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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think of your kid pees in the soft play then you should be responsible for paying for it to be cleaned?

79 replies

troobleflooble · 05/08/2021 15:26

I've lost the link to the story so apologies for that!

Just read an article about a woman who was fined because her son had an accident (wee) in the soft play she went to. Think it was the equivalent of £50. Now, I understand that accidents happen but in this case:

The boy in question was only 2 1/2. The mum said that he'd had accidents out of the house before since stopping wearing nappies several months before

The soft play owner said it cost approx. £60 to have the area closed and cleaned and she only asked the mum to cover £50 of this

The boy had had an accident in the same soft play before albeit a slightly different area.

Apparently she thinks they ABU to charge her as there was no signage to indicate that a fine would be applicable in this event (although there is now) but AIBU in thinking that actually this is reasonable? The section of soft play would have to be closed so it could be cleaned and sanitised before being able to be reopened, possibly incurring a loss of income, plus the cost of the cleaning products and staff member's time.

What do you think?

OP posts:
TableFlowerss · 05/08/2021 16:32

does it frequently

Di11y · 05/08/2021 16:50

I think without signs they can't charge, but it's reasonable to have signs and to follow through on them

Whatwouldscullydo · 05/08/2021 17:09

I'm a bit torn on this really. On one hand jts a kids play area so the set up should be easy to clean and the odd accident expected.

On the other, if your child isn't reliably potty trained then they should be bit in a nappy or pull up in situations where either access to the toilet easily cant be garunteed or where they are likely to be too distracted to remember to go.

Either way it should be clear from.signs.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 05/08/2021 20:39

@DogsSausages, in theory, yes, but at that age many toddlers won’t have the physiological control to go before they actually need to.

Sillawithans · 05/08/2021 20:50

I'd have just cleaned it myself and walked out to be honest

grandfromagerie · 05/08/2021 21:08

My son who has special needs soiled his nappy and smeared poo all over a soft play area on not one but two occasions. The first time it happened was at a sen session so I didn't pay but tried to help clear it up, the second time was at an arcade in a seaside resort I asked to go in and supervise him because of his special needs but they said no / and before sitting down with a cup of tea to watch him I could see he was smearing poo from his nappy, I was devastated and was going through a mini breakdown at the time. I remember trying to clean the area whilst dealing with my son in floods of tears. I wanted the earth to swallow me up whilst lots of people were gawping at us. I would have happily paid, but the young people probably on minimum wage couldn't have been more lovelier

EmeraldShamrock · 05/08/2021 21:11

It is easily wiped if urine not so much if its poo.
I've never heard of it before, I know one DC vomited at DD's party food area the adults cleaned up it wasn't a problem.

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 05/08/2021 21:12

@Soubriquet

I remember reading this, and whilst I get the soft plays POV I think they are unreasonable

It’s a place catered to kids. Accidents happen

This.

Parents don't make their kids pee on purpose.

Isn't that the beauty of it being a soft play and everything is wipeable?

TuesdayRuby · 05/08/2021 21:13

Wouldn’t they just spray a bit of Dettol down and wipe it?! Where is the £60 from. Kids are drooling, sneezing and coughing all over the soft play. I wouldn’t have paid it!

NuffSaidSam · 05/08/2021 21:16

YABU

If it's a frequent occurrence they can ask her not to come back to that softplay or ask her to put a nappy on him, but clean up is part of running that sort of a business.

If I was in a cafe and I spilt my tea I wouldn't expect a fine. If I was in a supermarket and I dropped a jar of sauce I wouldn't expect a fine. If I was in a pub and I knocked over a pint I wouldn't expect a fine. Cleaning up is accidents is annoying in all those scenarios but part of the business.

Belle82 · 05/08/2021 21:43

Yabu, this is ridiculous and of course she shouldn’t be fined.
As others have said, it comes part in parcel of being a place for children.
This would be ridiculous if a parent was charged for their child having an accident at nursery, how is this any different.

Even fully trained children have accidents when they are over excited or have a UTI.

