diff --git a/sources/dynamodb/shard.go b/sources/dynamodb/shard.go
index 3b33d62c..3e39781e 100644
--- a/sources/dynamodb/shard.go
+++ b/sources/dynamodb/shard.go
@@ -28,10 +28,11 @@ func (s *StreamStore) processShard(ctx context.Context, shard *dynamodbstreams.S
 		return
 	}
 
-	if shard.ParentShardId != nil {
-		parentID := *shard.ParentShardId
-		if s.storage.GetShardProcessing(parentID) && !s.storage.GetShardProcessed(parentID) {
-			slog.Info("Parent shard is being processed, let's sleep 3s and retry", slog.String("shardId", *shard.ShardId))
+	if parentID := shard.ParentShardId; parentID != nil {
+		// If the parent shard exists, is it still being processed? If so, let's wait a bit and then retry.
+		// We must process the parent shard first before processing the child shard.
+		if s.storage.GetShardProcessing(*parentID) && !s.storage.GetShardProcessed(*parentID) {
+			slog.Info("Parent shard is being processed, let's sleep 3s and retry", slog.String("shardId", *shard.ShardId), slog.String("parentShardId", *parentID))
 			time.Sleep(3 * time.Second)
 			s.processShard(ctx, shard, writer)
 			return