Aside from the baby swings, there’s just not much for the younger set to do at most playgrounds. Before long, the swings seem boring. The slide beckons. But a toddler doesn’t seem able to go down alone. So you pick the child up, place him on your lap, and away you both go.

Everyone does it. But, according to a new study, no one should.

Study methods
Having noticed a rash of fractured shin bones among toddlers who had been on playground slides, Dr. John Gaffney sought to find the cause. He reviewed the charts and x-rays of all children diagnosed with tibia fractures at the emergency room of a level 1 trauma center or an orthopedic surgeons’ practice during an eleven-month period.

Dr. Gaffney looked at the child’s age at the time of injury, mechanism of injury, time between injury and medical treatment, identification of the fractured bone, treatment, and outcome. Medical records also provided information about whether the child had gone down the slide with another person, and if so, who that person was and how the child was seated in relation to that person when the injury happened.

Study results
Dr. Gaffney found 58 medical records for tibia fractures, eight of which were sustained while playing on a slide. The children with the fractured tibia ranged in age from 14 months to 32 months (mean = 20.6 months).

In all eight cases, the fractures occurred while the child was going down the slide on the lap of an adult. All of the breaks occurred when the toddler’s foot became fixed along the surface of the slide. The affected leg either twisted or became stuck under the adult as the adult-toddler pair continued down the slide.

All of the shin fractures were treated with long leg casts. Seven children were able to have their casts removed after four weeks; one had to have it in place for six weeks.

Take-home message
This study does not include data about how often parents go down playground slides with their children, and so we cannot draw any conclusions about how often such injuries occur. Also, since none of the injuries occurred when toddlers were seated with other children (older siblings, for example), we cannot know if those risks would be the same. Finally, one wonders if children could be educated to hold still during such rides, thus eliminating the risk of stuck legs.

Still, it is hard to justify risking a child’s broken bone for a few seconds’ thrill ride down a playground slide. Dr. Gaffney suggests that children not be allowed to use playground slides until they are able to do so independently: climbing stairs or ladders on their own, maintaining a sitting position while sliding downward, and feeling unafraid by the task.

In other words, parents drawn to the playground with their toddlers had better stick with the baby swings, the sandbox, or—if you’re lucky enough to have it—the toddler-size playground equipment. When that’s not available, here’s an idea: Look to the environment. Many toddlers are thrilled by the world around them and can get a great deal of enjoyment from leaves, dirt, and the like.