Mum's side-by-side cot safety warning goes viral

Luckily her 18-month-old twins Caleb and Libby didn't come to any harm – but the mum from Phoenix, Arizona, in the US, shared the story of her dangerous close call on Facebook to warn other parents.

This is what happened: shortly after putting her son Caleb down for a nap one afternoon, Alison heard him crying.

She waited a few minutes – thinking he would soon settle – but then when she went in to check on him, she was horrified to find Caleb in a perilous situation.

Alison explains: "He had climbed out of his crib and was stuck between his crib and Libby's crib.

"His body fit through, but his head wouldn't. He was using every ounce of energy he had to hold himself up by his little arms. If they had given out, he would've just been hanging there by his head."

I have a lot of friends that have twins or kids close in age that may have a similar set up, so I wanted to share...

Posted by Alison Johnson on Monday, 4 April 2016

Alison was horrified and kept replaying the scenario in her head – thinking how lucky she was she hadn't lost her little boy.

"What's even more scary is that, like many mums, I generally use nap time as an opportunity to shower," she admits. "Had I done that today and checked on him after five minutes, he would have literally hung himself."

It really doesn't bear thinking about.

Alison is now urging others to share her post with parents who might have their nursery set up in a similar way.

"It's incredibly heartbreaking to think of what the outcome could have been today," the shaken mum wrote.

"I'm still totally shook up over it and don't think the vision of him stuck there will ever leave my head."

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