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Original poster

Baby taken away by social services whilst in A&E

413 replies

napol · 11/11/2019 21:32

Hi

I'm new to Mumsnet but am in desperate need of help/advice or better still has anyone out there been in the same situation as me.

I dropped my 10 month old boy at nursery one morning at 8am. He was his normal self - happy chappy with no injuries. I got a call from the nursery at 4.30pm from the manager saying despite no accident happening at nursery throughout the day he had developed a lump on the side of his head but not to worry as he was in no pain or discomfort but best I get it checked out.

we picked him up and took him to a&e immediately where to our horror he was diagnosed with a fractured skull. because the injury was unexplained social services and police were called and the decision was made not to let us take our baby boy home. We are now under investigation and cannot see him unless supervised. it looks like it will go to court months down the line.

We are innocent of any neglect or wrong doing and it seems to us the nursery are obviously to blame. Understandably we are devastated and heartbroken and just want our boy home

OP posts:
ruralcat · 11/11/2019 23:53

I wonder whether them saying that a lump has developed was their way of ensuring he accessed medical treatment without admitting that an accident had taken place.
I'd be getting a firm answer on how long a lump forms after head trauma (though I think it's pretty instant) and also explore why the nursery would want to cover it up if something has happened there, what are the repercussions for them.
It sounds like an awful stressful time and I hope your little boy is okay and he gets the right outcome.

Slappadabass · 12/11/2019 00:03

Bless you, I can't even imagine how awful this is for you.

My only advice, as you say you already have legal advice would be to document everything, the whole time line, the conversations you have had with everyone. Keep a log of absolutely everything.

Fingers crossed you are cleared soon and your boy can come home!

LittleMsM · 12/11/2019 00:08

So sad to hear this is happening to you, no advice - but feel lucky because my 6 month old used her legs to push away from me, and fell, went straight to A&E, couple days later boggy swelling, I went in again and insisted they did a scan and I had a gut feeling it was bad - was kept in neuro ward a couple of nights (including my first mothers day) and then sent home... It's devestating when they are hurt, badly. Mine was an accident - she pushed her legs off me, as I hadn't pretended to put lipbalm on her lips as I usually did, and she landed on the hardest tiles in the house... Based on your story I can't comprehend why they took your baby away/or didn't take mine - I was breastfeeding, and breastfed her to calm her prior to scan (so they didn't have to give a sedative.) And I repeatedly told the story of what happened in detail...

Grandmi · 12/11/2019 00:12

This is so awful for you. I definitely think that the fact that the nursery flagged up the injury to you suggests they new something had happened there !

AlpineCoromandel · 12/11/2019 00:15

I'm wondering if something happened at 11 am that they didnt see. Eg. He climbed up something and a toddler pulled him down. (Can he climb?) Or he or another child pulled something on to him. Or a shelf or tv fell on him.
Or he fell off a changing table but it was covered up.
He was then inconsolable and they phoned about calpol. They later realised there was a huge bump so phoned again

BlackeyedSusan · 12/11/2019 00:17

ask whether any medical conditions can make him more likely to fracture bones.

dd is hypermobile and bruises more easily. Thankfuly we have a diagnosis, but we have been questioned on this before. Not as much as one would expect though.

savingshoes · 12/11/2019 00:26

A child presenting with a fractured skull would likely stay in hospital rather than be discharged to the care of parent or social care, surely?

You would then be able to have supervised contact at hospital? Gives you more time to discuss the injury with medical professionals

  • does it look like an old injury or new?
  • show how upset you are that your child has been in pain.
  • check reviews on nursery etc
VenusTiger · 12/11/2019 00:34

So sorry to read this OP. Hope you can hurry the case on and get your baby back home Flowers

Beveren · 12/11/2019 00:35

A child presenting with a fractured skull would likely stay in hospital rather than be discharged to the care of parent or social care, surely?

No, the child wouldn't be kept in hospital indefinitely. It looks as if this happened some time ago.

SquashedFlyBiscuit · 12/11/2019 00:40

Gosh how scary. I honestly cant imagine. How is your baby now?

WhenISnappedAndFarted · 12/11/2019 00:40

I've got no advice apart from get yourself some good lawyers.

It sounds like something happened in the nursery. I'm so sorry this has happened and I hope you get your baby back soon.

woogal · 12/11/2019 00:41

I hope baby gets back to you soon op and you get answers.

