Baby died after night nanny gave Piriton

[examworries2026]

Just read this story and really shocked.

Is it normal practice for night nannies to give 8 week old babies antihistamines to sedate them? Appalling.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czd77edm8g1o

If your DC were raised in the 00s and 90s then you can probably stop with the “I’m old” nonsense and no, it wasn’t common to sedate your baby in those decades. Not at all

I agree - it's much worse because the risks to the baby's long term emotional security and immediate safety are far greater than those same risks of your husband having sex with someone else you employed.

I think some demographics have been outsourcing childcare for years in the form of wet nurses and even using slaves to raise their newborns, including feeding them from their breasts. It's just ingrained at this point.

Whilst this is true, I think another factor is that there's been also a major loss of knowledge on how to raise babies - I genuinely didn't interact with one until meeting my niece when I was 21 and didn't do any caring for her, so my first go at actually looking after a baby was my own!

Lots of my friends are in a similar position, so not only does it make the learning curve steeper once you become a mother but there's fewer people around you who are confident in their own baby handling skills. My parents were 30 years out of practice when I had my baby and looked shit-scared holding her for the first time 😆

This is obviously off the back of a lot of good things - women winning reproductive rights, having greater independence and being able to defer having children etc.

I can imagine that once upon a time there was a constant wave of babies within a family with lots of people (mostly female family members such as sisters, aunts, grannies) pitching in to help rear them, so everyone was trained up early and regularly employed these skills.

Nowadays, a baby might arrive once every 30 years, and people live so far apart that the few aunts or uncles the baby does have don't see them frequently enough to help out often or have the confidence to offer to do so

Doctors don't like prescribing piriton for under twos so where did it come from and why was it in babies system. I remember my doctor prescribed my DS piriton at 8 months for severe hay fever and he told me to only give a half dose because it contains alcohol. That nanny blatantly gave it to conk the baby out. How she's still working as a nanny is ridiculous

It's available OTC. We had it prescribed at 8m too, but bought an identical bottle on holiday when we ran out and couldn't get hold of the GP.

I always think that it's especially tricky with piriton because of the lack of syringe and the fact the dose remains lower for kids.

I've had to give my husband a wake up call when he casually almost gave a 5ml dose as Calpol, Nurofen etc are all 5ml+ at this point.

When I gave birth I knew plenty of people employing night nannies. Usually it was because husband was in very well paid job and wasnt helping with the nights at all. But mostly it was on the basis that the night nanny would get the baby into a routine and cuddle and settle the baby between feeds so that when the nanny left the baby was sleeping through the night. Or so the theory went, mostly the baby just was a bit older and slept longer anyway...
My first child was born in 2000. Back in 1995 babies were sleeping on their fronts, they slept in separate rooms from parents if there was a "nursery" bedroom with the cot and Medised was used.

Heres a Mumsnet thread re Medised from a few years back

THEY HAVE DISCONTINUED MEDISED | Mumsnet share.google/PIkgpCbTbg40f8ziC

Yes I know you can get it otc but it's only supposed to be for 1 or 2yo. Under 1 definitely has to be prescribed and as you said it has to be a much lower dose. An 8 week old baby shouldn't have anything like that in their system unless it was prescribed for some reason and it doesn't seem like it was

Love your username btw

Long-term nannying and nursery jobs urgently need to be a degree-threshold profession at this point. Either PGCE/social work or a degree with an education/childcare component. Because too many people don't know wtf they're doing.

I feel for the mother and I don't think the nanny meant to harm the baby but my god she is beyond stupid! We need to filter out sub-110 IQ individuals from working with kids.

Yes I remember that. Think it was spelt Phenergen? I tried it once on myself and i was very sleepy. In the 80’s it was commonly used

I agree. It seems selfish to me

Ftr I was working as a maternity nurse (that was the term) '94 to '96. I didn't put the babies on their front to sleep at all - Anne Diamond's "Back To Sleep" campaign started soon after her baby's death in '91, so it was well known by the mid 90s that you should always lay infants on their backs for sleeping. And as I've said I never gave them anything to make them sleep, nor did I with my own three; Calpol only if they were ill, not Medised - I've never bought a bottle of that in my life.

