Gap socks have PERMANENTLY SCARRED my 4 month old daughter... I want to write to them I AM SO LIVID

[newmomma]

My daughter wore some GAP socks (3-6mths) when she was just 3 months.

She wore them for a day (8am - 6pm ish) and was left with a VERY swollen and red raised bleed behind the skin - not just your normal bruise, really quite heavy duty.

I have just seen the doctor as 6 weeks on it isn't going away to be told that the dark red stripe across thoe whole of the back of her calf is a scar and won't improve much.

I cried. I am so cross that I want to write to gap and feel like asking for compensationas my perfect little girl will always carry this scar across the back of her legs.

Does anyone have any bad experience with faulty clothing and the outcomes?

Or any advice as to what I should say to GAP?

Please help.

Newmomma, I think the leap of logic you are making about it definitely being the socks' fault because of the elastic rib mark to the blister, is understandable but possibly wrong.

It seems a lot more likely that she was injured in another way, and had a bleed under her skin, while wearing the socks. The area of skin over the bleed would be a lot more sensitive to pressure then, and the sock mark would affect the appearance of the bleed, but it does not mean the sock caused the bleed -- which seems, well, not realistic.

I can totally get you being upset though. Sorry your lovely dd has a scar :( I just don't think it adds up to being Gap's fault.

And fwiw yes I do remove socks at nappy changes, otherwise sometimes the wee kicking heels go into the poo zone

Contact a personal injury lawyer, they will be very keen to pursue this. Gap is a big rich company. The money will be some compensation to you. I'm surprised you haven't thought of this earlier.

Yes I take socks off during nappy changes else they stick their feet in their own poo.

Something similar happened to my dd but not with socks. DH accidently left a hairband in her hair when she went to bed and she must have removed it and then slid it over her wrist, which is what she was seen me doing on numerous occasions. However it was on all night until I spotted it in morning and it has left a similar mark to the one you're describing.

This was 6 months ago and the mark is still there, even though the elastic wasn't that tight around her arm. And it only left a mark on the top of her arm, not all the way around. It has faded considerably now but I'm expecting it will leave a permanant scar now.

But whilst I understand how it can have happened, I'm not sure it was Gap's fault.

Even a personal injury lawyer needs evidence. And there really isn't any evidence that the socks caused the injury. It does seem likely that she sustained the injury while wearing them, but that is not to say that the socks were responsible.

Personal Injury Lawyers don't need evidence to take money from the hopeful/gullible/angry "victims"

They do if they're no win, no fee.

I don't think there are really any grounds for compensation. Your DD is not disabled because of this (preventing her from working in the future), nor do you have additional care costs.

If you let your DD freedom to roam, she will have many more 'scars' before she even starts school, let alone afterwards.

My DS, as an 18mo fell into a rose bush (totally our fault as we were standing right next to him at the time). He had the most horrific cut on his forehead - we were gutted, and rightly so, guilty. Now at 18, it is a tiny white line - very insignificant amongst all his football and rugby souvenirs. It doesn't bother him at all, won't prevent him from working, and shouldn't prevent him from securing a wife.

That NHS link highlights that this is a problem, so even if it sounds odd that the socks caused the injury, your case is not unique newmomma.

It will fade with time though. DS's scar only really shows when he has had a bit of sun. It was a horrific burn (third degree in places).I thought his hand would be ruined.

So sorry that your little DD has this. I do know how you feel.

What sort of cuffs at the bottom of the leg did the jogging pants have, if any, and was there a seam going around the leg joining the leg to the cuff? If your DD was lying on her back, could the cuff seam have dug into her little leg at the back? Or was there elastic in the hem that could have ridden up the leg a bit and pressed against your DD's calf while she slept? I think if the socks were too tight there would have been a mark all the way round the leg, not just in the back.

There are socks that have tight elastic at the ankle and they really dig in, I noticed with the DCs -- not Gap socks afaik, but other brands. I liked the Gap socks because they stayed put and yet weren't too tight.

btw, I think those long Gap socks are supposed to be folded down maybe twice, to lie around the ankle, not worn knee high. That was how I did it as I hated to tighten the socks against the toes by pulling them too high.

