Baby injured at childminders - advice needed please

[EmilyD2012]

My DS (10mo) returned from the childminders on Tuesday evening suffering from sunburn. Overnight his face swelled up badly, by Wednesday morning his face was horrific - bright red and he couldn't open his left eye because it was so swollen. We took him to A&E and were told he was most likely suffering an allergic reaction to something or severe sunburn.

After giving him antihistemines and pain relief we were discharged and his face slowly started to deflate. Yesterday afternoon his skin started to blister and, by the evening, was weeping constantly. I took him to the doctors who said that he was suffering from serious sunburn to the face. I asked the childminder how long he had been out in the sun for and she said it had been 30 minutes at most. The doctor disputed this and said that it was very unlikely to have such a dramatic reaction to just 30 minutes in the sun. It is only April, after all.

The childminder is a friend of mine and has always been brilliant with my DS (she has a baby the same age). No part of me thinks that she would have deliberately let him come to any harm. That said, the last 48 hours have been horrendous. Every time I look at my baby my heart breaks. His face is a mass of blisters and open wounds. His left eye looks like it could bruise. I've been given hydrocortisone cream to treat the skin but every time I touch him he screams in pain. Last night I put him to bed and wept.

Today, the childminder came round and saw for herself what a terrible state he is in. I didn't want to make her feel worse than she no doubt already is, but equally felt it was important for her to see that I wasn't exaggerating when I contacted her from the doctors yesterday.

I just don't know what to do. Some of my friends say that such a careless act is unforgivable and I should never leave my DS with her again. Others are more forgiving and say that, after seeing him, she has surely learnt her lesson.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. What would you do?

Thank you x

I won't do it, it's against my training. I don't agree that all kids need to be slathered up to the nines in chemical concoctions when simple precautions can mitigate the need for it.

I don't ban children who are wearing it, but as a parent using my setting I expect you to ensure your child is ready for the day and that means in suncream if you want the to wear it.

Nurseries in our area ask you to do the same and they have similar ratios to mine

I hope your DS manages to sleep well. I'm so sorry to hear about his burns and hope you get some answers tomorrow.

Poor boy and poor you. Glad you went back to A&E to get him treated again.

littlebit You're free to run your business how you see fit. You have it in your policies and, I assume, make sure parents are aware of it so it's fine.

I personally think anyone sending their child to someone who doesn't 'believe' in suncream is either a complete idiot or has very little regard for their child's well being.

My DD's nursery applies suncream to the kids. They just ask parents to sign a consent form. I personally don't understand how anyone providing childcare to preschoolers can get away with not applying sunceam in hot weather.

OP, your poor poor baby. I have a DS the same age and makes me feel sick that your CM left him in the sun for half an hour, let alone if it turns out it was longer. Did she say what time of day it was that she left him in the sun? I personally would be looking at terminating the contract if it turns out she is at fault as I would not be able to trust her going forward.

Jesus fucking Christ, this is horrible!

I would actually: 3. Sue her arse.

OP, so sorry about your boy, you must be worried. Hope the specialist can give you some advice tomorrow.

I do see what people are saying but honestly, I have taken my two fair-haired, blue-eyed babies out for half an hour in full sun without cream, and they haven't got burned and suffered blisters. Something doesn't add up here, like others have said.

Oh your poor wee boy. I.hope he has a comfortable night, have they said to.give him calpol or any pain relief?

We were caught out by the sun this week and ds4 got pink cheeks and ears. So its sun hats and a roll on suncream in school bags now.

At pre-school were told to.put it on when we dropped them off and then leave a labelled bottle so they could reapply as necessary. the nursery my ds1 went to was the same.

It does sound like he was in the sun for much longer than half an hour or he is allergic to the sun? Or allergic to suncream?

Hope the drs at the burns unit are helpful tomorrow xx

Have a look at polymorphic light eruption, I suffer with it, it's generally worse at the onset of bright weather and your body is supposed to build up immunity as the year goes on. It's more common on arms and chest (where I suffer) I had years of being fine, getting sunburned far too much, however five years ago it suddenly happened, not quite as bad as a reaction as above, but it was bad and painful.

Hope you LO gets the treatment he needs and recovers soon

OP I hope you and your son are doing ok, I know how scary the words second degree burns are. My DS suffered burns (not sunburn, hot water) this year.
Hope you get all the help and answers from the burns specialists you need, keep applying the Vaseline it's good stuff.
Do pm me if you want to talk about burns, scars. Sending un-mumsnetty hugs your way and I'm thinking of you and your son ((()))

My dh has polymorphic light eruption, it came on quite suddenly about 6 years ago .

