To report this childminder?

[Happyyellowcar]

Was at playgroup today with DD and DS1. A local childminder was also there with several small children in tow. I see her around a lot as she goes to many of the same groups as I do. One of her charges was maybe a year old and obviously just toddling. During snack time I was standing behind DS2, holding DD whilst chatting to a friend when suddenly the little toddler who happened to be sitting next to DS1, toppled head first off her chair and onto the wooden floor. She landed on her head and her neck actually crunched. I hadn't even noticed she was there until she fell off as I was trying to stop DS2 from pinching all the breadsticks. Another mum picked up the now screaming toddler and looked around for the childminder who was sitting quite far from the table, chatting yo her friend. She was actually turned away from the table and on the far side from where this toddler was sitting. She was passed the toddler and have her a cuddle but I'm sure didn't realise how serious her fall had been. I feel really incensed on behalf of the toddler's mother who must think that her child is in safe hands whilst she is at work. I've used a childminder myself with DS2 and the thought that this might have happened to him is sickening. No mother would have left their own child on a chair at such a young age without keeping a closer eye, surely? How else is she being neglectful? AIBU to want to report her?

I suspect the replies on this thread would be entirely different if the child in question had indeed "broken their neck"!

Would the YABU's still say "accidents happens"? Of course not...

However accidents do happen, but in this instance the CM should have been supervising this child more closely given the age suggested, not sat on the other side of the room chatting, the fact that she was unaware the child had fallen is quite telling.

They are there in a professional capacity, they are not mums trying to make friends.

Anyways the cm was at playgroup again this morning with the same little-one who I am v pleased to say seemed perfectly fine
Although she did spend most of the time chatting with friends she also did done activities with the child (who was crawling more than walking) and so although I won't be asking her to look after DD when I go back to work, I won't be taking any further action either. I think most cm's do a great job so I am certainly not knocking the entire community, just her!

*some activities

YABU!

These things happen. My dd was constantly climbing and falling off chairs at that age. I didn't have the capacity to be within arms distance of her all the time as I had other children to look after.

I'm not sure about reporting, but I agree the CM should have been paying more attention, my DD is almost 1 and needs constant watching. Not sure whether it requires reporting but I'm surprised by many PP saying CM hasn't done anything wrong, I'd definitely expect a CM to be paying attention at least!

Please op if you ever hear a child's neck crack again in a fall, get medical help.
To be honest I think you made that bit up.

Obviously my GCSE in law gives me far superior insight into the idiots who think there is a difference wrt duty of care between a CM and a parent.

Ok for the people who can't get their head around duty of care and tort law.

If you had a baby delivered in hospital and it went preventably wrong that's negligence. If you went into labour at home and your neighbour delivered the baby and that went wrong, the neighbour is not negligent because they cannot be expected to deliver the same level of care as the hospital.

I know it's a difficult concept to grasp if you are intellectually challenged but the CM has a greater level of responsibility. talking to a very thick brick wall here Rjae

Obviously my GCSE in law gives me far superior insight into the idiots who think there is a difference wrt duty of care between a CM and a parent

hahahahahahaha.
Oh, you nearly had me there. GCSE giving you a far superior insight. Funny girl!!!!
Oh, you're not being serious , are you?

Oh, and I think you meant to say "NOT a difference" ( or do you not have GCSE in English)

adsy you took the words right out of my mouth

My DD is 2 and has always been a climber. I only have her so I have let her climb with me very closely supervised which is probably the reason she's now so good at it. I let her do things the CM doesn't because I give her 1:1 attention. My CM tells me if she's been climbing on something above her age limit and what she's done to make sure it's safe for her to do so. I was invited to join her for a spell at an activity place as I was off work and I saw her climbing on the apparatus the CM had been describing. She was perfectly accomplished and I didn't have the slightest concern.

I am less cautious with my DD because I am able to give her 1:1 attention. The CM has older children who my DD wants to join in with but my CM is very careful about recognising she's younger and can't do what the other children can do. At 1 year she could easily have climbed up onto a chair but I would know full well to watch her as at that age she would easily fall off. The CM would never have let her climb up onto a chair at that age, much less not been within catching distance if she had done so. In 13 months I have had 2 accident reports of head injuries. Neither caused by her falling off anything but by falling over generally and the other time banging into other children. Knowing how much my DD climbs she's been well minded by her CM not to have had more accidents. There have been no unexplained bruises either so CM is not under reporting.

There's a mixed response to the OP but actually I think the CM was being negligent and I've seen CMs like this at some of the groups I go to. Yes they do sit and chat to others but the ones I trust have their eyes on the children at all times and react like a shot. If my CM was unable to give a full explanation of an accident I would mentally group her with the other negligent ones. A 1 year old having the accident you describe I think should be taken to hospital to be checked over. And as the mother I would want to know how it occurred. If the answer was 'she climbed on a chair and fell off head first' I'd say a) why didn't you catch her? Because I would assume if a 1 year old is sitting on an adult sized chair the adult would be right next to the child b) if you weren't in reach why did you allow her to climb onto the chair? Those I think are the points as a parent I would bring up and the OP has suggested the CM wouldn't be able to answer those questions very easily in this situation. So OP YANBU in my opinion.

