because airport security tampered with my babyharness and did not tell me?

[Ionama]

On a recent attempt to go on holiday, I took off my Baby Bojorn harness and put it thru the xray, I put it on the way I had taken it off and plugged my baby back into the strap I had opened. 5 minutes later may baby fell out of the carrier resulting in a serious injury and I have come to find that 2 side buttons of the harness had been undone. The trip ended up being a 5 day stay in hospital for my baby (and us). No-one told me to come while they 'inspected' my carrier and it was simply in the tray with my hand bag etc. Am I being unreasonable in wanting them to inform parents if/when they do this?.. so that another child's safety is never again compromised..? I am still very much in shock and recovery from my baby's injury... :(

I didn't say she was guilty of anything.

IMHO - and the opinion of quite a few other MNetters, the OP has jumped to a conclusion which is unjustified.

So, therefore, she is BU

Or is that not the point of AIBU?

arriving at a conclusion is the point yes.a blow by blow analysis of her account,words,and need to prove or disprove is really ott.

all the querying minuatie,oh she didnt mention dis or dat that would procedurally happen

or produce cctv for mn jury.nor could she recall the names designation and starsigns of all involved.

OK well I thought people were looking for more information to make an informed decision before jumping to one or other conclusion.

And if the OP wanted hand holding and head patting she should've maybe not posted in AIBU.

Am saying no more other than :

OP, YABVVU

Satisfied?

and if some of you want such derail next time submit a FOI request to the airport about accidents involving minors.just to make sure

I completely agree with Scottishmummy, poor Ionama went through a horrific traumatic event then posted on here for advice and support and got told it was all her fault by some and called a troll by others. I'm sure her heads all over the place after what happened so its not surprising that she can't recall every last detail. I don't think people are being very fair expecting her to justify the exact words she used either.

bottyburp - I agree with you.

The OP asked a question, some of us felt the need to have a few facts before deciding (sm doesn't - it's just words on a screen innit - so say what the fuck you like) - the OP is completely implausible, her account and replies are full of holes and it makes no sense, she ignored many questions etc.... but just because she says her baby was hurt, according to SM we should say SINBU???

