Ds (15mo) 1st visit to nursery and winds up in A&E!!

[Natalie1989xo]

So... I am due to return to work before Christmas and wanted to be organised in finding childcare. DS went for his first visit yesterday morning and I went in with him, he was one of two babies in the baby room, supervised by one member of staff which is fine. The nursery owner/leader asked if I would like to leave him for an hour to see how he settles.

I leave and return in one hour as agreed, when I arrived a lady said he'd had a bump. Going back into the baby room I see the other baby is asleep and DS was being held and cuddled with a cold cloth on his head. When looking he had a large bump that went from him eyebrow to 3/4 of the way up his forehead. His eye was starting to look puffy and he was screaming.

Apparently he was pulling himself up onto the table which had a tablecloth on it and the tablecloth had slid off as he grabbed it and he hit his head on the table. I calmed him and we left, he fell asleep on the short walk home and I left him to sleep. Upon waking he was sick and generally quite groggy. Very quiet and unlike his singy shouty self. I called DH to come home and take us to the GP to get him checked, whilst waiting he was sick again and seeming tired even though he had not long slept.

We took him straight to A&E where the doctor said he was quite clearly concussed and for us to look out for more vomiting or fits. He didn't get worse upon returning home and is recovering well with his bump on his head and his black eye

Now I know all kids have falls and bumps and scrapes, my 8 year old certainly has, but if he was the only baby they were looking after then I am struggling to understand how this has happened.

Needless to say the search for a nursery continues....

if he was the only baby they were looking after then I am struggling to understand how this has happened

These things happen in an instant. The member of staff could have been watching him all of the time and still not been able to get to him to prevent the fall. Do you never ever look away from your child even for a second and hover within grabbing distance at every second?

Do you think first born children never have accidents?

I hope your DS is better now.

Lool at Ratio's!!!!!!! One member of staff Cannot be left alone with children in a room for a day!

You keep repeating yourself Pepsi without providing any information to back it up?

That should t have happened. I'd be furious. The key workers have a duty of care to make sure accidents like dont happen.

pepsi are you sure as my dd was alone in nursery the other day by her self and one nursary nurse and her daughter. There was a cleaner/cook there too though?

hollie84.....

You keep repeating yourself.

Ring Ofsted. Get your proof!

pepsi
You are wrong.
Have a little think for a moment..if it was illegal, how could the vast majority of childminders operate? They work by themselves looking after children all day.
Can I ask what your childcare position is?
Ratios state how many children can be left per child. If you have few enough children then you only need one adult.

I've had a look on Ofsted's website, and while it states adult:child ratios and qualifications there doesn't seem to be anything about number of adults in a room. Maybe you could direct us to a link or the name of the law?

One member of staff Cannot be left alone with children in a room for a day!

Think about what you are claiming. Going by your rules, if there is one child there would need to be two adults. Do you really think that is true?

I think some childcare settings would have their own rule about being alone but this would be to protect staff against accusations.

lots of nurseries use tablecloths
the plastic sort to keep tables clean, especially if they are using the same tables for meals and messy play
they are usually secured with clips though

Sorry to hear about your DS, hope he's all better now :). It's scary isn't it!

However, you simply can't watch a child every second of every day. The other child was asleep, so the nursery worker might have turned her back on DS to check the other child. It sounds like he pulled the table over on himself as he was pulling himself up. Sometimes they come away without a scratch after doing something major and sometimes the other way around.

Of course you have to go with your gut feeling, but don't be too hasty if in every other way it ticks all the boxes.

If DH is 'putting his foot down' then he'd better be being pro active in finding another nursery and not leaving it to you!

I'm sorry it has happened though, it's stressful enough leaving them to go back to work without this kind of thing happening on a trial day!

If ofsted went into a nursery and there was 1 member of staff with children in a room alone. The nursery would be marked 'inadquete'

So, two children would require a member of staff each. Really?

Ofsted guidelines all state the required ratio as "there must be at least one member of staff for every X children;"

At least one. Not more than one.

If ofsted went into a nursery and there was 1 member of staff with children in a room alone. The nursery would be marked 'inadquete'

This is simply not true. I have been present in a nursery during an inspection when the toddler room was one level 3 adult and 3 children. The inspection result was good. It is perfectly acceptable.

Some nurseries consider it good practice to protect staff by ensuring that they are not left alone with children. That's fine and it can only be a good thing for the children to have that extra supervision. However, it isn't required and settings can easily justify allowing qualified staff to work alone with children just as they do in schools. It can even be a positive for children who need one to one input, e.g. speech and language activities in quiet environments.

The worker said at the time that she could have 3 babies by herself and after the 4th baby she would need a 2nd member of staff.

If he was already in attendance there and this was an accident where the care is generally excellent it wouldn't be so bad but he was on his first visit and I had only just left him. They didn't call me and I signed no paperwork or incident sheet they practically handed him over to me screaming and sent me on my way. The nursery is on the way to the junior school so when I take my eldest to school in the morning I will pop in and let them know he won't be attending there.

I have no idea about ratios etc but I do need to look into whether the accident needs to be reported to ofsted or not as someone mentioned earlier in the thread.

Thank you for all your replies, I didn't want to seem dramatic but I must take first impressions into consideration.

And with regard to the above post that says I can't expect someone to watch him every second, I understand that but as a Mum I need to walk away from a childcare provider trusting 100% that my baby is safe.

You're 100% right to feel that your baby must be cared for by someone you trust.

They most certainly should have asked you to sign a record of this incident. They should be informing Ofsted as your baby received hospital treatment and they should be making efforts to record how they have reflected on this incident and how they can make improvements is response to it, i.e. not using a tablecloth on a surface babies use to pull themselves up. That one isn't rocket science.

The fact that a worker was alone with your baby isn't a cause for concern but there are plenty of other aspects to this incident which would ring alarm bells for me and I usually take the approach that babies are just programmed to explore and get the odd bump whatever you do.