Another fatal incident at nursery

[TJk86]

I really dislike nurseries for under 3s for many reasons but it seems that they are not even safe anymore these days. Every other week a story like this pops up on the news. To think a reform is needed to make nurseries safer (Better ratios for example)? In this instance, it’s also been decided that no one will bear the consequences of this accident which must be awful for the parents.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15177433/Toddler-allergies-died-following-medical-episode-nursery-given-dairy-yogurt-mistake-parents-say.html

My 14 year old would understand "dont give dairy to that child"

Let's not suggest nursery workers are too thick to understand simple instructions. Thats an insult to nursery workers.

Agree. In fact, by two my children understood they could only take food from their parent or a trusted grown up. And their peers understood not to share food with them. In fact when my son was two his three year old best friend (a very motherly little girl) used to always ask the nursery workers "is it dairy free?".when they gave me son his food.

If anything, we just need more research into allergy cures and treatments, so that food can go back to being largely benign. It's awful knowing that food,.which we all have to eat, is also so potentially dangerous

Your 14 year old is not feeding five toddlers at the same time, while also being called away to bring toddlers to the toilet.

Children under 3 are far better off at home. I would like to see a year of maternity leave for mothers followed by a year of paternity leave for fathers. That would at least get DC to 2 years old before entering institutional care.

The net effect is women having to stay home to take care of kids, not the men.

And yet my children's well paid school teachers (and head teachers!) all seem far more cavalier about allergies than their nursery staff ever were. And the school staff seem to see inclusion as an annoyance whereas the nursery staff put it at the centre of their decision making

You think some childcare worker should be sent to prison for an accident? You think blaming a childcare practitioner is going to attract better qualified, mature people to work in a minimum wage job? It's tragic for the parents, but accidents happen, especially in very, very busy, understaffed places. I'm surprised there aren't more fatal accidents (one per year is surprisingly low) considering:

• the number of children in nurseries in the UK
• staff ratios (especially during lunchtime)
• the huge boom in children with special needs (who mostly don't get extra funding for 1:1 help but who are very difficult to manage) and the huge amount of extra pressure that puts on staff
• staff working at minimum wage

No one wants to run nurseries (not an easy way to make money), no one wants to work in nurseries. My colleague left our place for an 'outstanding' day nursery and said it was awful, left after 2 days - staff working from 6.30-6.30 daily and the resultant mistakes/ behaviour that go along with that.

I agree OP, it all needs an overhaul but no idea where to start. Laws on ratios won't help.

Children sadly die every year in every setting from accident or incident – home, daycare, nanny-care, family etc. This has nothing to do with nursery.

Ive not read the story as I find things like this too difficult to read but regardless of your opinions on childcare, stories like this are rare. Tragic but rare.

Saying it hapoens "every other week" is not only untrue but it causes unnecessary anxiety and guilt amongst parents who either have to use nurseries or feel it is right for their family.

People always defend nurseries on here which I suppose is because most people on here seem to use them.

I wouldn't trust them with my child for 5 minutes.

So the worker responsible was incapable of carrying out their role. Agreed.

Many more children die at home than in childcare. This is just fearmongering (with social media stoking it)

A child with allergies needs one to one.

I hate these posts.

Ofsted. Ofsted inspect childminders. And they don't decide where you need stair gates.

And a friend of a friend.... 🙄

England
There were almost 20,000 reports of serious childcare incidents (including serious injury or significant harm) in England between 2019 and 2024.
The number of serious incident reports in 2023-24 was 40% higher than five years earlier.
Reports are classified as "urgent" and require a risk assessment from Ofsted, the UK's education watchdog.
A study on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) found that about 20.4% of cases occurred in child care settings.

So much as the lady isn't trying to scare anyone for Britain the stats are quite high and getting higher which is sad considering these places are meant to be looking after people's children in the best possible way.

Interesting. I must have been lucky, we found two excellent ones without having to look very far.

My child was accidentally given milk while she was waiting to go up the dairy ladder (she'd had a very bad reaction the year before). Luckily she was fine as she'd outgrown the allergy. If she hadn't...

But I don't like using this incident as a way to get in a jab about not liking nurseries for under 3s. The reality in today's world is that many families can't afford to have someone at home so it is very harsh to make them feel bad for having to use childcare.

OP is talking about fatal incidents and acting like children are dying all of the time in nurseries. This is simply untrue and of course people will point that out.

A child with allergies needs one to one.

Is there government funding for a 1:1 for a child with allergies at preschool? There won't be when they start school.

Of course many people use nurseries. How else are parents supposed to work. Childminders have limited availability and many of us don’t have free childcare you can use from family.

Not all nurseries are the same. I wouldn’t trust some nurseries with my children but others are very good.

Ultimately if no parents used nurseries how could most families afford to live? It would surely end up with far more people claiming benefits and poorer outcomes for children.

A study on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) found that about 20.4% of cases occurred in child care settings

Now this I am genuinely shocked at, given how little child care happens for children young enough to be at high risk. Is this US specific?

Yes it is. Not applicable to the UK really.

"Accidental poisoning" - looks more drastic when you put it like this, but that's what it amounts to when someone inadvertently feeds an anaphylactic child with their allergen. "Too busy" just doesn't cut it. Awareness and understanding of severe food allergies among the general public is dangerously inadequate, with many people not taking it seriously until a tragedy like this happens. It doesn't help that food allergy sufferers are often portrayed as figures of fun in the media, with allergic reactions being used for comedic effect. Examples include the recent movie "The Roses" and "Peter Rabbit" from a few years ago. The subliminal message is that this isn't a "real" condition, or at least something relatively harmless that a quick jab with an epipen can put right. "Waterloo Road" recently handled the subject with far more accuracy and sensitivity, with a devastating story line that will hopefully focus some minds.

Thanks, just found it. It is a stat from 25 years ago and in the US. So a tad disingenuous of that poster to pop it in a list headed "England" and followed immediately by "for Britain the stats are quite high"

If only I could get that message through to schools.
I never had an issue with nursery, they were consistently thorough and professional. But I am utterly ground down by having to explain to teacher after teacher that food isn't something benign that they can introduce into a lesson without any planning or paper trail of consent.