Britney Spears Baby Falls from High Chair

James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Britney Spears is in the news for reckless child rearing practices, this time because her son fell from a high chair.

Child welfare officials and a sheriff’s deputy visited Britney Spears’ home because her infant son was accidentally dropped from a high chair, People Magazine and the Los Angeles Times reported. Six-month-old Sean Preston fell April 1 as his nanny was lifting him from the high chair and something in the chair snapped, People said Wednesday on its Web site. The infant slipped from her arms and fell, bruising his head on the floor, the magazine said.

Though a doctor examined the baby at the house, Spears and husband Kevin Federline took the baby to the emergency room to have him examined six days later, the report said. Spears’ attorney, Martin Singer, said in a statement that the hospital made a report to the Department of Children and Family Services as required by state law. “DCFS immediately responded and determined there was no problem and no reason to open a formal investigation. They determined that the parents weren’t involved in the injury and nothing was improper within the home,” he said.

The Los Angeles DCFS and the Lost Hills sheriff’s station declined to give details of Saturday’s visit, and would not say if there was an ongoing investigation. DCFS public-affairs director Louise Grasmehr didn’t return a phone message left Tuesday at her Los Angeles office. The department routinely refuses to discuss cases, citing confidentiality laws. “It’s a very standard, routine patrol request,” Lt. Debra Glaskides said Tuesday. “We just roll out with them. We stood by, we took no action, no report or anything.”

In February, DCFS visited Spears’ home after publication of photographs showing the 24-year-old singer driving with then 4-month-old Sean Preston in her lap, rather than in a car seat as required by law. Spears later apologized, saying she did it because of a “horrifying, frightful encounter with the paparazzi.”

While I don’t endorse carelessness with one’s child any more than I recommend walking around public restrooms barefoot, this coverage strikes me as silly. Certainly, Sean is not the first baby to have been dropped. And Spears didn’t even drop him, her nanny did.

Update: Father of three Kevin Aylward disagrees, “It’s not so unusual for a child to fall out of a high chair – though most parents actually use the provided straps to keep the children in. What is unusual is that Britney and Kevin waited six days to seek medical attention, for a potentially deadly injury. WTF is that all about?”

Britney Spears Baby Falls from High Chair

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