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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Should I be worried about a safeguarding referral

18 replies

Saffrongreen · 19/01/2025 12:18

On Friday night I was playing with my 11 month old son in the bath, there was no water in it- he likes going in it when it's dry and picking up his bath toys and throwing them over the side and I pick them up and put then back in. He was holding on to one of the taps to stand up while I bent down to grab two of the toys he had thrown out. I literally wasn't looking at him for 5 seconds and he was just suddenly crying and very upset. I took him out of the bath for a cuddle and noticed his mouth was bleeding and one of his front teeth was visibly protruding forward, with a little blood around it.
My partner and took him to see an A&E dentist and they said that the tooth was solid, not wobbly, so it can stay in and will only be an aesthetic issue for a few years. They also said that it happens all the time with baby teeth and that it will not damage the tooth underneath and to see a dentist in the coming weeks to keep an eye key on it.
For safety we called 111 to also see a dentist the next day, the women on the phone did an assessment, I told her that I thought that he had chewed/fell hard/awkwardly on the tap handle, but I didn't see exactly what happened. She made an appointment for us to see a dentist Sat morning. She then rang back and said she would need to make a safeguarding referral because the incident was in the bath. (even though there was no water in the bath) The dentist we went to see said not to worry about it, my son is fine, and again said stuff like this happens all the time to kids, that it was me that would be affected more by it than my son, (I haven't been able to sleep or eat much since).
I'm now really worried about what the safeguarding referral means and what will happen? I haven't slept for weeks as it is and and now I feel like an idiot because I didn't see that taps as a risk factor which has hurt my child. Any advice and further perspectives appreciated.

OP posts:
crumblingschools · 19/01/2025 12:20

This happens quite often when a child has an accident needing medical attention. Nothing to worry about. Will go through what happened and may give some safety advice

olympicsrock · 19/01/2025 12:26

Don’t worry - yes they will chat to you about what happened . But accidents do happen. Hugely stressful for you but it would be worse if they didn’t visit a family whose child was being neglected or abused

GretchenWienersHair · 19/01/2025 12:28

They’ll just have a check to ensure that all is ok and, when they see that it is, it will be closed.

SpaceChocolatel · 19/01/2025 12:35

I wouldn't worry, I think 111 have quite strict criteria when it comes to this. They said the same to me when I rang them when we accidently gave my baby a double dose of Calpol. I never actually heard anything from social services, but even in you do hear something I'm sure they would just check in on your situation, if you need any advice etc. think of it as reassurance that people are looking out for your child.

LeroyJenkinssss · 19/01/2025 12:40

Often times it’s just a health visitor call to catch up and see if everything’s okay. There’s multiple criteria and the whole idea is that the first person doesn’t get to decide whether it sounds reasonable or not, just whether criteria are met.

it’s to stop situations where multiple attendances are treated as isolated incidences, each of which sounded entirely plausible on their own, but in combination show a pattern of concern.

just explain to whoever calls what happened as you have here. It’ll be fine, they know accidents happen and it’s not like you left him in there on his own.

Octavia64 · 19/01/2025 12:44

Most attendances at A and E will be checked.

Very very few of them have issues. They're just trying to catch the repeated "accidents" type situation.

My daughter did similar at age 2 and my son was in and out of an and e frequently.

Magamaga · 19/01/2025 12:45

Mostly likely the HV will give you a call to check everything is OK.

unmemorableusername · 19/01/2025 12:45

It's just a box ticking exercise don't worry.

You should see your gp about your sleep deprivation though. That is quite worrying, unhealthy & potentially dangerous.

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 19/01/2025 12:47

It will be closed and only an issue if repeated accidents.

PotaytoPotahhto · 19/01/2025 12:48

My son broke his leg when he was 2 and I knocked over a boiling cup of tea over my other son when he was newborn (he was fine but still took him in). Both times they said they need to notify the health visitor. With the broken leg, I had a phone call to see how he’s doing and nothing else. With my second, no follow up at all.

All A&E visits are notified to your health visitor. It’s standard practice and I wouldn’t worry about it.

Plastictrees · 19/01/2025 12:48

This is just standard practice, try not to worry, it’s just to safeguard those children who aren’t as well looked after as your baby is. Accidents happen, everyone knows this.

My toddler is obsessed with taps! I’ve recently bought tap covers to prevent him from bashing his head. I never even thought about taps as an issue until my toddler started to grab at them all the time.

pimplebum · 19/01/2025 12:51

It’s standard procedure nothing to worry about
I’ve taken my child to a and e twice
on the second visit I got a phone call from health visitor just asking what happen both times accidents that I took steps to prevent

first time nothing happened

Psychologymam · 19/01/2025 12:56

You’ll be fine, it’s just a check and essentially to cross reference. So the 111 handler doesn’t know if you have had ten accidents in the past month or one, if you’re already on the register as vulnerable family or not, if child has had mysterious bumps previously or not but the safeguarding team will see all that.

previously children slipped through the cracks where several people know of one small area of concern but no one held the full picture so action wasn’t taken. The system is now set up that lots of professional people are mandated reporters rather than having to decide themselves whether they are concerned or not and the SG team have the full picture and can decide what’s appropriate. If this is the only concern, you will be absolutely fine!!

Toddlerteaplease · 19/01/2025 13:05

It's probably because you said, he was In the bath but didn't see it actually happen. But I think that once the full facts are explained they'll probably close the case. So don't worry about it. (Paeds nurse)

saraclara · 19/01/2025 13:06

Totally standard. I got a visit from the HV after my toddler DD put her elbow out at Tumble Tots. I took her to A&E and explained that she'd tried to pull away from me when I was holding her hand. I suppose it could seem like I yanked her around, although she'd been the one who pulled away in her keenness to get to the equipment? It was a nothing though, and the HV was perfectly happy. We just had a nice chat!

DoYouReally · 19/01/2025 14:36

It's standard so I wouldn't worry.

That said, I'm surprised no one has mentioned that platting in the bath isn't the wisest choice given hard surfaces. There are probably many other better options.

Phase2 · 19/01/2025 14:39

I doubt it will even be a phone call unless you've had involvement already.
Don't let him play in the bath and with the taps especially when you aren't looking. It's very easy to get scalded with hot water when they are accidentally turned on, especially grabbing them to stand.

neverbeenskiing · 19/01/2025 14:43

I work in a safeguarding role. You might get a phonecall, words of advice and possibly some links to online resources about preventing accidents in the home. Unless there have been repeat incidents of a similar nature there's unlikely to be any further action.

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