Visitor at childminder's with no mask?

[Maybebabymaybenot]

I really don't know what to think on this one so would appreciate views please!

My pre-school child goes to a childminder while I work from home. Parents do not go in the building at drop of or pick up but today at pick up there was a new child on a visit and the child's mum was in the room with the children, on the sofa with no mask and my child sitting right next to her.

I understand the mum was there to settle her child but there are 2 days a week when the childminder does not have any children currently so could have timed the visit for one of those days or failing that I can't help but feel a mask and social distancing from the other children should have been implemented or if I had been notified I could easily have picked my child up early and worked around it.

I am not allowing my child to have close contact with anyone outside of my household other than the childminder and her household and I feel I need to mention that I would prefer to pick up in advance of any future visits like this but don't want to cause friction as the childminder is fantastic.

Any thoughts?

You are overthinking this. Your child could pick up the virus from any of the attending kids, at any time.

Yes that's what I'm trying to tell myself but then I can't help feeling it's all about minimising risk where we can, so it wouldn't be reasonable for the children or the childminder to wear masks all day but this was an adult visiting for an hour so the additional risk seems totally unnecessary and as the rule is no parents in the building I'm struggling to accept this without warning or any precautions that you would expect in other settings.

I’m not sure I could trust the childminder any more. No visiting adult should be entering that space without a mask.

You should have been informed .

Theyy definitely should have worn a mask. But you are unreasonable to think she could settle him without it being a normal day

Yanbu. If she is this casual with visitors then who knows how well she is being cautious. I would be upset and tell her so.

There could be a legit reason why the visitor wasn't masked.

For example, my friends kid is deaf and lipreads and she can't wear a mask or he won't understand her.

It’s quite possible that the visitor had a valid exemption from wearing a mask. You need to talk to your childminder about your concerns.

I would lose trust in the childminder as this appears a stupid risk to take. It is possible that parent can not wear a mask, and that would be tricky to manage. But I wouldn't be thrilledtbh.

What's the CM's attitude to Covid generally?

Maybe she was exempt?

They may have been exempt.
Some people are, which I'm sure you're aware of.

If I was taking my baby to somewhere to settle her, I would not want to be wearing a mask as there are lots of visual cues etc that I think young children pick up on. So it wouldn't bother me at all. Lots of people are also exempt

Sorry op you're children will be attending the same setting personally I feel the exposure is already there.
I can completely understand how its hard to see others sat with our kids when our own family are not having contact.

I agree, those who cannot wear a mask pose a risk to others, which is greater than that from those wearing a mask.

Your DC at the minders have only indirect contact with other mindee's parents/household, or only fleeting, probably masked, contact at pick ups/drop offs.

There seems however to,be little appetite to ask for proof of exemption, or for those who cannot wear masks to change their interactions to avoid putting themselves into indoors unmasked contact

This risk would not bother me at all. I think if you take the risk to use childcare during a pandemic you cannot then control that risk and you should be careful not to feel like you are in control of it - you don't know the circumstances and risk profile of anyone else your child is coming into contact with there, the childminder included.

However, I don't think the childminder followed the guidelines here and that is really worrying because it means you can't trust that she is following guidelines for other things either. For that reason, I would probably question it.

I wouldn't have even clocked this. At my child's nursery where she has been going continuously even through the first lockdown we've been prevented from going into the main rooms since March but still in and out of the foyer and it's only in the last week we've been asked to wear masks.

The staff are all mixing and the parents are in the building and occasionally close to other children at the start and end of the day.

I think you're overreacting.

I think you have to put this into perspective. This is a normal part of her job. A mask would not help settle the child. The children are in an environment where they could pass the virus on at any time. Unless you are particularly vulnerable, I would just leave it.

She might be able to wear one.

Also I doubt it’s anymore risk then if the childminder goes out and sees her family/friends.

You don’t know what she gets up to outside of working hours.
I don’t actually know anyone currently following the current lockdown and lots of people are still mixing.

If the visitor was exempt, I think she should have kept her distance from the other children, not sat right next to the OP's child.

@Scarby9

If the visitor was exempt, I think she should have kept her distance from the other children, not sat right next to the OP's child.

How do you know she didn’t sit down and then OP child came and sat next to her

How do you know she didn’t sit down and then OP child came and sat next to her

DC should be moved away from any visitors with whom they do not need to interact.

@MoggyP

How do you know she didn’t sit down and then OP child came and sat next to her

DC should be moved away from any visitors with whom they do not need to interact.

So they should all be told to go and play in another room for an hour that’s unrealistic.

The mum may have been exempt. Which a lot of people are.

Childcare settings have been asked not to have visitors in when working unless essential. But also this is still down to the individual. I don't allow anyone through the door now (which I am glad about since a parent had a pos test and didn't know). Have a chat with her but it seems she is on a different wave length to you

There seems however to,be little appetite to ask for proof of exemption, or for those who cannot wear masks to change their interactions to avoid putting themselves into indoors unmasked contact
@MoggyP

You have zero right to ask people for proof of exemption.