Abiu to be annoyed that child minder gave child (15 months) laxative without permission

[Abracadabra1989]

Picked child up from childminders yesterday and after a brief chat in the morning where I explained that they was impacted and was struggling, they announced on pick up they had given her Luctulose, didn't inform my of how much or what time and didn't even ask my permission or tell me she was going to do so.
Would you be annoyed, am I being unreasonable to be annoyed?
I hate confrontation and was also a little taken a back at the time so didn't say anything.
She has given me some in a syringe to give her at home when she was bunged up a few months ago but I didn't give it her as weren't sure it was for her age and just binned it

If they're actually impacted, they need disimpacting with shedloads of paediatric movicol/laxido, not lactulose. And the childminder doesn't get to decide their medical treatment. Totally unacceptable.

She has broken the law and probably her own contract regarding prescription only drugs. You need to pull your child out and report to Ofsted. I was a childminder for years and this is not ok.

@Rainallnight and how can I be expected to remember that complicated medication name 😂

Absolutely 100% unacceptable. I’d be furious, and I’d be removing my child from their care.

@Kaffiene

I get why you are upset but I couldn’t get worked up about this.

Lactulose is basically sugary water that draws water into the stool so makes it softer and easier to pass. The only reason they say not to give to little kids is because little kids shouldn’t be getting backed up and if they are they should really go to the doctor to check why it’s happening.

Nonsense. Childminders are in a position of trust. If a medicine should only be given to a child if a doctor says so, then it's absolutely not up to the cm to deviate from that and apply their own interpretation.

It's absolutely outrageous. Quite honestly, if this happened to my dc, I'd be phoning the police tonight and the local authority/ofsted first thing tomorrow morning

I cannot administer lactulose without a doctor's order in the hospital-you've gotta speak with your child minder no matter how much you dislike confrontation! Hell I gotta bend over backwards and submit umpteen forms for school nurse to give prescribed prescriptions to my son! (Been an RN many years)

I wouldn’t be too concerned about the medics itself, thankfully it’s not that strong and doesn’t need a prescription. My eldest had it as a baby, GP wouldn’t prescribe it but told us to buy it.

I would be furious though that she had done it without permission, there could be any number of reasons why you haven’t given lactulose yourself. Baby could have had something different already and she wouldn’t have known.

I would definitely report her because if she’s comfortable doing this then what else is she comfortable doing.

This is why I’ve always used a nursery so that my child isn’t alone with one sole adult and basically no real rules. My nursery ring me every time they might need to give my kids calpol even though I signed a form to say they could when they started.

My first reaction would be what have you done to help your impacted and struggling child.

My only experience of lactulose was being given it following a Caesarian. Given that I’m an adult, I wouldn’t give it to someone else’s baby. Could she not have given her some prune juice or something rather than medication.

Interesting info from NICE:
bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/lactulose.html

The reason it's prescribed for small people is because the wrong amount can affect the heart.

@Abracadabra1989 NGL, I woulda gone LOCO

YANBU at all!

I too would be furious and would report and remove my child.

As a side note though from a nurse; lactulose can be bought over the counter and is regularly used for children with constipation so is unlikely to be harmful but one dose is not going to do a great deal to help get the bowel moving. If constipation is an issue for your child I would see a GP as may require full disimpaction regime.

@Comedycook

I'd be removing my child asap. I'd also be reporting them to the local authority, Ofsted and perhaps the police in all seriousness.

I agree with this. I would be furious. It’s a prescribed medicine.

My 15 month old is on lactulose and it has to be prescribed, I cannot buy it over the counter for him. I would be furious and I would be reporting her to OFSTED.

YANBU in that she shouldn't be giving it to her without asking.
However, lactulose is a very gentle laxative sold OTC and commonly prescribed for babies and elderly people.

It depends - are you actively managing the impaction? You should be following the movicol disimpaction regime as advised by a paediatrician.

If you're doing nothing it's still not OK to be giving your DC lactulose, but it's impossible to overdose on - it's an osmotic laxative, a concentrated sugar solution that draws water into the bowel.

Is the childminder concerned that you're not getting medical advice?

Also - GPs can be v hit-and-miss with chronic constipation in small children, if you've not been prescribed a disimpaction regime then please request an urgent referral to the community paediatric team.

Is the childminder concerned that you're not getting medical advice?

Well if she has genuine concerns about the ops parenting, she should have guidelines on what to do and be following them....I can assure you that won't include giving the child medication that should be prescribed by a doctor and hasnt been.

I've bought it over the counter, you don't need a prescription.

But v inappropriate to give a child medication without consent.

@ThreeFeetTall

I've bought it over the counter, you don't need a prescription.

But v inappropriate to give a child medication without consent.

Same

@ThreeFeetTall

I've bought it over the counter, you don't need a prescription.

But v inappropriate to give a child medication without consent.

Once again...the nhs website says it should only be given to under 14s if a doctor recommends it. Lots of otc medications are prescription only for children

No way! I childminder years ago & I had to get a pre written permission slip for things like using sun lotion & plasters & even did a slip to grant me permission to take dc to hospital if they needed EMERGENCY treatment.
I had a book where parents would sign for me to give their child prescribed medicine & I would sign after I gave child medicine & they would sign end of day. (Ditto accident book) that was over 20 years ago =
The rules were strict than & I doubt they are less so now

I literally just bought a bottle of Lactulose a day or two ago (30 weeks pregnant 😅). It has dosage instructions for babies, children aged 1-6 all the way up to adults. So I really couldn't get crazy upset about this to be honest. It's not something you should treat in a small child without GP guidance, and certainly not as a CM without parental authority, but it's one dose...

If I were you I'd double check your CM contract and have a good read of the section on medication. See if it's ambiguous at all.

Then you're going need to decide if you feel comfortable having a conversation with her to explain you didn't give authority for this and in future she isn't allowed to give any medications without your prior consent. If necessary get the medicine part of the contract updated.

If you don't feel comfortable with the confrontation, or if you're not sure you'd trust her to follow the agreement then you'll have to look for someone else.

I definitely wouldn't report her for this though. It's not a dangerous medication, and whilst she needs to be clear not to do it again she gave it to your child cause she cares.

Assault and battery. Lol

I'm another one who couldn't get worked up about this. I think best practice is of course to check with you first but you'd dropped off a child suffering with an uncomfortable condition and she did her best to make your child comfortable

Of course, if there are other concerns then remove. And remove for this as you clearly feel you should.

But could I get myself into a frenzy about it? As an isolated incident with good intentions - no.

And OMG - someone saying report to the police.

Have a fucking word with yourself. Christ.

It’s worth a call to ofsted to understand the legality of it then make an informed decision on what to do