Child at gym burnt hand on my hair straightener

[Geraderaus]

I had a rather alarming thing happen this morning and would appreciate your take on it. I was at the gym in the changing room after a work out. I was drying my hair like I do there regularly and had plugged in my hair straighteners and they were sitting on the surface in front of me. I do this regularly, it's allowed to use your own things like this in the gym and many people do.

A woman with a toddler about two years old came next to me and she stared drying her hair. We were both stood up and the toddler was climbing on a little stool. The toddler reached across to my hair straightener (heating up, the plates were very hot) and I quickly said "no don't touch that!" And moved them to my other side further away from the child (who had not touched them by this point). The mother saw this and batted her child's hand away. The mother was not speaking English to the child so not sure if she understood me it in the context it couldn't have been more obvious what was said.

I continued to dry my hair and the child was toddling about and trying to grab things like my make up bag which I just kept moving away from him but it's a small area and it was all within his reach. The mother seemed to tell him off once or twice. When I was still drying my hair the toddler lunged at the straighteners and they fell to the floor burning his arm, probably quite badly. I rushed as best I could to grab them and move them but it happened in a split second and was too late by then. The mother was hysterical and screaming at me in a language I didn't understand, she was furious and other people came over including staff.

The child was taken to hospital and gym staff have noted my name and contact details. Can there be any repercussions for this? What did I do wrong?

Absolutely stunned at the suggestion people should be banned from using straighteners in changing rooms because some parents can't be arsed to supervise their kids.

Exactly candlestick, fgs the mother should have been supervising closely. So we are not allowed to do certain things, in case unsupervised children can get hurt. You can feck off with that one! If a child runs out in front of my car just like from nowhere, I will try my best to avoid her/him, but inevitably I might hit the child. If a child is unable to cross the road safely or has bad road sense, they should not be out without an adult., Same with the incident here, the adult should have been watching the child, and removed them from op vicinity. when he tried to touch the straightners and kept going for them the first time.

If op is not a parent, they might not be as aware as if she was. I certainly am more child safety aware since having my dc.

Dancing I have no idea whether the mother speaks any English but in her encounter with OP it would seem that she either chooses not to speak English or is nervous etc of speaking it (if not her mother tongue then of course not).

If her son doesn't understand English being spoken to him by OP (and of course ignores her as a toddler's can often do) and the mother does not speak to him much (apart from once or twice) to warn him of danger then it is not his fault he gets burnt but his mother's for not translating for him, getting the message across.

Of course the mother understands English re payment etc, do you not get sarcasm... ?

And NotYoda my experience before was simply an accident in a shop not caused by me, no real drama, it could have been anyone. Why should I start another thread? The whole point was I was hurt, didn't get an apology, and it wasn't an accident but as I'd been recovering it was all the more painful. I had no idea until speaking to the woman in that scenario that she wasn't English or English wasn't her mother tongue.

Some people again, seem to want to start fights here on MN.

Seems like OP won't be back anyway.

Of course the mother understands English re payment etc, do you not get sarcasm

Looks more like ignorance and racism than sarcasm superfly. Very ugly. That'll be those blunt knives of yours again (opening your mouth before engaging brain).

Has OP posted since first post? I've scanned and can't see an update etc

The dozy bint should've watching her child properly. Not your fault.

Hope the kid is ok though.

Expat I would agreed with that and wouldn't have been really aware of dangers associated with small children myself before having dcs. Equally before I had them or wanted them it would never have occurred to me to be perusing mumsnet and posting about the "alarming incident" that happened to me. All a bit odd really.

superfly

You'd made yourself really clear thanks. The lack of English seems to be exercising you quite a lot. And you've completely made up the fact that the woman wants to claim damages in the OP's (possibly made up) scenario

You could post this in legal op for other views

dancing just found this, no I am not ignorant or racist.

Simply stating facts, if someone comes to a pool where English isn't their first language (eg they're foreign!) then they must be able to view website to pay, or pay at entrance etc... Read signs going into swimming pool etc...

If I go abroad where I don't know the language and go eg onto a beach then I ensure I understand if something says "danger don't go there" etc... Use a phrase book, google translate etc...

NotYoda yes the woman may not want to claim damages, but what with compensation culture as it is (rules have changed now though) and I worked with (not for) a solicitor who dealt in PI then I'm well aware of people making valid or non valid claims.

Having said that I hope the child is ok because it's not his fault he was burned.