It does sound like nursery know more than they're letting on.

savingshoes · 12/11/2019 00:45

he had a temperature and could they give him capol. is that suspicious
"Fever in patients with severe head injury is a commonly-encountered diagnostic and management problem. Neurogenic fever (NF) is a non-infectious source of fever in the patient with head injury"
I found that information when searching fever and head injury.
Hope it helps.

Fizzbombs · 12/11/2019 01:08

Every parents worst nightmare, I'm so sorry OP. I hope your son is recovering well and that you're coping as best you can given the situation.

Unfortunately SS response doesn't surprise me. I have a friend who's young son used to bang his head against his cot bars and when the bruises were noticed he was removed from her care and she was placed under suspicion of abuse because they didn't believe her version of events.

It was then noted whilst the little boy was in foster care that he head banged, a year later he was diagnosed with autism whilst still in foster care.

My son is also autistic and bangs his head so this is a fear I live with every day.

I'm not suggesting your son is autistic, merely sharing this story so you know you're not alone as far as SS removing children where parents aren't at fault.

I hope this is cleared up quickly and efficiently so your boy can come home soon.

Derbee · 12/11/2019 01:08

OP, how awful for you. I think one of the most important things is to write everything down, as you think of it or remember something.

Get a good solicitor, and work from the angle that the nursery are covering up a serious accident.

I hope he’s ok, and I hope he’s back with you soon

Derbee · 12/11/2019 01:09

The calpol phone call is highly suspicious. Make sure you have a record of the call. Did they log that they’d given him calpol etc?

mathanxiety · 12/11/2019 01:15

I would suspect the nursery, and the Calpol at 11 might well be related to the injury.

Do they have CC tv in the infant area?

Any new or subbing staff? Any staff shortage that day?

How long did he sleep that day? What were his nap/sleep times?

Does their injury /accident log contain more or less than the usual average accident / injury log in nurseries?

mathanxiety · 12/11/2019 01:19

A bump is likely to appear very soon after an injury.

Is is possible he was injured at 11, given calpol as they saw a lump and he was crying, then later when the calpol wore off he cried again in pain and they noticed the lump hadn't gone down, then called with their second report to you?

AlpineCoromandel · 12/11/2019 01:24

How did they not notice the lump at 11 when they took his temperature and gave him calpol?

JenniferM1989 · 12/11/2019 01:45

It seems very, very likely that he banged his head around 11am and they gave him calpol to try and calm him down. A lump from a fracture appears very quickly and the police and SS will know very soon that it's pretty much impossible that this injury took place when your son was at home because the lump was apparently not visible until almost 9 hours after being out of your care.

It's obviously presumptive to say the nursery let him fall and covered it up but it does seem very likely that this happened. Why would the nursery advise you to take him to A&E if they never saw an injury happen? Do they advise parents to take their kids to A&E when random lumps appear? Surely they'd have said oh this lump appeared and we don't know what it is as he hasn't banged it, maybe best to get a GP appointment or keep an eye on it. The recommendation of A&E comes from a place of them knowing he may have a serious injury in my view. Someone will crack and tell the truth and if they don't, the police will get to the bottom of it.

I'm really sorry, it must be horrible for you but you will him back soon without a doubt ♥️

QueenoftheDay · 12/11/2019 01:45

This is a truly awful story OP. I am so so sorry for you.

How is your boy now? Is he alright?

ObtuseTriangle · 12/11/2019 01:50

Whenever my Ds has bumped his head it’s been an immediate and obvious egg swelling. When you picked him up did the lump look obvious? Did his hair cover it and it could only be felt?

So sorry you are going through this. It sounds like nursery are covering something up and I hope they get to the bottom of it and quickly so you can have your baby back.

Cucuclown99999 · 12/11/2019 02:01

My dd has special needs and doesn’t communicate. I’ve been in a few situations where some staff at her school were fired due to covering up certain falls or bumps she’s had.
Schools get very scared and they will try their very best to cover their own backside. Even the ones with great reputation.
You’ve done nothing wrong. They will get to the bottom of it. It’s just so heartbreaking that you have to be away from your son while all this is going on.

WhatsWrongWithHun · 12/11/2019 02:09

This sounds horrific. So sorry you're going through this OP Flowers

Jon6b · 12/11/2019 02:10

You are entitled to legal aid and should seek help from a specialist solicitor re care orders etc asap. Where social services have involvement-in the event that social services are applying for a care order,supervision order or emergency protection order in relation to your children, legal aid is always automatically available- it may also be available to extended family members but will depend on whether they are eligible by way of their means and the strength of their case.