That's the entire point, isn't it. They're supposed to have slept during the day!

in practice, though, some people do take night jobs with the intention of napping. It's a way to have a second job around a day job, especially if they're working through an agency. There was a disabled man who died thanks to neglect from his overnight nurse, who was employed elsewhere as a midwife at an NHS hospital: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14835107/nurse-motor-neurone-disease-video-monitor-choked-death-bed.html

Ideally, if I paid for a night nanny or a night carer, I would want surprise spot-checks done to check for sleeping. But how do you even organise checks as a private individual when the entire point of employing people overnight is so you can sleep yourself?

i think is unusual practice but some people do give babies medication to sleep.

I wasn’t familiar with it in the 00s when my children were babies. I vaguely remember the McCanns were accused of giving the twins calpol to help them sleep, but that’s the only time I ever heard of such a thing.

I’ve done a fair bit of night nannying. There are two types- the ones who work at putting a baby into a routine and claim to be miracle workers. These are the ones usually booked well in advance often only working 6-8 weeks post birth and cost a fortune. Some have qualifications but not all. Usually they are referred to as maternity nurses. A job title I detest as it implies to parents these people are qualified to nurse level. The second type work with often older babies, either ad hoc or on longer term placements. I’m qualified in early years childcare and education but it’s by no means a requirement and there is no regulation if you work from the family home not your own.

I would like to defend the mothers who hire such a service. I personally never took a position for a family who had had maternity nurse from birth. Perhaps these mothers are owed some criticism but it’s the culture for many and they do think they are doing best for their child rather than being lazy. I firmly believe strict routine is not healthy for tiny babies so would not take such a position. I saw my role as doing the night shift how ever many wakes that was and letting the mother sleep. And so I was taking last minute short term jobs for women on the brink, with babies who were terrible sleepers and not enough support. It’s not their fault they had no help. Often these babies clearly had silent reflux or other issues but the healthcare professionals were being dismissive and gaslighting them into accepting this was normal. Half of my role was reassuring the mum. Over half of them needed showing how to properly burp their baby (some babies are hard to burp and that’s why they are poor sleepers!) basically I stood in for the support our society has lost for new mothers these days. I don’t think I was ever hired by a mother who had the the babies father pulling his weight. Or if the dad was pulling his weight it was a multiple birth so they were both exhausted. It makes me angry to see the mothers criticised when I personally lay the blame on the fathers and the dismissal of reflux etc.

I’ve never known a night nanny to give piriton but I have known of multiple parents doing it.

but the point this is an unregulated job stands. That’s the case for day time Nannie’s too unless they are ofsted registered. (Although you should look into the qualifications of all the staff in nurseries if you think all those workers have qualifications).

but yeah. Don’t blame the mothers I never once got hired to care for a baby who slept well or for a mum with a village around her

I mean, if pain is the thing stopping you sleeping, then a painkiller makes sense. My son had a habit of mega teething (8 teeth arrived in the space of a fortnight all cutting in at once).

The National Nanny Association have been campaigning for years via the Road to Nanny Regulation to regulate the Nanny and Maternity Nurse industry.
Unfortunately due to no Regulation no dbs is needed!

The National Nanny Association have been trying they were on sky news regarding the case and have been meeting with the Department of Education and Ofsted ect. It's crazy in 2026 the industry is still unregulated and there is no accountability until something tragic like this raises the issue yet they are still working as nanny.

It’s horrible and there is absolutely no good reason for it. I thought the point of a night nanny was that they are awake to look after the baby at night . That’s what they are being paid for . Not to sedate the baby so they can arse around doing goodness knows what. It’s just so bad .

