Smith (Poster #8), the article said there were 3700 injuries but only 8 or 9 deaths annually, due to falling out of windows. You wrote “I doubt the survivors of such events are the majority of people involved.”, but they are. “

Okay, I misread the numbers. I just hope you’re not advocating people drop babies to see how often it works. (I’ve heard of a bouncing baby boy, but this is ridiculous….) I think it’s better we stick with the anectodal evidence on this one.

As for why they survive, I suspect it’s the lack of mental development, not just physical as others have mentioned. The brain may not be permanently wired as it becomes in the mid-teens, thus it fixes itself. There have been cases of very young children falling into freezing water and/or suffocating and emerging with no long term brain damage.

In the case shown in the link, half a child’s brain was removed at age six, and the remaining half rewired itself to do the job of both halves. The now ten year old girl walks and talks normally, with no learning difficulties.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36032653/ns/today-today_health/t/meet-girl-half-brain/

By: wwwloujostcom#78674

wwwloujostcom#78674 — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:47:03 +0000

Poster 14: Again, the terminal velocity of a baby is greater than a watermelon and probably not much different than a plastic bag filled with water. Both of the latter would explode. Maybe a sack of thick jelly would survive, maybe not.
Your point about impact footprint does make sense. The watermelon loses points there, but not the bag of water (or jelly).
Maybe our babies have some special adaptations left over from our arboreal ancestors???? They must often have fallen out of trees….
Lou