“I was a young mother of two small girls. Our bedtime ritual was bath, then a little quiet playtime, then off to bed, where I would read to the girls for a while and then tuck them in.
I had finished reading and tucked the girls in, and we all said our good nights. I plopped down on the sofa, ready to watch a little TV. While I was relaxing, I kept getting this nagging feeling I should go and check on my youngest. But I could almost see into her room from the living room, and it had only been a few minutes since I had said good night, so I just ignored it. A little time went past, and still, I had the feeling I should go check. So during a commercial, I got up and walked into the girls’ bedroom. They were both still covered up, sound asleep, my beautiful babies. I leaned over the oldest and kissed the top of her head, and she didn’t move a muscle. Then I leaned over and kissed the youngest on top of her head, and she moved her head slightly. By the glow of the nightlight, I could see that something was wrapped around her neck.
I looked closer and realized that it was the binding of the blanket. It must have come loose, and she pulled on it and messed with it until the thread gave out and a long section of binding was pulled loose.
I couldn’t see in the dark well enough how to get it unwrapped, so I turned on the lamp. Now I could tell it was wrapped twice around my daughter’s neck. She woke up while I was fumbling with the binding, and I was finally able to get it from around her neck. Then she started crying and saying she was sorry. My hands were shaking as I rubbed her back and consoled her and then I got a new blanket that didn’t have any binding around the edges and remade her bed with her in it. We giggled a little, while my other daughter never woke up.
I’m so glad I listened to that little nagging voice. Who knows, my daughter might have been strangled in the night by the satin binding from that blanket. Never again did my kids sleep with blankets that had binding around the edges. And I thank God for the small voice, nagging at me, on that particular night.”
