DS came home from nursery sunburnt to f**k. AIBU?

[MamaBear89]

Hi there. Long time lurker, first time poster.
Yesterday, my son went to nursery. I dropped him off around 8am and went to pick him up at 5:30 as usual.
When I went to pick him up I immediately noticed he was heavily sunburned.
I coat him in factor 50 when I dress him in the morning, and (as per the nursery's rules) I send my son in with a sun hat and a bottle of sun lotion.
The woman working at the time said "oh, I don't know how he got that burned as it's been really cloudy, and so we haven't bothered applying lotion".
Not only that, but for the final hour/90 minutes of the nursery day, during which my son was inside, the nursery worker admitted that they had "watched his burn get worse and worse". Obviously, as with any burn, sunburn will continue to burn and needs immediate cooling and treatment, but this was not given.
My son was so severely burned that he's had a raging fever for the last 24 hours, is in pain with his burns, and is suffering from sunstroke. He's miserable and cuddly and very grumpy, which is understandable.
I'm absolutely livid. My son loves nursery, though, and is due to stay there until he starts nursery at the local primary in September. It would break his heart if I just pulled him out until September, so I don't want to just pull him out and be done with them, but I'm absolutely livid at the sheer negligence they've shown.

My intention is to inform the nursery that I'll be making a complaint to the LEA and then following through with this.

AIBU by being so angry? Or would you agree it's justified?
And AIBU by taking the complaint to higher authorities, or should I just let the nursery deal with it?

Any input would be greatly appreciated

That's terrible.

At DDs nursery they provide sunscreen, and use it automatically in spring and summer, even if cloudy. They don't let the kids out at the sunniest part of the day, and all have to wear sunhats.

I'm amazed this isn't universal, you are quite right to pursue this.

Frank both there is a middle ground.

It is possible to have safe sun exposure.
This isn't it. The burns will heal now, but the pain is unneccesary, the long term risk of skin cancer is now increased. Children can be seriously harmed by sunstroke (seizures etc).

Good god op that's bloody awful.

I am a cm and apply tte sun cream vigorously. I would be furious at this.

I am all for safe exposure for the sake of getting vitamin d but that doesn't mean you have to allow a child to get sunburnt and sunstroke. 10 mins outside on a sunny day will be fine then back to covered up.

Safe sun exposure is not drowning ourselves and our children in petrochemicals, it's funny how the incidence of skin cancer has gone up drastically with the use of sun creams..
Serious sunburn blisters like buggery, I know I've had it, I'm not dead and I don't have skin cancer and the spot that was badly burned very rarely now burns...
There are lots of alternatives for parents to consider rather than the heretical standards set by the authorities to protect our children..

It doesn't look pleasant and the nursery should have taken a little more care but he'll live.. Cancer is a man made first world disease..

Ouch. I would complain to ofsted I think. Poor boy. X

Safe sun exposure shouldn't mean children coming home from nursery with burns and sunstroke.

Cancer is a man made first world disease..

Seriously?

And as with anything common sense should prevail. Avoid the midday Sun. Stay hydrated. Use appropriate protection (I like green baby for the smalls and P20 for us I think it is, clear of parabens etc) applied properly. Hat.

Nursery were wrong

Cancer diagnoses have increased with the decline in the ozone layer plus our greater tendency to strip off and sunbathe.

Plus centuries ago they wouldn't have had diagnosis of cancer.

Ffs.

Jeez frank bough it's sweet that you are trying to Cher up the OP but truly the reason that she should be livid is that sunburn is the risk factor for skin cancer hence the huge rates in places like Oz which reduced due to the slip, slap, slop message.

Ha that should have been cheer up though Cher ing up would probably do the same!

Today 00:04 NeedsAsockamnesty

Why didn't you use the all day stuff?

Really twattish comment.

Op that is unacceptable, poor ds. i understand your predicament. I would ask for a meeting with the nursery manager and report to ofsted. My ds nursery apply suncream at the first hint of sun.

I would be livid and very very upset. You have every right to make a formal serious complaint. I feel so sorry for you, and your poor ds.

frankbough: Cancer is a man made first world disease..

Animals get cancer, cats, dogs and many others, even the blue whale. Heck scientists have known for circa. 150 years that the great white shark gets cancer. Saying it's a man made disease only is unhelpful to say the least, especially to the OP who is very concerned atm about her child.

Safe sun exposure is fine but not in this case. Quiet clearly it was NOT safe if her child is burned to the point of being physically ill.

OP I hope your son feels better soon and you get answers from the nursery.

Ofgs I'd rather dcs had lack of vit d than doubling chance if cancer

No one has said that safe sun exposure was a bad idea. On what planet is this safe exposure?

Oh poor little love . Same as others have said, DD is at Nursery & starts Reception in September - so is a similar age to your DS. We are asked to send her in with suncream already on in the morning, and then have the option to either send our own cream for reapplication after lunch or if we forget/don't want to send our own cream Nursery will apply the one they have. We are also asked to send her in with a hat, and Nursery have spare hats for those who forget.

From the scenario you describe (Nursery not realising the weather was hot enough to burn toddlers so not using suncream), I would be very surprised if your DS was the only child to suffer. I would have thought safe practice would be for hats & cream to be used on any warm-ish June day, as to avoid this sort of thing happening.

I too would be very upset. And I also second the point that in order for DS to actually suffer heatstroke as badly as he did he was not drinking enough. I would be asking whether that was because water was not available to him outside, or because he refused.

I hope he feels better very soon .

I think that is absolutely shocking! Even if you used 'all day sun cream' I would still expect the nursery to apply it, sun burns through the clouds. They have a duty of care. Its what they are trained for and paid to do. Could you imagine the fuss that would be created if it was an elderly person in a residential home? Got wheeled out for fresh air and got wheeled in burnt later!? Would at least hit local news! Totally unacceptable!

They have effectively neglected him. I would be measured and calm, but consider contacting authorities - they might need their rock turned over at the point when your kid is coming home looking like you left them in the garden all day. After all, somebody should probably check what else is going on there while there are no parents in sight - this sort of thing can be the small sign that exposes serious problems.

Wow that is horrendous! I'd be livid too, your poor little boy. I'd complain, report and tear a strip off them. It was cloudy...ffs! !

Biro..what about the rest of the children in the meantime if op waits to complain?

I'm a nursery manager and I would be devastated if we sent home s child in that condition
You do need to make a formal written complaint
If you sent a child in to nursery in that condition it would be recorded as an injury on arrival and recorded in the safeguarding book. That's how it works in my nursery
Make the official complaint and then if you are not happy with the outcome report them to Ofsted
At my nursery we have signed up to the sun safe awatd
We have pledged that we stay inside between 11-3, always wear sunhats, and apply suncream with a minimum factor of 30spf
We ask parents to provide hats and suncream and sign our sun safe policy
Its not acceptable to Ds and children home sunburnt or not to treat a child with sunburn
I am really cross that nurseries like this still exist.
Hope your Ds feels better soon

Definitely complain to ofsted. This is too serious to ignore, especially as they don't seem to be taking it seriously.

It also gets back to the blasé attitude some people have about suncream and this country (referring to another thread). Suncream is needed, unfortunately if your child needs suncream and they are looked after by someone who has the believe that they don't...

Belief