To think I’ve blown my chances of looking after DGD again

Either you or the parents should have sought medical attention for an infant falling headfirst onto a hard floor. This is mostly on the parents though as they obviously decided not to for whatever reason
Regardless, making a hot drink and balancing a baby on your hip is a really silly idea. I’m sure you look after dgd well most of the time and are mortified about the incident but if I was the child’s Mum I would be really wary of you minding her again

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The thread is about the op and how she felt about what happened she is obviously still shook. Not about whether she should have taken her grandchild to A&E in August and we are now in November and the child is still fine. It's okay to use commonsense and you know when your child is unwell. She played after and they felt confident that she was okay. No need for the judge and jury comments. You weren't there.

The op hasn't returned and I don't blame her. Start your own thread and talk about the NHS and there guidelines. Berating the op about an incident that happened in August is wasting your time.

You can't tell by looking at a person how serious a head injury is. A person may appear OK initially and the effects take hold later. I have worked with babies and children who have suffered head injuries that appear OK at first, those injuries can have life changing, life lasting effects so yes, unless I could see what's going on inside I would absolutely follow NHS guidelines.

I’d also have taken the baby to a&e, but the parents may well have done so after they left and not told the op

Accidents happen, no matter who is in charge. 🤷‍♀️

Yes I believe in following guidance where it is provided by a reputable source and written by people much more knowledgeable on the subject than me. If I were a head injury specialist maybe I would feel my knowledge outweighed the NHS guidance but I am not. Lots of people on the thread have said them same. You don’t have to agree but it is not a crazy stance for me to take to think it’s right to follow national medical guidance especially with a child.

The op and the parents felt that it wasn't necessary. It's okay to use common sense. They may have felt because she was playing she was fine. Do you think her parents were wrong and should have taken her to A&E?

You weren't there and don't know how quickly the child bounced back.

You don’t need to be a medical specialist to follow guidance. The NHS guidance is to get medical attention for a fall of more than 1m (don’t know OPs height but if she’s an average height, for example 5 foot 4 is 162cm, then a toddler being held on her hip would have had their hips at around 1m off the floor and their head higher)

reference www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-injury-and-concussion/

Absolutely , definitely not saying otherwise,

Can't believe that either! We still won't even iron in the same room as our 4yo (small rooms and boisterous child) in case of an accident. That may be overzealous but my gosh, holding a baby and an iron at the same time?! Unbelievable.

When DS1 was 13 months my mum was holding him while ironing and managed to burn his face with the iron.

What??? Who irons while holding a child???

The first time my sister left baby with her husband , she rolled off the sofa and donked her head , huge egg on forehead & lots of tears . Granted that was his own child but he said his first thought was wife was going to go mad rather than is my child actually ok 😬
My own opinion would be accidents happen & children bounce ( usually ) I’m sure they will come around x

The op has said she looks after her other grandchildren every week. It was probably a one off and they needed someone to look after her. The op is feeling vulnerable and bad for what happened. It's obvious there is no bad feelings because they still visit. Op got her one opportunity to babysit and she thought it was going to be regular and it was just a one off. The usual babysitter is probably Dil mum. Women lean on their mother's not their mil for support. I am sure the op is loved by her family.

When DS1 was 13 months my mum was holding him while ironing and managed to burn his face with the iron. She put him in his buggy and ran to the pharmacy but hadn't put it up properly and it folded up with him in it.

She had a lot of experience looking after my sister's three children and was so upset we couldn't stay angry. She did look after him again and I didn't worry because I knew she wouldn't make the same mistake a second time.

Accidents do happen and I am sure your DS and DIL will ask you to look after her again.

It’s interesting to see how many posters, although in the minority, feel the ops desire to babysit should top trump the parents right to decide for their own child and exercise caution. It’s not a thought process I can understand or get on board with. I feel bad she’s got hurty feelings, but it’s not like they banned her seeing her granddaughter, she sees her plenty, just they don’t leave her alone in her care. For me, their feelings are the priority, not the ops need to babysit.

You’ll only know for sure if you ask them; I’d be worried that you’re not strong enough or quick enough to prevent an accident. Give it a couple of years and she will be easier to manage, you could offer to look after her whilst they visit you - let her mum have a rest etc.

That's what's funny about the responses none of them was there and yet they are medical specialists. The op and the parents felt it didn't require immediate medical attention. Well spotted

Your username is a bit fishy, OP!

So this was the very first (and possibly last) time you have been left in sole care of this child?

i think in their shoes, I would be worried.

Although I am… surprised that they didn’t take to a & e. What you describe is a fall from height and head trauma

Head injuries must always be checked out. Can take days for repercussions to show up.

You’d feel a lot worse if your child had a life altering injury.

Instead of waiting around and giving yourself a hard time waiting for them to ask you to babysit why don’t you ask them if they’d like you to babysit on X date? See what they say