Well this is the first chance I have had to come back to this site. I have a small baby and a 7 year old as I have said, and computer time is few and far between. Hopefully now I can answer some points people have raised and then I think I might leave it at that as I don't have the time for this, I did not know much about the site. As you know this is my first post, suggested by my mother in law, to find out if anyone had ever had similar experiences. The question I really wanted to know was if any other parent had had their baby harness 'changed' at security without their knowledge. And of course the AIBU question in asking to be informed about this. Firstly what I have learnt from this posting is that people have had many random 'different' experiences at airport security, meaning that some have had their items inspected WITHOUT being present. Also- I am amazed- one mother posted that she did NOT have to take her baby out of the harness to go thru security!! Then WHY did I HAVE TO?? ..and could leave her sleeping baby IN IT and go thru the 'doorlike' detector and have her harness NOT go thru the xray. So clearly there seems to be NO PARTICULAR protocol in place regarding any of these points, people have their opinions that they are sure IS TRUTH, like I did, that it is FACT that one has to be present to have stuff inspected, but clearly from reading experiences in this forum, that is not the case. This was a question I wanted answering as I, like most of the posters, thought it was POLICY or possibly LAW or protocol or whatever, to REQUIRE that the person to whom the belongings belongs to, to be present. So this forum has been useful as my mother in law suggested it might be. Secondly, does it matter which airport? I totally thought it not relevent, and still don't. The airport security were of course called, they came to me, on the floor with my baby, they asked me if I wanted paramedics and an ambulance and I said yes. They arranged for our bags to be taken off of the plane. They were excellent, and I am positive the incident was logged! Of course it was! We did not have to go thru security again, we were taken out of a side door from inside security directly onto a street and into an ambulance. Third, I used the word TAMPERED as I thought that to INSPECT an item, the owner had to be present-as I have said.. I promise to look that word up though, I can accept if it is the wrong word. Also I find it relevent to point out that I had placed my baby in the BB upon leaving the car in the long term parking, rode the bus and went thru the entire airport with him safe in it. At security, I unplugged ONE of the base plugs to get him out handed him to my husband and took the thing off over my shoulder, as I have done many times. After security I put it back on and placed him in the same way. I rechecked/double checked THAT plug that I had just plugged him into, as that is the one that I had opened. AND I HAD NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT MY HARNESS HAD BEEN 'CHANGED' in anyway, AS I HAD NOT BEEN CALLED OVER. I then HELD him in the BB as we were walking briskly to get to the gate and I did not want him jiggling. It was approx 5 minutes later when I lifted my arm up that he, asleep, slipped out underneath my outstretched arm. When I was waiting for the ambulance I again unplugged the base and took the BB off over my shoulder and put it aside (for 5 days)...SO..fourth point raised...is why I did not inspect it for 5 days. The next morning my husband left me and my baby to take our older son to my mothers and to go back to airport to collect luggage, a well as to go home to get some things. He took 'stuff' away with him, including the BB. AIBU in saying to you that I did not want to look at the thing? As I have said I really did not care HOW it happened, at that point. I assumed it broke, but I did not care at that point and nor could I bring myself to look at it. So when we returned home 5 days later, (5 hrs drive from the hospital and airport is where we live) the BB was where he'd left it on a pile on the bed. It was then that I picked it up to inspect it and there that I saw the buttons undone. It was there that I traced my mind back to HOW THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED, and the only place possible was at airport security. I am not looking for anyone to BLAME. I am looking to piece together how this happened, for myself, as well as to prevent this from ever happening to anyone again, ie to find out what indeed IS policy...and for this I need to ask questions and get answers. Also I do not know that anyone did this at security for SURE, I am speculating based upon the evidence and the facts I have so far. I am and was as I have said, a few times, looking for answers to questions, one being DOES A PERSON HAVE TO BE PRESENT to have their stuff inspected etc and two being has anything like this ever happened to anyone else. It is possible that someone undid the buttons in question for 'another' reason other than inspection, (which again was why I did not use the word 'inspect' in the title of the posting) thinking it might be placed better in the trays or thinking the buttons led to somewhere ?? (which is very obvious they don't) who knows, but my original question was AIBU in asking that whoever may have done this TO INFORM ME?? I still do not think I am BU in asking this...Also the staff there DID TAKE some of my STUFF from me and place them in the tray. So that is also not true that ONLY YOU can handle your stuff. Maybe that's because I had a baby who knows again, and as I have said I am not looking for anyone to blame, I do not know that anyone there did undo the buttons or for what reason if they did, but it is totally clear to me that they were not undone before -nor ever had been-that they had it and they were the only ones to have touched it and it was working fine before. Thank you to all the mothers who have understood the absolute horror of this incident and who have offered their compassion, even if they thought I was BU. As a mother anything that happens to your children is ALWAYS your fault anyway regardless of any other facts that may or may not be true. As I have said it is very hard for me to get computer time so this might be my last post on the topic, but I will check it again IF I get a chance.

Ionanma - I've been following this and I'm glad you've been able to come back and answer some of the questions.

Its a terrible thing that happened to you and I'm glad all is well now.

I see that you say that the airport is a long way from you and so its not feasible for you to go there and speak to some kind of manager to get information (am I right is thinking that maybe this didn't happen in the UK).
Would it be possible for you to start with the customer relations department, explain how you feel and ask for someone to speak to who can answer all your questions (which no one on here can do) and at least find out the facts to help you get the sequence of events straight in your mind to enable you to see if lessons can be learnt for the future.

That seems to me to be the best outcome for all concerned.

I prsume the relevant accident forms were filled in and they provided a first aider? Why don't you ring the police and have them arrested for interfering with safety equipment?

Ionma
What a terrible and shocking incident for you all.

It's likely you'll never know the real reason the sling broke

It could be that airport security opened it without your knowledge.

With that in mind I wonder if it would be worth you perhaps writing to the airport telling them of the accident and highlighting the very real danger of placing a baby in an unsafe sling.

Perhaps you could ask that they post a memo to all security staff that if they inspect baby equipment they make sure a parent is present. (If you were able to find the name of the department's manager that would be useful.) In this way, if the accident was as the result of inspection at security you may perhaps prevent it happening again.

Two years ago my son had a terrible accident on holiday. Without going into detail, it was a sporting activity and the injury occurred due to the poor safety procedures on the part of the company operating it. Fortunately he is now OK, but after the accident we were told many had been injured and someone had actually died at this place.

I didn't take things further - for my son's sake we are putting it behind us (he was 11 and suffered terrible flashbacks) BUT your story has actually inspired me to write to the place of the accident and ask that instruction signs in English be put there. In this particular case that would really make a difference. I don't know if it will happen, but had someone else done that, my DS's accident may have been avoided.

Perhaps you can do the same?

I wish you and your family all the best and I am sorry you had to justify the hard time you have been through on here.

First of all Ionama I hope your baby is recovering now. What a terrible experience for you and your family, I am really sorry.