Just trying to load some photos...

The photo is too high resolution.
I'll see if I can do another link somehow.

Gap baby socks are ankle socks, not knee highs. They are sold shown folded down.

Aw, bless her little leg :( I think it's odd that your GP told you it was a permanent scar, though

newmomma - this sounds awful and I'm sorry you have this worry but if this happened to my child my first thought would be to press my GP for a referral to a specialist to see why an ordinary pair of socks could cause an injury like this. Perhaps an unknown condition is causing it? I don't wish to worry you but for socks to cause a problem like this is not normal and I would not think it was Gap's fault.

My DS2 has the same thing.
when he was about 3/4mths old, had some gap socks on, just above ankle. No complaints, not crying, wasn't swollen etc , i'm very paranoid about socks being too tight/ too small as DS1 feet are so big and grow so quickly
but when I took them off he had a red 'sock band' round his leg. Got rid of the socks and wasn't really concerned, thought it would fade over night- like a bra strap or sock mark on on adult.
It's still there - just a faint light red line along the back of his lower calf.
He's 19mths now. It had faded but is still visible.
Every time i look at it, i wish i hadn't put those socks on him.

it's just like your DDs mark on your FB photos.

Definitely odd that the GP said it was permanent. FWIW, I used to get this really badly with my school socks, with bumps lingering all the way through school hols, and my legs are scar free now, so please don't worry too much. Try rubbing arnica cream in, that will help disperse the bruising a bit.

And agree that you shouldn't use these Gap socks as knee highs anyway - they really are ankle socks

the ones in the op's picture are clearly knee ghigh socks

Gap don 't only sell the triple roll ones, they sell all sorts (well, our Gap does anyway)

and even if they were the roll down ones it's hardly going to do harm by not rolling them down is it?

Newmomma- I've just submitted DS2 to a rigerous calf examination and it's faded to an almost invisible white line and doens't look like scar tissue, more like there was a scratch that has healed over.
It's taken a long time tho. DS2 is a little bit older than your DD so give it a couple of months and see if it fades too.

That seems to have worked.
Let me know what you think.

Just so you know - I've put some photos of my daughter in album too so you can see she's just a tiny little girl.

She likes to hold her ear when she goes to sleep and her eyes light up when her big brother (20 months old) comes near her.

OP please be aware that this link also gives your full name and a direct link to your facebook account

I don't know about the mark - I agree with others that the GP cannot know for sure that it will never fade - but just wanted to say, what a gorgeous baby! She reminds me of my dd when she was that age, same mischievous smile and bubbling with energy.

Have just seen the photos. It does look in the second one where the sock is pulled up that it's digging into her leg. There's a definite indentation in the same place where a mark's been left.

But that's not Gap's fault. It is your responsibility to make sure the socks fit your child.

I know you're upset - I'd be too - but your anger towards Gap is misplaced. And being angry won't make the situation better but will make you feel worse.

The photo shows the scar AFTER six weeks.

It is clearly (upon close inspection) a scar - it's not raised anymore, and is just red pigmentation to the skin.

They definitely were knee high socks.

And its really nice of you, those of you who have said your DC's have suffered from similar. Thank you.

Surely the reason the socks would have only damage that part of the leg is because that is the softest part - the front of the leg with the shinbone isn't so squishy and susceptible iyswim?

Anyway - off to brave toddler group for the first time on my own...

Just for the record, I'm not sure why this has received so much interest - I posted in legal thinking I'd just get some help writing to Gap, which is my next step. I have no reason to post on a mums website purely in the interests of compensation - where would it get me? I'm just infuriated that a wound which I thought (and hoped) was slowly healing; won't.

And gutted, because deep down - I feel as if there is only me to blame.

I have never removed socks during a nappy change; pooey or otherwise. I just hold the legs up? Anyway - perhaps that will change from now on.