Are childminders supposed to tell parents if their child had a fall?

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She didn't even tell me ds had fallen today.

When we got home he started to cry and said "mouth sore" so I looked inside. It seems he has tripped or something and banged his tooth through his lip.

I called her and her dh said she was out but had her mobile so to text her. I did. Still got no reply.

I'm not one of those mothers who make a fuss.. I really am not. But fgs if she had just said he had fallen then I would have known. I know he has fallen even when I have been with him so I am in no way blaming her.. just wish she had have said when I picked him up! He cried when he was eating his dinner as it was sore to chew

I thought they were required to and get you to sign the accident book in accordance with OFSTEAD?

No idea whether they are 'supposed' to, but I would be horrified if they didn't! No experience of childminders or anything, but had to answer this, that's rubbish of her!

In a nursery setting there has to be an accident book which you have to sign when your child has been injured - I'm not sure about CMs but I would imagine something similar should apply.

I would be cross about this.

We are required, by law, to report any accident to the parent, write it in the accident book and get your signiture on it. However small she may have thought it was, she should have told you. ITs there for our protection as much as yours.

I'm not cross as such.. It's hard to describe.

I feel as if i've been lied to, even though no lie has been told IYKWIM.

This happened to me once, DS said, on the way home from the gym that his head was sore. He had fallen off the chute. The staff at the creche had not said anything. I was very angry, if he had had concussion, I would not have known. I looked for a different gym after that.

I find it terrible that she didn't tell you that he has banged his tooth through his lip, this is not a wee bump. I would be very angry with her.

How long ago did you txt her?

Sorry, takes me ages to type so I just wanted to get that bit out before there was a flurry of postings

My childminder records all accidents, especially those that relate to head and face etc. She has to write down what happened, what treatement took place, and draw the injury onto the diagram.

If it is bumps to the kness etc then she doesn't make much fuss but will tell me, mostly in the "oh, if she is rubbing her knees it is because of..."

Same as medicine - anything has to be recorded, signed, dated and initalled. IIRC Ofstead marked her down on one example when the parent had signed but not initalled against the accident!

We sign the nursery accident book practically every day for ds's...
Even small things.
On a monday we usually have to sign for both of them to say that the bumps and bruises they arrive with were done at home.

I don;t know if my cmhas an accident book but I would expect it to be used only if there were some kind of treatment. However she always tells me if he bangs himself hard enough to cause a bruise or a mark.

I text her at 6pm. It was only a short text. Straight to the point. Did he fall as his mouth is cut & sore. I won't see her again until the middle of next week so will call her tomorrow. I don't like ringing anyone at this time of night.

I'm not angry & she knows i'm not that type of person. I think it just slipped her mind, he is an almost 3yr old boisterous little hooligan... but if she had have said it would have made the difference!

Strictly speaking, EVERY accident, with or without treatment should be recorded, but if you've looking after an under 5, chances are their knees are going to be constantly covered in marks! I just report most knee injuries, unless its particularly bad, but in the case of head or mouth, I always get a record.

Is it possible he did it without her realising and he made no fuss at the time?

Yes omega, perfectly possible, as he's the most easy going little guy you could meet!

I guess this is why I'm not angry, just annoyed. It's hard to explain! He has had many a fall with her & of course at home too, but she usually points out any marks or bruises he has which is why I was miffed she hadn't mentioned it today.

It would be nice to just get an acknowledgement of your text wouldnt it?

Maybe she turns her phone off in the evenings? I turn mine off when Im not working as I don't want people ringing me about work stuff during our very limited family time!

Im sure if she had known about it she would have told you about it....if you genuinely believe she purposely didn't tell you then surely you can't trust her to look after your son and shouldn't be sending him to her???? Maybe when it happened it looked like a tiny bump (my kids are always bumping themselves or tripping over etc) and if he didn't make a fuss she possibly didn't realise he had actually hurt the inside of his mouth... just throwing a few other options in!

Jenna

I always used to record every fall, or incident that occured. Even if it was something that didn't seem to bother the child.

She replied at 11pm last night & said he didn't cry so she thought he was ok & he had been eating his tea after that so she wasn't worried at all.

She asked if he was ok & said if she thought he was hurt or out of sorts she would have told me at pick up.

The NCMA accident provides a copy for parents when an accident is recorded. The parents tend to srew them up and throw them away!

To be fair, I would have my mobile off too in the evening, especially as I have been to the theatre 3 times in the last week, same applies to meetings.

Forms are supposed to be completed but yes, when parents often screw them up, you decide it's not worth the money it's costing for every little small thing. HOWEVER, I would always mention it as parents need to know! I agree about the phone though, I don't turn mine off but can understand why people do.