Keith Wyman purchased a protective covering for the ladder on his family’s new above-ground pool. It was intended to keep his toddler from danger.
Instead, the 2-year-old was able to climb the cover by pulling himself up on the slats.
“Two seconds. He was that fast,” Wyman told NBC Boston.
The Massachusetts father filmed his diaper-clad son, Cody, climb up the ladder gate again. Just as the boy reaches the top of the platform, his mother intervenes and pulls him off — much to the dismay of the determined toddler.
“So I bought this ladder with the pool. And (I'm) watching my son, with it locked and shut, pull himself up this ladder,” he says in the clip. Who’s big idea was it to have this door put on the ladder with slots like that, with a 2-year-old that can pull himself up and climb this thing?”
Wyman then posted the recording online to serve as a warning to other parents.
The video has more 20 million views and 616,000 shares since the Massachusetts dad posted the video to his Facebook account.
Wyman said he went back to the store where he purchased the ladder and gate, but noticed all the other options were similarly designed.
The family now plans to install a fence around the pool to better protect it, but hope their video raises awareness.
“It was an eye-opener,” Wyman, said. “It was a life lesson and we want to get this out there, to tell everybody that it is pool season. It’s pool season. Watch your kids.”