OP I hope you get some answers tomorrow

I cannot tan ever and burn after 20 mins in the sun. I always get caught every year. I only once got burnt on my shoulders and back which resulted in blisters and felt very ill indeed. This was after a day at the beach with a friends parents who didn't realise how fair I was.

My childminder let my DS's cheeks get slightly pink as she didn't realise how easily she burns but really was gone in two days and she felt terrible!

The all day creams are the way to go although my CM tops up anyway now as is paranoid!

I hope your baby gets well soon . If its any reassurance I've always burnt easily and badly and in my teens had 2nd degree burns ( from the sun) to my legs , I had burns dressings and massive swelling ,it was extremely painful but there was no scarring .
littlebit I'm staggered that you have any clients but each to their own !
OP , change your care arrangements ,even if it turns out that it was a 30 minute mishap you will never trust this lady again and will spend all your time worrying about your baby . Good luck and best wishes for tomorrow.

Outraged. I was trained not to do it, my policies say that I won't. I ask if suncream has been applied when the children are dropped off. If it's in the bag the parents can put it on themselves, if they want to.

Armed with the information about how well protected, or not, then children are, I set up suitable activities in the shade or in the sun. I limit the amount of time they spend in the sun.

How is that negligent??????????

I don't believe in covering them in chemicals when there Are suitable alternatives, but then I also don't belive that a bit of squash in their water bottles are a good idea either. They get water. It's good for them, and it's about as natural as you can get these days.

I also don't believe in television for the little ones whether is good clean air and plenty of space to run around in. But I suppose they won't get any bumps or scrapes or sunburn if they sit indoors either.

I promote a good healthy outdoors in all weather's lifestyle and I'm amazed at some of the responses I've had.

I sincerely hope op's little one will recover soon, but using or not using suncream is not always the issue.... What other steps did tbe cm take to protect the lo?

I am so sorry to read this :(. Hope he is doing OK OP.
I would terminate the contract. I suspect she left him out a little longer than she is admitting to (as she is scared and horrified by what's happened) but even 30m in full sun is too much for a baby. I don't think you will ever trust her with him again, will you - which is a reason in itself to end the relationship.

'How is that negligent??????????'

I didn't say you were negligent.

How scary. OP.

I hope he managed to sleep tonight - you too, and that tomorrrow goes well.

X

littlebit so long as you make the parents quite aware of your policy and your 'training' in this matter, and that the parents are comfortable with you using your shady garden as the only sun protection when they're out there all day. And your feelings about nasty chemicals of course.

I'd run a mile and certainly wouldn't sign up for your childcare.

:( your poor little boy. I hope the docs are able to give him something for the pain and that he'll get better soon.

It's entirely possible that he burnt in 30 minutes. All depends on how he reacts to the sun, which given he is only little, you probably haven't had chance to find out yet - until now.

However. I don't think I could use the CM again. I just wouldn't trust her. Surely she noticed that he was burning? I can't imagine he didn't at least look uncomfortable??! What the hell was she doing!

Thinking of you and your little boy.

littlebit - I am genuinely interested to know whether all CMs are now being trained not to apply suncream for child protection reasons or whether it only relates to certain areas. I used a CM about a year ago and signed a form consenting to application of suncream. Not having a go but just wondering as surely it would be a disadvantage to CMs over nurseries and other forms of childcare.

I'm so sorry about your ds x I hope they have him feeling better soon

I did my training last April.

I was told not to apply suncream since it was a child protection issue.

If there is no issue then why are there people on here admitting to having to get parental consent in writing before applying it.

It is completely different to nappies and such because they are a necessity, suncream isn't.

Babies and children are pure, little things, you worth about what they eat and their diet, yet youdont worry about the chemicals they are exposed to?

How many of you switched washing powders to non bio when your baby came along? Why? Because you didn't want harmful chemicals next to your babies skin.

Worry not worth

as far as im aware, cms are not being trained to not apply sun cream.

how far would you go in your policy on this littlebit? you say you won't smother children in chemicals - does that mean you don't use any creams of any sort? what is so terrible about sun cream?

i ask parents to provide their own which i then apply. this is to cover myself should their child have a reaction to my brand and also because it's bloody expensive!!

In the same way, I ask parents whether they want me to give calpol should their child have a temp. i obviously try to avoid this if poss, but if it's a toss up between calpol and a fit, i'd rather go with the 'chemical' option.

i don't think cms are being advised or trained anything - i think it is down to the individual to do what they see is fit.

i would say though littlebit, i think you are playing a dangerous game if you are using no sun protection on your mindees and am very surprised that parents are happily signing up for your service - sorry!