ThinWomansBrain · 05/08/2021 21:51

there was a thread recently about dogs marking their territory by weeing in garden centres.

given it was the second time it happened with the same child, it doesn't seem unreasonable.

Sometimeswinning · 05/08/2021 22:22

It was the cream house cafe in Austrailia. Check out their facebook page. It's not a spray of dettol and some cones. They actually deep clean the ball pit. Perhaps if mum had been supervising she would have spotted the signs that he needed the toilet.

cadburyegg · 05/08/2021 22:35

Tbh it’s normal for little kids that age who are just out of nappies to have accidents. my 3yo is reliable these days but I couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t have an accident if we went out, I take changes of clothes. Even my then 5yo wet himself coming home from school one afternoon last year. As pp said kids this age are soft play’s main client base. I think YABU

ExpressDelivery · 05/08/2021 22:56

I think is an expected hazard of running a business specifically aimed at children of toilet training age.

The fact that it happened twice just means a family with a toilet training child are regular customers.

ExpressDelivery · 05/08/2021 22:59

It's a long time since I toilet trained anyone, but all the advice then was to stick to it once you'd started and not to put them back in nappies for convenience sake.

crabbingbucket · 05/08/2021 23:02

Nah. It wasn't advertised and also they're a private company. They can't just pluck a figure out of thin air and assume to hold a customer to it.

They should put the sign up as a deterrent in case they need to follow through (excuse the pun) and fine persistent offenders but and honest mistake shouldnt be fined

Vanilla1Cookies · 05/08/2021 23:03

I think it’s part and parcel of running a soft play and parents should not be paying for it.

CreamCabbages · 05/08/2021 23:04

Imho, unless it was in terms and conditions and/or there were signs up then it’s unreasonable to expect people to pay fines.

A business can’t just make up policies and fine customers as they go!

Purpleweeks · 05/08/2021 23:05

So what do you suggest the mother does, keep the child in nappies or so taking him to softplay. Young children can have accidents for a couple of years still after potty training. It would hit the soft play business harder if parents were put off coming as can't risk having to pay a fee.

inpixiehollow · 05/08/2021 23:05

I think its part of running a business that caters to small children. I work at a preschool and we have had to have carpets cleaned due to children weeing/being sick on the odd occasion. Even when I worked in a restaurant these things happened and we wouldn't bill parents for it if you have children in your establishment then its likely you'll have to deal with this at least every so often.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 05/08/2021 23:07

What! £50 quid to clean up some piss! Are they shutting the softplay and getting in a professional cleaning company? I think not. They will shut off the areas for 10 mins until someone sprays some detol and gives it a dry with blue roll.

BlueSurfer · 05/08/2021 23:09

On the one hand I agree that it’s a likely risk when running soft play for that age range. Then again, getting a taxi covered in vomit is also a likely risk when doing runs from pubs and clubs, yet it’s standard to be charged cleaning for that.

I think lots of parents probably don’t admit to the soft play needing to be cleaned after their child has an accident and it’s probably why they are so well known to spread all kinds of bugs.

5zeds · 05/08/2021 23:09

£50 to wipe up some piss and disinfect. Don’t be ridiculous.

KingdomScrolls · 05/08/2021 23:10

DS is 2.5 and now reliably potty trained, can hold it, knows when to tell us etc, the only time he has done a wee not on a toilet recently was in the sea and I only know because he shouted mummy I'm weeing in the sea!! Prior to this he was reliably potty trained at home, and we would take him to friends (close and also have young DC) and family without a nappy with extra clothes and his potty just in case, if we were going out somewhere we'd put a pull up on and take him to the toilet regularly and encourage him to tell us when he needed to go, but the back up was there if he had an accident. I bet she's been telling people he's been toilet trained since he was about 18 months, he's not if he wees regularly at soft play. Also if it happened once she should've used a pull up the second time or at the very least have been regularly taking him to the toilet. She should be barred, once is an accident, twice is a parent who couldn't care less because it's not her who cleans it up.

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