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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:
crabbingbucket · 05/08/2021 23:11

The taxi analogy though... it's always advertised plus it's aimed at adults who should have control of their bodily functions

RandomLondoner · 05/08/2021 23:15

My first thought is that you'd factor the cleaning overhead into the prices. But this was a second offense, and the mother chose not to have the child in a nappy at an age when it would be quite normal to still have one. I think it's reasonable for there to be a fine as a deterrent.

thelegohooverer · 05/08/2021 23:38

I wouldn’t have brought my dc to a soft play that threatened fines for accidents. We never had an accident in that sort of environment but I had awful anxiety and would have worried. Soft play was an unjustifiably expensive activity for us at the time so I definitely wouldn’t have risked a huge fine.

I think they will alienate customers.

HelgaDownUnder · 05/08/2021 23:58

A lot of families in Sunnybank come from a culture where it seems accepted that you toilet train as soon as the child can walk by removing nappies and letting it rip.
It's not unheard of to see parents pull over on the side of the road and use the footpath.
I remember reading the article below. There is an otherwise lovely family at DC school who use the bottle strategy mentioned in the linked article. The first time I saw it Shock.

www.traveller.com.au/passengers-rage-as-child-defecates-in-plane-seat-report-3cr0x

It seems mainly certain rural families that do it. I'm guessing the centre has ongoing issues, beyond what you'd expect from a soft play centre.

Maggiesfarm · 06/08/2021 00:09

I wouldn't have thought it would cost so much to clean up a bit of wee.

NautaOcts · 06/08/2021 00:15

Also surprised at the cost
Whenever I’ve been, admittedly some years ago now they just came alone with a jay cloth and spray bottle, few squirts and a wipe and that was that 😂 🤮
Not sure about in a big ‘main’ area but surely in a toddler baby section it’s to be expected

NautaOcts · 06/08/2021 00:16

I also think that relatively ‘safe’ potty trained 2-4 year olds can easily get too into playing and be distracted and not want to stop and use the loo until it’s too late

Sometimeswinning · 06/08/2021 09:39

www.facebook.com/creamhouse.brisbane/

Maybe have an actual look and see how they clean a contaminated area. I would love for many of Endlands softplays to have the same approach!

Maggiesfarm · 06/08/2021 09:47

@NautaOcts

Also surprised at the cost Whenever I’ve been, admittedly some years ago now they just came alone with a jay cloth and spray bottle, few squirts and a wipe and that was that 😂 🤮 Not sure about in a big ‘main’ area but surely in a toddler baby section it’s to be expected
That sounds reasonable to me, just what you would do at home. You're not going to close a room and have it cleaned to surgical standards if a child (or a pet), wees on the floor. In any case, urine is harmless unless there is an infection.

Yes I do think it is expected on occasions; it probably happens sometimes without anybody noticing and the contraption is routinely cleaned at the end of the day. The £50 cost is rubbish, they're trying it on.

Maggiesfarm · 06/08/2021 09:51

@Sometimeswinning

www.facebook.com/creamhouse.brisbane/

Maybe have an actual look and see how they clean a contaminated area. I would love for many of Endlands softplays to have the same approach!

The food looks very good there but I couldn't see anything about their cleaning practices. I did notice a poster mentioning fines for pee accidents to which somebody replied that parents should put their child in a pull up if it happens more than once.
sheiselectric · 06/08/2021 10:00

I worked at a soft play centre when I was a teenager. If someone wet themselves in there, all the other customers had to be refunded as we had to close and it would take well over an hour to take the balls out and clean the area and clean the balls. The company would lose approximately £400 for each pee in the ball pit due to refunding customers and closing for an hour. The worst was when nappies would explode in there and there would be poop everywhere. That would take hours to clean. It amazed me how the parents thought it was acceptable to have their child's poop all over the soft play and would never offer to help clean it up and instead expect a 16 year old on minimum wage to do it. So I'm all for fining the parents.

Sometimeswinning · 06/08/2021 13:20

@Maggiesfarm you need to scroll down a bit but it shows the deep clean needed. The food does look good!

eightyfourandahalf · 06/08/2021 13:29

of course YANBU

If it stops lazy parents from using a soft play as free childcare and force them to actually supervise their child, improving the visit for every other paid customers, the better!

vivainsomnia · 06/08/2021 13:34

this post reminds me of the posts on the doggy threads when people go on about how dogs are disgusting and kids never do anything like it :)

Yes, she should pay, she should have known to put a nappy on him, but £60?? Come on, it doesn't cost this to have it clean, even if it requires a special treatment.

AtticusHoysAnus · 06/08/2021 13:36

It's reasonable.

Taking a kid that's still pissing everywhere is the unreasonable thing here.

PlanDeRaccordement · 06/08/2021 13:41

No, I don’t think people should be charged for accidents like that.
Imagine an air sick person having to pay an airline to clean their vomit.
Or a disabled incontinent person who has a nappy blow out of feces anywhere public...yeah hit them with a bill.

Businesses should understand that this is a cost of doing business with the public. They should be cleaning areas to disinfectant standards ANYWAY. So the odd impromptu extra clean shouldn’t be much extra.

Thehop · 06/08/2021 13:45

Same as being sick in a taxi. She should pay.

PlanDeRaccordement · 06/08/2021 13:54

So woman’s waters break....she has to pay? Or baby comes out in a taxi...she has to pay? Someone shoots you in a shop and leaves your blood all over the wall and merchandise..you have to pay? It’s a slippery slope.

vivainsomnia · 06/08/2021 13:56

We took a taxi to go to hospital when I was in labour and we were told that if my waters broke, we would be liable for the costs. Quite a few years ago!

PrincessNutella · 06/08/2021 14:17

Wouldn't this encourage parents not to report accidents or to try to blame them on someone else? Seems counterproductive.

eightyfourandahalf · 06/08/2021 14:26

@PrincessNutella

Wouldn't this encourage parents not to report accidents or to try to blame them on someone else? Seems counterproductive.
sadly, they can't be arsed to report anyway,

and they are on their phone or chatting and don't even notice their own kids...

MJNelson · 06/08/2021 14:28

I agree with the play centre he pissed in the ball pit so no you can't just wipe it down All balls would have been removed and cleaned if you know your kid has accidents put a nappy on them! Also with covid they probably have to now deep clean the whole place it also wasn't the first time he did it

Hemingwaycat · 06/08/2021 14:28

No the Mother should not pay, I think the softplay owners are awful expecting her to. Her 2 year old had an accident in a place designed for babies and toddlers. They must surely expect things like this will happen from time to time. It does not cost £60 to clean a puddle of toddler piss up and it takes about 2 minutes. They’re utterly bonkers expecting her to pay. It’s also a lot of money to many people, I’d imagine lots of families wouldn’t be able to afford this.

kurtney · 06/08/2021 14:37

I once worked in a shop where someone plonked their kid on of the counters. When she picked him up, she said 'oh, he's shit on that' and walked off.

I don't think they should have made the woman in the article pay but equally, if he's still having accidents, he's not fully potty trained and should still be in nappies when he goes to soft play to prevent this happening.

Hemingwaycat · 06/08/2021 14:45

Taking a kid that's still pissing everywhere is the unreasonable thing here.

Going to hazard a guess the toddler doesn’t walk around constantly pissing. Many potty trained toddlers have the odd accident and I’d say it’s part of the parcel in a softplay centre. They are designed for young children after all, what would happen if one vomited?

I just remembered the time I accidentally dropped a jar of pasta in a supermarket and a member of staff had to come clean it up. Should I have been charged £50 for that? It was a total accident, it fell out of my basket.

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