They took away the pug sockets in our gym when they revamped it, now I know why! Unfortunately, in the eyes of the law, as they were your straighteners, it is totally your responsibility to keep them safe from other users, you can't assume they anticipate the danger, however as you are not insured its unlikely you will get sued. I am surprised the gym allows you to use straighteners for this very reason, so would double check on this.

It was the mum's responsibility first and foremost, but I agree with others who have said that you can't shrug your shoulders and decide you're off the hook after she has demonstrated that she isn't looking after her kid properly. I too compare this with driving. If I see a small child apparently out of control running about very near the road, I slow to a crawl, or even stop completely. If my car struck that child I would find little comfort in the knowledge that the parent should have been paying attention. Once I've noticed the child behaving dangerously, it becomes my responsibility too to take reasonable steps to protect him.

Thank you for all the replies and sorry for my delayed response. I certainly don't think it's fair to say I've just shrugged my shoulders and don't care about the child- at the time it was going on I seemed to be the one attempting to keep the child safe whereas the mother was very distracted. The straighteners are not GHDs and take a few minutes to warm up by the way.

As it happens it seems the child is fine but I must admit it shook me up (and them no doubt) quite a lot and made me feel very angry towards the mother. I think that's an end to the matter though and no word from the gym other than the child is OK.

Awful situation for you OP and I think you have been harshly judged on her by some.

Speaking from the perspective of a mother of a toddler though it can be very frightening when your child hurts themselves so perhaps the mother just shouted at you in panic more than genuine anger.

As long as the child is ok that's all the matters!

Ah OP didn't know if I'd hear from you on this.

I would perhaps speak to the gym/health club in question, explain what happened and clarify if you are allowed to be using straighteners etc again and also what is their policy re accidents.

I'm pleased the child seems to be fine and it must have been a panicky situation all round from your, the mother's, the gym staff and the child's points of view.

Yes op I can tell you where angry towards the mum, by the amount of fault blaming in here towards her you managed to drum up, because she was angry her child got burnt. At the end of the day, they were your straighteners and your responsibility. Sorry it was alarming for you, wouldn't be surprise if they do what they did with our gym and disable all the plug sockets.

Ldnmum hang on! She was moving her property away from the toddler and told the toddler not to touch ! It's the parents responsibility to make sure their children do not touch other people's property, not the ops job. The op did all that she reasonably could.

Yanbu at all, Op. You can't be blamed for somebody's poor non existent parenting. Presumably you pay quite a lot for your gym membership, which includes the use of showers and plug sockets for hair appliances.
Fwiw, op, the day children are allowed into my adult time at the gym will be the day I take my custom elsewhere
It's an adult gym, with adult changing spaces for which I pay a fairly hefty fee. I really don't want to share that space with children/toddlers who have no reason to be there (no pool/swimming lessons thank goodness). I think some completely entitled patients assume that just because it's school holidays it's acceptable to drag the dc along to a facility where a) you haven't paid a fee for them and b) you assume that everyone else is delighted to accommodate them they're really not

Glad you haven't heard more about it, OP.

FWIW I don't think either side behaved responsibly. I'm the least child-aware person in the world and even I would have kept a firm hold on the straighteners when it was clear the mother wasn't doing her job.

But of course the mother should have been doing her job.

The only unreasonable thing would be if either of you took it further, since it was an accident.

Anoriginalname, the straighteners belonged to the op, she warned a child they were hot but she didn't actually remove the item out of reach.

Ldnmum actually if you read OP's OP you will see that she did in fact move the straighteners to her other side away from the child.

Totally the mother's fault for not keeping an eye on her child, not child's fault at all and what more could OP have done??

If there was CCTV in the changing room and this escalated to a PI claim a judge/jury (no idea how it's ruled in this case!) would be on side of the OP as she has done all she can reasonably be expected to do, to ensure the child is not harmed. It is not OP's fault that the mother here cannot tell her child (even though she mentioned it a couple of times to him, ineffectually) that the straighteners are hot, unsafe and not to be touched or that she (the mother) cannot remove herself and the child from the danger.

she warned the child they were hot and yet still the child was allowed to run around touching op's stuff
This was not an unaccompanied child. The child was in the care of its oblivious parent, but somehow this is the op's fault? Ffs, when did taking responsibility for your own dc and their actions stop becoming a thing?

Unfortunately, in the eyes of the law, as they were your straighteners, it is totally your responsibility to keep them safe from other users

Bullshit.

Moving the straighteners to the other side want moving them out of reach though as if it was, the accident would not have happened. Not that I am saying the mother wasn't responsible but it does sound as if the op should have held on to the straighteners.

There is a gym which opens on Boxing Day? Mine doesn't open again until tomorrow.