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'm glad that the consultant thinks there will be no long term scarring.

You must do what you feel best. But personally, friend or not... I would terminate contract with childminder, report to ofsted and leave ss to do their job.

I am glad about the good news.

I see no need to find a way to tell your friend CM. If it is standard procedure, it is just that.

Best wishes to your little one.

How bad was the accident Jam? When my friend fell down the stairs with her DD she had random visits from SS for a few months afterwards, even though there was a witness to corroborate.

Glad to hear he is doing better.

You are far too nice to this CM.

I would report her to Ofsted, to be honest.

I hope you're little boy is better soon.

Can I just add, when my mum hit 74, she became ultra sensitive to the sun and burns just like it seems your son has.
She cannot tolerate any more than 15 minutes.
She refuses to be in direct sunlight at all now.
She was absolutely fine prior to this and although wasn't a sun worshiper, she had many holidays in hot countries and never had a problem.

She's 81 now.

Very pleased to hear that there is not going to be any lasting damage OP. Let SS do their job and terminate your contract with your friend. Im sure she didnt mean for this to happen and she no doubt feels terrible, but she has not cared for your child properly and clearly left the kids out in the sun for a very long time. She seems to have very little understanding of the danger of the sun and comes across as pretty blase about it. You had to aak her round so she could see the injuriea and realiae you werent being OTT! That speaks volumes...

Stay friends with her if you want to, but just don't employ her as your CM. If she's any kind of friend she will understand that her contract cannot continue.

Sorry for spelling....damn phone!

did she not call you to collect your ds op when he was covered in sunburn? i'm assuming it got worse after you took him home but it must have been very noticeable to her. did she not call you before normal pick up time?

Glad to hear your son is ok and you got reassuring news from the specialists.
Hope you're able to have a cuddly weekend x

agree 2nd opinion required and take some photos just in case you need to evidence it in the future. Hope your little one recovers soon.

2nd degree burns :(

Glad that doc thinks no scarring will happen but agree must have been in sun for over 30mins

I still don't get why cm didn't cream
Your ds :( it's standard practice for child carers :(

I wouldn't mention to cm that ss may pay her a visit - if they do then go via the hospital and nothing to do with you

So will you allow to keep looking after ds or are you giving her notice

"paediatric consultant said that, given the extent of his injuries, it is standard practice for social services to get involved and that they will need to interview the CM. I am now trying to figure out how I can let her know without making sound accusatory"

It's not your problem, OP. You don't "let her know". At the moment, you have no way of knowing what - if anything - they will do. The consultant may have been trying to let you know how serious this is, that's all - I don't think he was suggesting it was up to you to tell the CM. It's out of your hands now.

If there was no friendship between you, and this was a business transaction, what would you do? Just shrug it off? To be honest, I'd be livid if a friend allowed this to happen to my baby - but for a registered CM to allow it is inexcusable. Other people's children need to be protected, even if you're happy to forgive her.

Yes, 2 hours in the sun unprotected is dangerously ignorant.

So glad to hear he won't be scarred.

I swear that when I got burnt last Tuesday even though I didn't spend more than an hour at a time outside because I was shifting rocks and needed frequent breaks (every 45 mn or so). I got burned where my top rode up above my trousers so not constant exposure either.

I am old (45), I have already burned many times on my back (leathery), yet even I got burned in short bursts of outdoor activity on that day. I think the paediatrician may be wrong on this one (they aren't always right) so I would take what he said with a pinch of salt.

It's good that DS will be okay! I have to say that I would agree about the at least two hours business in the sun business as the only time I have ever burned like that I was out for 2 or more hours!

Could your baby have been put outside for a nap in his pushchair?

Just can't understand how a CM could let this happen.

(I am a CM myself and just would take the risk)

the baby could have been left in the shade for half an hour, but the sun could have been magnified off the greenhouse ( or reflected off a car)

there could be an innocent explanation, but that doesn't help the OP

We all burned on Tuesday, except 1 yo DS who was kept in the shade. Because he burned on Saturday

This sun is as fierce as summer and I think your childminder could well be telling the truth about 30 mins. HOWEVER, I think 30 mins is too long for a small child to be in direct sunlight. They need to be popping in and out of the shade constantly. My family are a bunch of burners and I've had burns like your poor baby up until my 20s most years because I simply couldn't believe how quickly the sunlight affects me. 10 minutes or less sometimes. And people were stopping me in the street to ask what had happened - it looked like I had had horrific accidents with boiling water I can't even hang the washing out without a cover up.

In little's defence, even with this background, I wont use sunscreen. It is potentially a bigger cause of skin cancer than the sun itself. That's from a dermatologist friend who begged us not to use it. There have been massive assumptions made about the causes of skin cancer.

I hope your little darling is feeling better soon. I feel every time I think of him .

'I wont use sunscreen. It is potentially a bigger cause of skin cancer than the sun itself'

Have you got ANY evidence to support this? If it doesn't come from the Daily Mail, so much the better.

Poor chap , do hope he recovers quickly. Personally I don't think either child should have been exposed to direct sunlight for even 30 minutes, especially without a hat or sunscreen or hood up on pram if napping. She sounds inexperienced , is her baby her first ? How many children has she minded before and have you had any other reason for concern ?

I think you are being incredibly generous to your childminder. Whether its 30 mins or 2hrs, it's just way too long for a 10 month old baby who has never really experienced the sun in his life. If she went out without sun cream, she could have borrowed or bought some on the way or returned home. I can't believe anyone is defending this childminder at all. Friend or not, accident or not, your little boy has 2nd degree burns! She should be glad you are not pressing for a criminal convictions, let alone carrying on with your contract. After all, if I accidentally run over someone in my car, I can fully expect to be prosecuted!

By the way, I burned after an hour in the sun on Tuesday and I tan very well and have darkish skin. My husband, who has very fair skin can burn in the shade without suncream. So I can't believe any childminder out there wouldn't put suncream on children. It's irresponsible and stupid frankly. Surely you believing in the merits of it (little) or not is not the point. If the parent wants to use suncream on their child, that s what matters. The first thing I did on Tuesday was get suncream for my DD.

I am so glad your little boy will be ok. Big hugs and all my thoughts are with you.

I am really sorry yor LO has experienced such a level of sunburn, glad it is not going to scar and hope he is feeling better.

I can certainly understand needing or wanting to have someone take responsibility for this happening. .. most people do especially where babies are involved

If it was a month later and sunny I bet all of us would invariably have applied sunscreen and / or put hat on. There have been many many people caught out by Tuesday... a very cold morning not long after freezing weather turning very suddenly warm....but where we were not even warm enough to remove cardi or jumpers. I was out with walking group and tbh one of us... a very pale person with sensitive skin did get a bit red.... one a little pink... but rest of us ok. We were out for about two hours hottest part of day.

We were all very surprised anyone affected at all.

Maybe its something to do with more uv light getting through depleted ozone layer
Maybe also combined with sensitive skin.

Not saying cm has no responsibility at all...just that maybe she is not totally incompetent or a danger to children.

I haven't read all the posts as there are so many but just want to say my 11 mo got badly burnt on Tuesday in the sun. I'm sacking my nanny as it is the final straw after a long list of issues.
I hope your LO recovers soon.
IMO bad sunburn in April on such a young child is unforgivable in the UK....

There is now a warning out re high uv levels

www.gov.uk/government/news/spring-sun-advice-from-public-health-england