Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

Original poster

Baby injured at childminders - advice needed please

212 replies

EmilyD2012 · 25/04/2013 14:03

My DS (10mo) returned from the childminders on Tuesday evening suffering from sunburn. Overnight his face swelled up badly, by Wednesday morning his face was horrific - bright red and he couldn't open his left eye because it was so swollen. We took him to A&E and were told he was most likely suffering an allergic reaction to something or severe sunburn.

After giving him antihistemines and pain relief we were discharged and his face slowly started to deflate. Yesterday afternoon his skin started to blister and, by the evening, was weeping constantly. I took him to the doctors who said that he was suffering from serious sunburn to the face. I asked the childminder how long he had been out in the sun for and she said it had been 30 minutes at most. The doctor disputed this and said that it was very unlikely to have such a dramatic reaction to just 30 minutes in the sun. It is only April, after all.

The childminder is a friend of mine and has always been brilliant with my DS (she has a baby the same age). No part of me thinks that she would have deliberately let him come to any harm. That said, the last 48 hours have been horrendous. Every time I look at my baby my heart breaks. His face is a mass of blisters and open wounds. His left eye looks like it could bruise. I've been given hydrocortisone cream to treat the skin but every time I touch him he screams in pain. Last night I put him to bed and wept.

Today, the childminder came round and saw for herself what a terrible state he is in. I didn't want to make her feel worse than she no doubt already is, but equally felt it was important for her to see that I wasn't exaggerating when I contacted her from the doctors yesterday.

I just don't know what to do. Some of my friends say that such a careless act is unforgivable and I should never leave my DS with her again. Others are more forgiving and say that, after seeing him, she has surely learnt her lesson.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. What would you do?

Thank you x

OP posts:
Original poster
EmilyD2012 · 25/04/2013 20:57

Hi all,

I'm overwhelmed by the lovely messages of support on here - thank you so much.

Back from the hospital and have been told that that DS is suffering second degree burns to his face. I am devastated. He has been referred to the burns unit at 9am tomorrow where I'll hopefully be able to get some more info as to how this happened.

In the meantime I've had to wash his face with sterilised water and slather it in vaseline to lock in the moisture, which he didn't enjoy very much. I just feel so awful for him suffering in this way.

As far as I can tell there are two options - neither of which are particularly pleasant:

  1. The CM has not been entirely truthful about how long DS was in the sun for; or
  2. DS has a severe allergy to the sun which has only just manifested itself.

I will update again once I have seen the burns specialist - I'm hoping they'll be able to confirm which of the two options it is...or let me know of another mystery option that I'm missing!

Thank you again so much for the words of wisdom, it's been a really big help.

x

PS Tanith I haven't told any of my friends my childminder is lying - where did you get that from? What I said is that the doctor disputed her version of events, not me. I have told my friends exactly what I have written here; i.e. the truth as I know it. The CM has admitted that she left him in the sun with no lotion on, but maintains that it was only for 30 minutes.

OP posts:
OutragedFromLeeds · 25/04/2013 20:56

duchesse 2,600 people a year die from skin cancer. How many die from aluminium poisoning from suncream?

ZolaBuddleia · 25/04/2013 20:51

OP, what about your baby's hands? Any reaction there?

Surely suncream applied at drop off isn't going to last until the end of the day? How odd, surely putting on suncream is the same as changing nappies, giving medicine etc?

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:51

But it's more chemicals

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:50

Can take a supplement.... (fat fingers!)

minderjinx · 25/04/2013 20:49

I ask all my parents to apply longlasting suncream before the children come to me (though in practice some of them don't). It's about time, not child protection. Most of them have one child to do - I would have typically five or six over the course of an eleven hour day, plus my own two. Of course I'm happy to top it up if they get wet or have to be washed, but I also ask parents to put the same cream in their changing bags, just in case a different brand might cause an adverse reaction (and I suppose covering myself from getting blamed if my chosen brand caused a problem). I wouldn't find it feasible to keep indoors or in shade all the time - I have to wait in line outside to pick up from nursery for example.