Secondly I am saddened by those of you who so heavily blame her for not double checking the carrier. I she'd posted anywhere else on Mumsnet saying she'd not checked and her baby had been hospitalised as a result we'd have been forgiving, comforting, reassured her that all mums make mistakes and told her not to blame herself. However because she phrased the post as she did and used this board saying she thinks that soemone tampered with the straps we lay into her, trying to make her justify everything like some kind of court.

For pitys sake this womans baby has been badly hurt and hospitalised. She's not familiar with the ways of mumsnet. She may be a troll I don't know but why do we have to assume she is and treat her as such when its possible she's very distessed.

No wonder she's not come back to answer questions. If she's not a troll we've probaby suceeded in sending a distressed mum away feeling a thousand times worse

I am struggling to follow the OP's post because of lack of paragraphing and occasional all caps.

However, one of her early points on her pp was her assumed 'lack of protocol'.

This is a dangerous assumption. Of course they have protocols, but they don't share them all with the general public. That would be extremely foolhardy. They need to be one step ahead of the public and not an open book.

How long was the BB out of your sight, op, in the security hall?

Please stop evading this crucial question.

Also, to expand on MMe's point, passengers are not always treated exactly the same every time they fly. I have sometimes been asked to remove my shoes and they've been examined, my children have sometimes had the body search with metal detector,and at other times we've walked straight through.

The OP seems to assume that there is something untoward about the fact that she was asked to remove the harness while some other parents have walked through while 'wearing' the baby. It is totally normal practice that some passengers, on some occasions, are subject to a more thorough search - it does not in itself mean anything untoward.

I think it goes without saying that everyone has enormous sympathy for the family - and the suggestion that anyone hasn't is pretty heartless. However, having read the long response from the OP, I am still unclear as to what anyone at the airport might have done which breached any protocol. I also think cctv is the best solution to answer any problems, as there should be clear evidence that way if anyone did undo the buttons on the harness

MMe and Violethill - I agree totally with what you've said.

also, I would also like to point out again that Ionama didn't check the harness until 5 days later, when numerous people had no doubt had an opportunity to handle it.

I am not for one second saying that what happened to your baby Ionama was anything other than dreadful and tragic and a blessing that he wasn't terribly injured with long term implications, but at the end of the day you have no proof that the security staff touched or tampered with the carrier and as such you are blaming them unfairly.

you said step mum not MIL

Ionama I recently travelled (four flights in total) with a baby sling. On two of the flights I walked straight through with the baby in the sling. On the other two flights I had to take it off and it went through the detector. I can't remember well but I'm sure that it was inspected in front of me once. If the airport security had undone the buttons without your knowledge you should contact the airport to review their procedures so it doesn't happen again. I can't imagine what you are going through and I hope your baby makes a speedy recovery.

charles taylor is getting less grilling in the hague about war crimes than op is about a sling.some of you act like prosecuting counsel,demanding answers,cross checking,saying she is being evading critical questions

oh behave

and the readiness to shout troll is daft.

Some people on this sight truly SICKEN me with their paranoid, twisted minds ... It's a sad state of humanity when 'mothers' attack and criticise another mother following a horrific accident.
YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED

I just had a thought, and think this is a reasonable question.

Ionama, is English your first language?

Because if it isn't then it would explain a lot.

glint,
the same thing could be said about accusing airport security staff.

Terribly shocking.

Policies are fairly blanket but handled differently imo.

Yep, it's pretty normal that they help you unload your stuff into the tray as lots of people just put in their coat and waltz through with coins, watches and set off the alarm.

Inspections - I never ever put the so called liquids in a small clear bag as I'm never that organised and with a little one cannot be bothered - it's ranged from me taking through a huge bottle of water unquestioned plus scissors etc. To me having to put my vaseline on my lips in front of them - me open and taste a small carton of milk for ds etc.

My stuff goes through the x-ray and if they want to have a look they ask for the owner - I am present. But then again if they don't want to look I'm present anyhow and go grab the tray.

Hope your baby is oon the mend.

That should read site
And no, it's not a reasonable question. It's quite offensive really.

For goodness sake I was actually TRYING to be nice.

All I meant, and I really mean all I meant, was that it would explain why the OP didn't fully grasp what tamper meant, would explain mixing up MIL and Step Mum

I just thought it would make some of the supposed inconsistencies make sense.

So much for trying to be nice.

I agree with Botty - the OP's use of language does read a little like someone who isn't a native English speaker. That was ine of the reasons I asked if this happened in a non UK airport. It might explain partly why she seem sto be getting a hard time - I don't think its offensive at all.