In shock after visit to childminders

[luw7797]

Just posting this cause I need a rant really but I just can’t believe what happened when my partner and I visited a childminders this morning! My DD is 10 months and we have decided to send her to a childminders two days a week as I’m doing a degree. We went for a look around at one that my friends little girl attends this morning. The lady seemed nice but she had a dog which actually tried to BITE my child. The dog was in the playroom with all the children and so I assumed it would be fine to let DD crawl up to it, she didn’t hit it or anything just put her hand out towards it and it snapped and had her hand in its mouth. The skin isn’t broken but there are marks, I can’t be 100% sure whether they are from the dog but I’m going to call the gp when DD wakes up from her nap. The dog then went on to growl at the other children so clearly it must do this all day long. I just can’t believe this woman keeps the dog around the children when it clearly doesn’t like it and one day it’s going to really hurt a child! She didn’t do anything when the dog went for DD, she just said oh did she fall on the dog and I said no the dog snapped at her and she didn’t say anything.

There were also about a million choking hazards floating round the place! Tiny little parts of toys here there and everywhere. You’d think a childcare setting that takes on children as young as 6 months would be careful to remove choking hazards surely?

I just can’t believe it, it’s really shaken me and made me question whether childcare is the right route to go or if I should drop out of my degree until DD is older. This was the first childminder weve visited so hopefully the next one is very different.

The skin isn’t broken but there are marks, I can’t be 100% sure whether they are from the dog

Im really confused, did the dog bite her or not? How can you not sure if the marks came from the dog? If the dog had her hand in her mouth surely these are dog bite marks? Have you photographed?

I don’t mean this in a sassy way at all, I believe you. Just confused by this sentence.

This is why I would never send my kids to a childminder. I feel like if there's only one person looking after the kids then there's a real lack of accountability, they can do whatever they want and get away with it while also complying with inspections when they occur.

Have to admit childminders aren’t my first choice but the majority aren’t abusive.

Does the university have a nursery? They’re often excellent.

If the dog snapped at her and marked her hand then she would have been crying the place down. You say you can't even be sure the marks are from the dog so it sounds like you're trying to make it into more than it actually was.

That said the childminder shouldn't have babies crawling around with a dog, it's not fair on the dog and could be very dangerous for the baby.

Op report her to ofsted and then look elsewhere. We looked at loads of places before picking one for ds and honestly having worked in early years I was really shocked at how loose some of the practice was in a number of places. Ds has settled really well in the nursery he's now in and I couldn't fault them so far. You tried and it wasn't for you but it doesn't mean another won't be.

This is definitely not normal and needs reported. It's a very dangerous situation for kids to be placed in. My kids childminder had a dog. She was very gentle, placid dog and adored kids but was not allowed in the playroom, had her own quiet spaces away from the kids to sleep and relax. The kids could interact with the dog but generally only in the garden and always closely supervised. It actually helped my kids as they like dogs but they understand how to behave appropriately around dogs because she also taught them not to run at dogs etc when out.

Classic MN.

Well of course some childminders have dogs.

They just keep them separate to the kids.

There’s a good childcare shortage, so you’d never want to knock someone out for a reason like that.

I love dogs and will defend dogs to the death BUT knowing what I know now, I wouldn't use a CM with a dog. They're usually an old rescue or naice family dog that is left to nonchalantly dilly dally throughout the day so they're not watched and allowed to be alone around kids while the CM gets lunches or the like. Why risk it?!

Another telling thing here is that she missed what happened. How? I'd want a CM who at least seemed to be aware of her surroundings.

Report to ofsted.

Absolutely, yes, please report. This is an accident waiting to happen.

Do not give up hope with finding the right childcare provider, and do consider looking at nurseries too. When we first went to look for our eldest, we went to two nurseries for a visit (personally, I didn't consider childminders, in part, for this reason, I didn't want a 'home' environment, and because we lived so rurally, it would have meant a lot of time spent in the car driving around if CM was to take them out, which many do). The first we looked at though was truly awful.

It was 'outstanding' according to Ofsted and came highly recommended. But it was awful. The entire meeting with the manager was spent reviewing the policies for all the penalties for late payment, like literally a 15 minute lecture on their payment policies. There were babies screaming everywhere and just being ignored. The baby room staff member proudly showed off the 'sleep room' which was like some sort of sensory deprivation chamber, basically 3 cots in a cupboard and they shut them in there at naptime to cry to sleep and check every 15 minutes. The staff person actually asked me 'what steps are you taking now before you start to break your baby's bond with you? That would make it much easier for us when she starts!' I managed to hold in the tears til we made it to the car park before I sobbed. It was just run like a prison (which is ironic, because shortly thereafter, they lost a 2 year old! He let himself out the front door with the visiting plumber and they found him wandering around an estate like 5 minutes down the road).

The second one we visited was a lovely little forest school nursery on a farm. The kids were outside every day. They were happy to support us settling in as long as we needed. It was just such a lovely welcoming child-centred place. One of the staff people even had dd do contact naps on her for the first two months so she could settle in to sleeping in a strange place. It was just wonderful. I put two dc through there for 7 years in total and I miss it and the staff to this day. They were like family and it was just so lovely.

Do not give up hope, but do report this place and keep looking for the right one. You will know when you find it.

Please report her, the dog and choking hazards shocking! Dont give up you will find one or a nursey!

I think debating about if this was a bite or not is irrelevant. The dog was with the children, the dog growled at the children. That is enough to say it shouldn't happen and dog should be nowhere near children.

Btw my dog snapped at my youngest who is 11, I questioned rehoming her but am using a behavioural therapist instead.

My friend used to be a child minder and she had a dog, but she had to keep it separate from the children and it had to have regular worm and flea treatment.

Any dog that growls at children should not be loose with them.

You can find excellent childminders but I think you have to do your homework more as there are some truly awful ones around. Nurseries you generally have safety in numbers and more policies/procedures etc- not full proof as there are bad nurseries too. With nurseries, the manager is often critical. My children were at mine for a 6 year period and I saw the difference a manager whose not right can make. Started off amazing, really dipped when the manager just wasn’t into it anymore and there was a period of about 6 months where it felt like she’d lost control, the best staff started leaving and left with a revolving door of temps. She was as then replaced and new manager was shit hot and nursery back to being awesome with a 2 year wait list.

We went to visit a childminder for DS1 once who happily told us “some children just need a slap, but don’t worry I’d never actually hit them!” Safe to say we did not send DS to her and instead got lucky with an amazing nursery. Trust your instinct, protect your baby and send her elsewhere. I second the people who have suggested seeing if your university nursery has a space, they’re usually excellent and some offer student discount on fees.

I would have had the same reaction as the op. The dog may not have actually bitten the child but it could easily have done so. Snapping at and growling around the children shows the dog is unhappy, it’s warning them off.
The childminder doesn’t seem to be concerned, she should be.

I just echo what others have said,report to Ofsted.

Report her immediately

A dog's mouth is very dirty I assume you washed your child's hand afterwards

That dog is a safeguarding risk

I'd be concerned about the dog being allowed in the playroom with the kids and about the toys. If she can't do better than that when she knows that a new prospective mindee and parent are visiting....

And does she work on her own or was there another adult in the playroom with the kids (including an older baby) and dog while she let you in? What are her ratios?

As a teacher, I'm not a huge fan of Ofsted but I'd be calling them and sling them to inspect. The dog sounds dangerous and shouldn't be near children if it's going to snap at them!! Find an alternative provider.