I'm a professional, qualified nanny of 20 years, I have had several periods where I have worked as a maternity nanny, and am in fact about to start another job as one next Thursday. There are plenty of reasons why people use them

I've supported mothers/ parents because

• They are single parents and are struggling on their own
• They are married and their partner has a job that means they need sleep (I really don't want a tired neurosuregon working on my brain tbh)
• It's a societal norm
• The mother had post partum psychosis due to lack of sleep with an older child and they want to try and avoid that
• The mother has had an extremely difficult birth and rest is extremely important for her recovery and her partner is working, looking after older children and the house
• The mother has pre existing health conditions and in order to be able to function during the day, needs proper rest her partner is working, looking after older children and the house.
• They need help with routines
• I've had a family where the mum died shortly after childbirth due to complications and the father's mum hired me because frankly, he was manic with grief and had no other support.
• The mother has postnatal depression
• The parents are staying up for 24 hours each because theyre fucking terrified of SIDS so by hiring someone to watch the baby thy can atually sleep

I don't judge anyone for using nighttime help whatsoever,I can't really see why you would, you don't have to choose to do that yourself but much like most other parenting choices, why judge someone else's? The babies in my care are not mine, but they are loved one, cared for and extremely well looked after, I have never and would never drug them and I, like most night nannies, stay awake all all night.

Those on this thread who are all “I would NEVER do that” are you able to imagine a world where you might? I refer to my previous post of three babies, PPH and feeding problems? Would you still be so sanctimonious?

I would have given my right arm for a night nanny when ds was born

For context,he was number 3 baby,I hadn't known i was pregnant (found out on the Monday and had him on the Saturday) and had the most soul crushing pnd

He was a velcro baby and didnt sleep at all (as an adult,he often goes 48 hours on no sleep,will maybe get 4/5 hours and start again)

If he was laid on me,he wouldn't scream but if I laid him next to me,he'd howl and howl until I picked him up again

I couldn't even go for a wee in peace

I was so ill,2 other small dc,single parent and zero support

My mother was as much use as a chocolate fireguard and the rest of my family didnt give a fuck-'your baby,your problem' and 'women do this,they are so weak'

I remember her telling me that the reason he didnt sleep was that I was 'doing it all wrong' but when I said to tell me where I was going wrong,all I got back was 'dunno'

It didnt help that my mother would speak to my doctor and tell her I was making it all up so the doctor refused to help me-at one point I told her I was going to go home and kill him so she told me to 'go home and make a cup of tea,that will make you feel better'

(It's hard to explain,shes a narcissist and goes to the doctors 4/5 times a week with her made up illnesses and discuss me at the end of the appointment,i was that ill she'd make me the appointments 'to help' but refuse to allow me to see a different doctor)

A nanny would have helped me get a few hours sleep as my brain would tell me to kill him to stop the unbearable buzzing in my brain and I lived in fear of doing it (i tried twice but thankfully didnt manage it-my mother told ds as an adult because 'its such a funny story') looking back a lack of sleep and pnd had sent me slowly insane and he was at massive risk from me

Thank god nobody told me about any drugs to knock him out as I might have done it (none pnd me is horrified at the thought)

I want to go back in time and give me a huge hug and give the support I didnt have

My daughter is 3.5 and has woken up averagely 4-5 times a night since birth (the night before last she slept through for first time ever, but last night was back to waking up intermittently). Due to her health issues, there have been periods she has woken up every hour or even more. My DSD who lives with us has ADHD/autism and is 11 and has never slept through the night. I never had a night nanny. TBH the only time I’ve slept away from my child is for 3 work trips, and my husband looked after her. I also work FT as breadwinner. So I fully understand the challenges of sleep deprivation but I don’t think it’s good parenting to outsource the soothing/comforting process that is part of forming secure attachment. Maybe there are cases where mum is hospitalised or whatever when I see that it’s unavoidable, but in general it’s just not in the child’s best interests. Yes I have been tired and even very very unwell from lack of sleep at points, but that is what being a parent is.

There appears to be absolutely no evidence that it was the nanny that gave the baby the medication, the fact that they’ve just jumped to that conclusion and very publicly announced their assumption is crazy! Why couldn’t it have been either of the parents?!