Blondeshavemorefun · 25/04/2013 20:48

it was hot in kent tuesday, i sat in my garden and caught the sun on my face/shoulders while reading for about 30mins - and my skin loves the sun and is used to it, yet i still went a tad red when out of the shower

sounds to me your dc got burnt, 30mins in sun is a lot for a 10mth old :( and even more so if didnt have cream on

by 10 am or so it was obvious it was going to be a nice day so why didnt your cm put suncream on - im assuming she didnt as op didnt say the cm said

as a nanny im prob over zealous with suncream on my charges but better that then burnt

what are her policys for suncream/will she apply /use her brand if you/others didnt supply any

only you can decide op if you can trust cm again - it sounds like an accident, but one that shouldnt have happened -

i know of nannies who have had burnt charges - their fault :(, i have gone into work on a monday and had burnt charges as parents hadnt creamed :(

both as just as bad as each other

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:47

You can't take a vit d supplement

duchesse · 25/04/2013 20:45

And most sunscreen contains aluminium, implicated in various nasty diseases. It does indeed contain many nasty chemicals. The least noxious way of protecting from the sun is clothing, but you can't cover a face and a tan is the body's natural way of protecting itself from sunlight, not the signs of some hideous reaction to the great homicidal orb in the sky. Dear sweet god, we evolved for millions of years under the sun- why has it become the enemy? Chances are the OP's baby did not get a ray of sunshine in the whole of last year so his body is learning how to deal with it. In all honesty though, that does sound quite an extreme reaction.

narmada · 25/04/2013 20:43

Well that is ok littlebit, your choice. It is true we are chronically short of vit D. But personally I would rather take a supplement and NOT risk malignant melanoma..... or looking like a wrinkly old handbag vain

LynetteScavo · 25/04/2013 20:42

I think a lot of people were caught out on Tuesday. It wasn't that hot...but was certainly sunny. I'm not surprised an inexperienced (if she is, I don't know) childminder didn't realise how much damage could be done in that weather. If your DC is 10 months old, their skin probably hasn't ever been exposed to any sun before.

Did it occur to you to send your DC to the childminder with sun hat and cream that day, EmilyD2012?

Oh, and I wouldn't use a childminder who refused to apply sun cream.

duchesse · 25/04/2013 20:42

In general most children and adults for that matter in the uk are not getting enough exposure to sunlight without sun block to absorb enough vit d, so littlebit is right. NHS information here, which says to cover up before you get burnt, not before you go out in the sun. Most of our Vitamin D comes from the sun.

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:41

Just out of interest....how many of your children have sun cream applied at school by a teacher?

Cravingdairy · 25/04/2013 20:41

I am intrigued to know the secret to keeping children in the shade on a sunny day without physically restraining them.

There is no way I would use a setting that refused to apply sunscreen to my child.

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:40

I don't believe in using suncream for the reasons outlined above... But you can if you want

narmada · 25/04/2013 20:39

How utterly ridiculous that anyone is training anyone not to apply suncream. The trainer has misunderstood child protection policy I think. I suggest you check again with your local children's safeguarding board.

OP I hope your little one is ok :( and that things resolve with your CM.

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:37

Sorry, I'm not defending myself, I'm just doing what I was trained to do.

OutragedFromLeeds · 25/04/2013 20:35

'Why would you want to to smother your kid in chemicals? A bit of sun is good for you.....vitamin d'

'But there are kids getting ill from not having enough sun!'

What's that ^ then? That wasn't defending it?

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:33

It was what I was told to do in my training. i'm not defending it,i'm just doing what I was trained to do.

RosieGirl · 25/04/2013 20:31

To the OP - I do hope your little one gets better soon. This is a horrible situation. Your CM should go through all the correct protocols herself, marking it in her accident/incident book and probably informing OFSTED herself as you had to take your child to A&E. She needs to re-visit her policies and you need to speak to her to ensure you will be happy for her to continue care. Accidents DO happen and you shouldn't necessarily get rid of her, unless you have really severe misgivings.

Please remember everyone, we were suffering Arctic conditions the week before, NONE of my parents provided hats or suncream this week. No-one really believed it was going to be that warm. On Tuesday all my woolly hats, scarves and gloves were still out, and the summer hats in the loft. I couldn't get to them in time, and have no suncream myself yet. We tried to stay in the shade, but even then I still caught my shoulders and face, the children still had long sleeves on so didn't suffer.

ProphetOfDoom · 25/04/2013 20:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MissLurkalot · 25/04/2013 20:15

OP, I hope your little one's ok... Thinking of you... I'm crossing everything for you.. x

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:14

The children are dropped off and I ask has suncreambeen applied. If they say no the child stays in the shade.

If they say yes, they are allowed to play in the whole garden

If it's raining and they don't have a coat, we play outdoors under the shelter, if they have wellies and a coat we use the whole garden and go puddle jumping.

MrsHiddleston · 25/04/2013 20:11

Good grief... I think you've been reading the daily mail too much.

littlebitofthislittlebitofthat · 25/04/2013 20:10

But there are kids getting ill from not having enough sun!