A mother has urged parents to be wary of a cot set-up that could be "dangerous" with two or more young children.
Alison Johnson, who is mum to twins Caleb and Libby, uploaded a photo to Facebook of her two cots side-by-side with a small gap between them.
"I wanted to share something very scary that happened today," Johnson wrote in the Facebook post.
"This morning I put Caleb down for his nap. Shortly after he started to cry," Johnson explained.
"After a few minutes, I went in to check on him.
"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."
Johnson said she usually uses Caleb's nap time as an opportunity to shower, but had decided against it on this specific day.
"Had I done that today and checked on him after five minutes, he would have literally hung himself," she added.
"When baby proofing, I never in a million years would have seen this as a potential danger.
"It's incredibly heartbreaking to think of what the outcome could have been today.
"I'm still totally shook up over it and don't think the vision of him stuck there will ever leave my head."
Alison Johnson with her partner Johnny and their twin children
The mother uploaded the post to Facebook on Monday 4 April and it was shared 42,500 times in four days.
"How very scary," one person commented. "Hardest part of being a mummy is trying to plan for anything, but this I never would have thought was a danger.
"You are awesome for sharing your story."
Another added: "So very frightening, but such a blessing everything turned out fine and a great idea for you to share this information."
Johnson later responded to the thousands of comments on her post saying she was glad it was bringing "so much awareness".
"I never would've seen that set up as dangerous before this," she wrote.
"So scary, but I'm happy our experience is helping others."
She said her post is relevant to any parent of children close in age, but she has had the most feedback from mums of twins, adding: "I've received hundreds of messages from twin mums saying their nurseries are set up just like this, so they've moved the cribs apart now."
