Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

6yr old child given medication without parental consent

400 replies

Skippy21 · 20/02/2020 08:28

After collecting my two children 11yrs and 6yrs old from a half term holiday workshop they both were happy and excited about their outdoor fun that day despite small injuries- 6yr old had a tumble and hurt his ankle. No real issues there until my 11yr old daughter said the man looking after them gave Jack (6 yr old) ‘a tablet’ 😮😮, as he had hurt his ankle and was in considerable pain crying a lot. I was utterly beside myself with shock that this would happen- Jack was given an Ibuprofen tablet -adult!! Medication- no phone call to me and no authority to administer any form of medication. Jack is ok, and dosage was within his weight range- just. The man has been suspended from his position ( guy in charge had no idea this incident had occurred!!).
Should this be reported to police?

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 21/02/2020 19:47

I know it's the same bloody drug but adult formulations have a higher dosage than child ones

Huggybear16 · 21/02/2020 20:20

You're doing a lot of imagining @dementedpixie
You can get the 7+ in Boots

dementedpixie · 21/02/2020 20:28

The only 7+ ones I can see are packaged as Nurofen for Children and are chewable capsules so not what was described by the OP. They are also 100mg

dementedpixie · 21/02/2020 20:28

So piss off and stop harassing me

Powerplant · 21/02/2020 20:32

Ibruprofen shouldn’t just be given I agree he was in the wrong

Nekoness · 21/02/2020 20:53

“So piss off and stop harassing me”

Calling you out when you talk nonsense isn’t harassment. How about you read what the OP wrote in the first page, which is that her child was given a dosage for a 7-9 year old? And wind your neck in.

Nekoness · 21/02/2020 20:54

I’m pretty clear why I’m “picking” on you. Ibuprofen isn’t “adult medication.” I pointed the same to the OP.

Hepsibar · 21/02/2020 20:58

What a beastly approach you are taking.

Surely you should have checked the small print or if you had concerns around medication made these clear.

I think as you r v upset by this you should follow up with the provider to gain their response to see if in fact you did sign consent without realising and you could advise them this should be made v clear.

Willow2017 · 21/02/2020 21:37

What a beastly approach you are taking.

The guy broke all sorts of safeguarding policies.

He screwed up big time.
Op isnt being 'beastly* at all.

Huggybear16 · 21/02/2020 21:40

The only 7+ ones I can see are packaged asNurofen for Childrenand are chewable capsules so not what was described by the OP. They are also 100mg

Yeah that's them. The ones that didn't exist until 16:11 because you'd never seen them. Also, the OP wasn't there and the investigation hasn't been completed - so the OP cannot describe "the tablet that her son was coerced into taking" any more than you or I can.

FamilyOfAliens · 21/02/2020 23:34

I have read the thread, @PurpleDaisies.

I read that some people said the youth worker was just trying to be helpful. Maybe I did miss the posts where people said “he acted appropriately”, but I cba to go back and check if I’m honest.

user1494182820 · 21/02/2020 23:41

What a massive overreaction to a total non-event. Surely you should just be satisfied with getting the poor bugger suspended? Is that not enough drama for you?

Willow2017 · 21/02/2020 23:59

What a massive overreaction to a total non-event. Surely you should just be satisfied with getting the poor bugger suspended? Is that not enough drama for you?
Poor bugger??
He broke so many safeguarding rules in one day (never mind common sense) its just ridiculous.
Nobody knew the kid was injured he didnt report it.
He didnt get first aid.
He administered an adult tablet to.a 6yr old and didnt tell.anyone.
He forced a child to swallow a tablet he had great difficulty doing.
He didnt tell op about any of it.

Working in childcare for years i would have gone through them like a ton of bricks if it was my kid.

Oh and op stated that he made the child swallow it, he did it 3 times then checked his mouth. It wasnt a chewable childs tablet it was an adult tablet there for 200ng miminim.

JudyCoolibar · 22/02/2020 00:10

You want this man to end up with a criminal record? What will that achieve?

LagunaBubbles · 22/02/2020 00:22

What a massive overreaction to a total non-event. Surely you should just be satisfied with getting the poor bugger suspended? Is that not enough drama for you?

If the OPs child had an allergy they would likely have had an anaphylactic reaction and maybe died. I'm willing to bet if that happened to your child or any of the children here saying similar to you you wouldn't be happy eh.

I'm also a qualified first aider and this does not give you the right to dish out medication to anyone.

LagunaBubbles · 22/02/2020 00:23

Well not the children saying here but children of the posters here!

Kablam · 22/02/2020 04:39

You are definitely being unreasonable. I understand your concern about your child's safety, but they would absolutely have not overdosed on the medication. To achieve an overdose, your child would have had to have taken more in the range of 15+ paracetamol tablets (It's like 50+ for an adult/person over 60kg).

There is absolutely no call to contact the police. There has been no crime committed!

PlatoAteMySnozcumber · 22/02/2020 07:42

I don’t think anyone is disputing the man acted appallingly. He has been suspended. What many posters are rationally pointing out is that in the end, it transpired that the child was given an appropriate dose for his weight (whether his weight is more average for 7-9 year old or whether it was liquid or a chewable/ non chewable tablet are all irrelevant to the issue of whether he was given too much ibuprofen). Yes, it could have been too much, but it wasn’t. In any event the recommended doses are still cautiously low so even if it was a bit more, he was unlikely to be harmed. You can catastrophize all manner of situations, it isn’t helpful.

Pencilplantironingboard · 22/02/2020 07:47

They should have called you but I’m not sure why you would call the police.

saraclara · 22/02/2020 08:10

@dementedpixie it's already been established that the dose was right for him. But pp were obsessing about it being an adult tablet.

Willowashen · 22/02/2020 08:11

the whole thing feels odd. My son had to be convinced to take it/ coerced.

Yay! now you can get this abusive barstard for assult !!!!

Yes, he’s a child abuser... and as we know, anyone who’s abused a child should be locked up in the darkest of dungeons for the rest of their natural life.

Willowashen · 22/02/2020 08:48

I don’t think anyone is disputing the man acted appallingly.

I think they are! Personally I believe the man made a misjudgment rather than “acted appallingly”. Whether or not he should be suspended or sacked depends on the circumstances and his training.

endofthelinefinally · 22/02/2020 08:57

What worries me is the number of people who have no idea why we have/ need consistent safeguarding protocols in all settings where children and adults are together.
We are currently facing a situation in this country where lobby groups and organisations are working very hard to dismantle safeguarding.
It is really important that everyone who doesn't understand why safeguarding is necessary, does some research and reading around the subject.

maa1992 · 22/02/2020 08:59

Why would you report it to the police? That's ridiculous. It's being dealt with within the organisation. You could call careline to raise a potential safeguarding but the organisation have likely already done that.

Willowashen · 22/02/2020 09:10

We are currently facing a situation in this country where lobby groups and organisations are working very hard to dismantle safeguarding.

Forgive my ignorance but who are these groups?