I have seen it time and time again at toddler groups were child minders sit around chatting to their mates while the children they are being paid to look after run riot. I clearly remember one occassion were a baby was shouted at because she interrupted her coffee by crying as some child had bashed her over the head with something.

Anyway I digress because I'm sure the majority of child minders are fantastic...

I think you would be being a little bit unreasonable based on this one occurance to report a childminder. she wasn't perhaps supervising as closely as she should but ultimately for all we know it was a once off. I would imagine a parent would notice if a child was getting a lot of bumps and knocks on a continual basis and start to ask questions if it was happening all the time.

Hopefully the little one was ok. that's my 2 pence worth.

I've also got an A level in law but that concentrated on criminal law, and the Tort side of the law was covered in the gcse. I was accepted to study law at uni but decided there was far too much competition. It appears though that even Googling negligence, and tort is too much for some people. Never mind some things will never be in your grasp darling.

kitchentableagain most childminders don't look after minded children the same way as they look after their own-they probably look after them BETTER than their own because they're NOT their own!
Childminders go to groups to let the little one's socialise, but also to have some human contact themselves-it's a very isolating job. So should she just be rude and not make conversation with anyone whilst she's there?
Accidents happen-nobody's perfect.They happen in nurseries,pre-schools,schools.....everywhere. Ok, so she took her eye of the LO for a short time,but these things happen. I had a mindee topple headfirst out of his car seat and cut his head open because I was momentarily distracted by another child-i was in the process of pulling the seatbelt across him, another child asked me a question and the 1st child leant forward and toppled over my arm!
And as for saying,OP, that 'no mother would have left their own child on a chair at such a young age without keeping an eye on them'.......I actually stopped going to one toddler group as I was so fed up of watching out for other peoples kids whilst THEIR mothers were off chatting!!

When I used to go to a toddler group, yolks ago, half the people there were CM. They would sit in huge groups chatting almost the entire time whilst their charges ran riot, fell over etc. They were not closely monitoring them, certainly not with the interest a parent would with their own child.
I would report her yes.

Well I'm a CM and have my own small child. I let all of them run off and do their own stuff at playgroups whilst keeping a distant'ish eye on them.
All the CM's and the other mums know which child is which and if a child needs help or falls then the nearest adult scoops them up and gives them to the appropriate person.
I know they can't get out the 2 rooms and I make sure I go over to each of them every now and again and do crafts etc.
of course the level of supervision alters according to the age / abilities of the child but effectively we all look out for whichever children are nearest us. Is that not how it works everywhere?
With the best will in the world, a toddler group can take up, what 2 hours a day? For most of my mindees that means there are about another 9 hours a day where I am at home/ in the park etc. interacting, reading, closely supervising, so yes, I treat toddler groups as a bit of a break. Doesn't mean the children are in any danger.

Who would you report her to? And why? Children have accidents all the time. Ofsted MAY look into it but as long as they've had no other reports about her, it's unlikely. If the parents are happy with the care she gives,and the children are ok, then it's really no one else's business.
Love the way everyone is running down childminders as neglectful carers who ignore the children in their care and just want to sit and chat. The small amount of time you see them at groups is just a fraction of their day-you have absolutely no idea how they run their businesses when they're at home.If they always have children in their care, then they must be doing something right, mustn't they!!
OP, glad you kept an eye on her at the group today. Be sure to tell her where she's going wrong if she slips up at all, won't you!

I'm a Nanny, and a pretty laid back one at that, and I actually think the CMs behaviour was unacceptable. You don't leave a baby unattended in a chair they can fall from. Pretty basic stuff.
I'm not sure it's enough to report though, unless it was a regular occurrence.
As PP have said, children do fall down.

But there's nothing wrong with having a chat at softplay, so long as everyone is safe. Softplay is the best part of my working day - im there now and (shock, gasp) in charge of a 1 year old and 3 year old and on Mumsnet too.
But the 3 year old is in my line of sight and 1 year old in his buggy right next to me (strapped in )

*Heels99

Please op if you ever hear a child's neck crack again in a fall, get medical help.
To be honest I think you made that bit up*

Yy to that

This thread is like Chinese whispers - I'm an innocent bystander who happens to see a small unsupervised child have a very nasty fall from their chair whilst the cm (cm or mum it shouldn't really matter) sits chatting, turned away and completely unawares. I feel v angry on behalf of the parents who are trusting this lady to care for their child and wonder whether this is a reportable offense. Less than 24hrs later and various mumsnetters have turned this upside down and on it's head and apparently I am the negligent one for maybe not activating my sixth sense and preventing the fall or growing an extra pair of arms to catch the girl or becoming a medical expert on the spot and assessing the injury. I am also according to heels99 and her pal a liar and making things up AND insulting the whole cm community to boot! Mumsnet magic! Somehow I am entirely to blame and the cm is completely justified in her actions . I'm glad there are some normal people out there, however, who can read properly and who don't think it's good behaviour whether from a mum or a cm. Anyway I have agreed now that I won't be following it up so will admit that reporting would be U!

"I did gcse law......"

There's a gcse in law?

I think YABU. Im not really sure what you would report?! Kids fall. In a room full of carers and other kids she probably thought it ok to have a chat and not keep constant eyes on the children. Doesn't sound like neglect to me.