AIBU to think that a stranger collecting a baby from a nursery is a massive safeguarding issue?

The issues with this aren’t just what did happen, but what could have happened. That’s where places have to properly investigate what happened, how it happened, what it did lead to, what it could have lead to, and how it can be prevented from happening again.

Even with the Grandfather having the best of intentions there could have been major issues.

How common is it now for children to be given a snack straight after leaving nursery or school? Incredibly from what I’ve seen. So you’ve the potential of allergy issues.

The first thing that happens with my DD when she finishes school is that she’s given her medication. Giving that medication to another child could cause them very, very serious harm. Not giving it to DD in a timely fashion has an impact on when she can eat, when she can receive her next medications and if prolonged could cause issues.

The issue of people piggybacking through secure doors is something all childcare facilities should be well aware of. That grandad could have been a parent who isn’t allowed to collect. It shouldn’t solely be down to relying on people collecting not to let someone else in. Nobody should be able to get from the door to the rooms unnoticed.

I also would think this man is no longer competent to collect his GC. The other man didn't think he was doing anything wrong, I'm sure it didn't occur to him the older man would walk brazenly into a nap room and lift a child without engaging with staff. If he has ever done collections before he would know this isnt the procedure. If he has even half a functioning brain he will know you do not walk into a room of children without staff present and you certainly don't leave the premises without telling anybody. I feel bad for the nursery when I hear this version of events, this man's behaviour was so ridiculous it's almost impossible to have a system that prevents such a negligent act.

Absolutely!
Is grandad suitable to collect and supervise the tot, if he doesn’t know which one she is?!

Imagine if he’d walked off with the wrong tot at a playground or play centre? The one he should have been watching would be unsupervised.

It would be perfectly possible for an opportunist predator to take advantage of this situation. What matters is whether it could have happened.

Police done investigate breaches of Health and Safety?

Are you psychic?
You don’t know what was in his head. I agree that’s the most likely option, if you can get past the fact he didn’t recognise his GD.

You don’t actually know that and won’t until there has been an investigation.

Which is why there should be one, not a cover up.

It probably does happen more often than people realise, and more often than nurseries actually report to Ofsted. That doesn’t make it any less of an issue though.

People are very lax on their childcare settings quite often (and I say that as someone who has had 5 of my 6 kids in childcare at points). When I ran a holiday playscheme I was actually amazed and how few questions people asked about our set up or staff. It was particularly interesting that because I worked in schools people assumed all was good, even though they were actually in no way linked.

People assume that nurseries, childcare settings, and schools to an extent always do things “properly” and many really don’t.

BECAUSE OF OPPORTUNITY.

Why do people always regurgitate this without thinking. It’s such a dangerous attitude and only takes a moment of thinking about why most abuse happens within families. Predators don’t become safe as soon as they’re out in public ffs.

Yes, I'm sure if the man concerned was a child abuser (and I'm not suggesting he was), he would assure the mother he hadn't done anything untoward...

I did lol at this initially. Sorry. Just picturing the poor blokes face when he realised he had the wrong child and the embarrassment of going back and having to admit you’re not familiar with your own grandchild.

but yes , of course, wider implications and they need to be transparent about how this happened

It’s not really misleading though, as far as the child and the child’s family go the adult man was a total stranger. The man being related to someone else doesn’t make him less of a stranger to the child he took.

How can you say this with any certainty?

Your logic makes no sense.

You're assuming that any and all men given the opportunity of 15 minutes would absolutely sexually assault a small child.

Him saying "I didn't do anything, I promise" would not convince you.... because WHAT IF HE'S LYING?
You'd have absolutely no way of trusting his word 100%, so you would be no better off.

Except now you know his name/number whatever and might go on to warn others to watch out for the noncey-grandpa who says he did nothing, but you don't want to take any chances so will tell everyone you can to stay away from him.

It is true to my knowledge as I know people who use this nursery. I was not attempting to escalate events, quite the opposite actually.

I agree but I think this kind of thing happens way more often than we think.

The reason this has gone viral is because the grandad ended up leaving with the wrong baby.

If the dad had held the door open for the grandad and then the grandad had collected the correct baby then there wouldn't really be a story. Probably the nursery would have just sent out an email to parents reminding them not to let other parents in. I imagine this happens all of the time - a well meaning parent holds the door open for someone standing behind them.

Oh yes, pure speculation and escalation of events... That definitely must be true....

This was published in the local press-it isn’t a secret!

You’ve been dismissive to people on a few other threads I’ve been reading this week, please don’t.

No it won't. Just maybe a bit confused.

The headline is somewhat misleading. It wasn't a random stranger. It was the grandparent of another child so someone presumably known to the nursery.

If a grandmother had gone to nursery to pick up her grandchild and left with the wrong baby I think most people would be seriously concerned about the grandma's welfare. I know I'd certainly be worried about my mum and would ask her to go to the GP if she had done that. I'd certainly doubt her ability to care for my child from that point. You would expect your child's grandmother to know their face.

People seem to be downplaying what the grandad has done here and I think it's because he's a bloke and it's the stereotype of "well blokes are useless with babies". But it's actually very concerning.

Unless there's a background that the grandad barely sees the child, then I hope he's had some sort of medical assessment.

If it turns out the nursery were unaware a child had been removed from the building by a random person they had no idea had been in the building then they should be shut down. That simply should not be able to happen.

If that’s accurate the staff and management should be thanking their lucky stars that it was a grandparent there for a genuine pick up (even though it was cocked up) and the child was returned unharmed.

Like I said before. It's your husband or your dad or your brother you should be more concerned about...

I assume you are joking, that's not the same thing at all.
I agree the nursery have acted shockingly and can't believe two members of staff didn't know this grandfather picked up the wrong child but I seriously doubt the grandfather deliberately picked up the wrong child and did something awful in the 15; minutes he was alone with her.
As I said this is an issue for Ofsted and they will investigate because even if the nursery didn't tell them (they should have done) it's public knowledge now.
More than likely the nursery will be closed down.

The word in the local area is that another child's dad showed up to pick up their child. This dad was buzzed in on the intercom by a member of staff in the front office. Another child's grandad was behind him and the dad, trying to be polite, has held the door open for the grandad and this allowed the grandad to enter the nursery without there being any formal log of the event. Somehow whoever was sat in the office had not clocked that someone followed the dad in. Maybe they assumed that he was related to the dad and accompanying them to pick up the dad's child?

The grandad has then gone into the nap room, picked up the (wrong) child and left and it was missed by the staff as they had no formal log of the grandad being in the building, they were probably preoccupied with handing over the other child to their dad. Apparently the dad that held the door open received a bollocking from the nursery and was told to never do it again and all the parents were sent correspondence also warning them.

My child isn't at this exact nursery but will be attending a nursery of the same chain very close by and I'm baffled by it all to be fair. I've chosen to not withdraw my child as I am sure they will be extra on the ball with security now.

I have spoken to people who have chosen to keep their child at the nursery on the basis that it's another dad who let the bloke in rather than a case of a staff member handing a child over to a randomer.