Parents Issue Warning After 3-Year Old Gets Locked in Washer

A frightening could have ended much worse for a Colorado couple whose 3-year-old daughter became locked in their front-loading washer.

Alan and Lindsey McIver purchased the new High-Efficiency washer on Monday (7/9) and instructed their three children that they were not to touch it. The next day the McIvers woke to their 4-year-old son Jace crying and sobbing. They soon realized that the boy was trying to alert them that his sister Kloe was locked inside the machine.

Once the couple realized what the boy was trying to communicate, they raced to the laundry room.

“I could tell she was screaming, but the machine’s airtight,” Alan told Good Morning America earlier this week. “I yanked on the door, I pulled so hard I moved the machine from the wall, but it’s locked, you can’t get it open.” Because the machine was so new to the family, they weren’t entirely clear on how it worked. But Alan continued pushing buttons and pulling on the door, and after pressing pause and then power, the door unlocked, and Kloe was rescued.

The McIvers have since installed a physical lock on the machine and are using the machine's built-in safety lock. LG, the maker of the washing machine recognized her actions.

"We applaud Ms. McIver for telling her story and share in her efforts to make sure that consumers are aware of the child safety lock feature.”