Negligence in Creche

Kerrygirl2004

I'm hoping I can bounce this off other parents and get some feedback. its really coming between me and my sleep. I went to collect my little boy from creche this week and was met my the manager. she was clearly anxious and explained that while the children in my childs room were being moved from upstairs to the kitchen downstairs, my child was left behind. He had asked to go to the toilet, was let go on his own and wasn't missed when the others were being moved. the others went downstairs, ate their lunch, and only by chance another parent went upstairs to get their childs coat and discovered my very distraught little man, in the toilets alone, crying for his mammy. Initially i was told he was there for about 10 minutes but i feel it was probably longer, on pressing for a time-frame, it has now gone to 15 possibly 20 minutes. The creche have admitted that it was negligent on their part and that it shouldn't have happened. I am devastated to imagine he was alone and crying on a floor in the creche and nobody came. The creche say they will investigate the matter but im furious that this could happen when i pay them to care for my son. I have always assured my little man that he neednt ever be scared, mammy will always be there or there will always be somebody to mind him, they have shattered my trust in them. I have advised, that as soon as i have alternative childcare he will be leaving, but my problem is, this is a community creche, i get cheaper rates as i work for min wage and have a medical card and a private creche is almost double the cost. their mistake is going to cost me so much more financially, I might have to give up work as it wont pay me, the bottom line is once i know he is safe, the cost is really irrelevant he is worth it. But Im so angry!... im interested to know, what do other parents think? What can I do to ensure this cannot happen again? The whole structure is lax in my opinion...My son is turning 3 in January.

lazygal

I understand you're upset and angry. I would be too.
However as a dispassionate observer I would say there's some positive elements to this. The manager was upfront with you. Mistakes can happen. There's things I'm not 100% happy with in terms of my child care but I have to look at things in the round. I can understand the trust issues. Only you can decide whether they are enough to make you change child care.
Are there other incidents that are of concern?

Kerrygirl2004

point taken, they were upfront, and have been very apologetic BUT I cant help wondering, had the parent not gone up the stairs and found my ds, would i have been told? How long more would he have been left there on his own. Nobody noticed he was missing. maybe I have lost faith in them, i was foolish to trust that this would never happen, but it has and cant help thinking what might have happened. Dont get me wrong, im grateful that he didnt come to any physical harm but that was just lucky in my opinion.

jimmycrackcorm

Forget about it op. This isn't a perfect creche out there that has magic powers that prevents human errors.

I would be asking the creche what they are doing to prevent reoccurrences as all lessons have to be learnt, and I wouldn't lose any sleep over it because every kid will have bumps, scrapes and whatever mental trauma that makes their parents suffer with guilt.

Ruby31

I feel for you. My son is the same age and I would be livid if that happened to him. I too would be having sleepless nights thinking about the what ifs.

I think you're right to move your son as the trust is gone. Like you said, if that other parent hadn't accidentally happened upon him, would they have told you?? How long was he left for? Your poor child.

Go with your gut. The most important thing is the safety of your child. You might have to reign in your spending if you decide to give up work to mind your son, but you won't regret it.

Best of luck x

mitresize5

Very unfortunate incident and I cant blame you for being furious.

On this incident you couldn't be blamed for moving your son but as mentioned previously you have to look at the bigger picture here. Its hard to take the emotion out of your decision at the moment so dont do anything in a hurry.

Is your child happy in the creche.
Does he have a bond with the staff.
Has he friends that he has made since he went there (guessing 2 years ago)
The financial aspect is also a huge consideration here, do you really want to give up your job and your life style, what implications will this have for your son.

While you are 100% within your rights (morally as much as anything else) there would be a huge upheaval in your sons and your life if you moved him.

A terrible situation no doubt but unfortunately mistakes do happen

Kerrygirl2004

Thanks, on further probing it turns out he was there for over half an hour, they didnt call me to tell me that it happened and waited until i went to collect him. they didnt check on him though it was more than 10 minutes before the others went downstairs (one of the staff told me this today) 10 mins in the toilet??? . I am gutted. He is only in that creche 6 months. Ive made the decision to move him and will be arranging alternative childcare from next week, my sister and mother have offered to help in the interm. He is two, and hasnt been overly traumatized by the incident...unlike me he will bounce back and be fine, he will make new friends. but i cannot trust that he will be okay in their care now. I never imagined that he could be in harms way with childcare professionals. now i know better

pwurple

I think that's the right move kerrygirl2004. Not spotting that a 2 year old was missing for half an hour is pretty serious, from a safety awareness perspective. If they are that lax to not even spot he was missing for his lunch I would be concerned about how the daily routine operates within the Creche.

Into The Blue

30min is shocking. And the fact you've to drag info out of them is unacceptable. Tbh i thought you were being a bit over dramatic at first, but the more i think on it, you're doing the right thing.

amdublin

I'm terribly sorry to hear this, your poor little fella. I think the trust is gone and you are better off moving him - if you are constantly going to be thinking about him in this creche. I'd be asking the manager what procedural change they are making so this won't happen again to another child.

Glad to heat it hasn't affected your son.

PLL

I'm torn on my opinion on this. I feel sad for your little boy, poor thing. Obviously in the aftermath you are angry and frustrated.

I have a 4 year old and I would feel the same initially but then I would think about how much she loves it there, all her friends, how considerate the creche have been in waiting for payment (I'm a student, fees paid when I get my grant) and most importantly how great the staff are. I know in my heart if this happened to my daughter it would be a genuine one off mistake, people get busy and forget, yes its awful its a child, but we have all forgotten to do things. I know they aren't negligent in general, they are very attentive and good at their job.

That is the question you have to ask yourself... Do you believe it was a mistake or they are negligent in their duty of care?

racso1975

It would also be wise to inform your county childcare committee about the incident. The hse inspection unit for whatever area you are.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Am I understanding this right?

They left a two year old to go to the toilet on his own and while he was gone, they moved rooms.
They fed the children and they didn't notice at all there was a child missing, until another parent happened to go downstairs and find a distraught child??

That's not human error. Human error is moving the class downstairs, doing a headcount and realising you've left a two year old on his own in the bathroom. Not failing to notice AT ALL.

Don't crèches have like 4 kids to a minder, how did the minder not notice?? That's absolutely astounding. If you can take this further, do. Is there a unit that manages safety in crèches? Can they help?

Paddy Cow

LexieOnRale wrote: »

Am I understanding this right?

They left a two year old to go to the toilet on his own and while he was gone, they moved rooms.
They fed the children and they didn't notice at all there was a child missing, until another parent happened to go downstairs and find a distraught child??

That's not human error. Human error is moving the class downstairs, doing a headcount and realising you've left a two year old on his own in the bathroom. Not failing to notice AT ALL.

Don't crèches have like 4 kids to a minder, how did the minder not notice?? That's absolutely astounding. If you can take this further, do. Is there a unit that manages safety in crèches? Can they help?

You would expect that because they are moving rooms, they would do a check when they got there. What if the child went looking for them and fell downstairs?

ladam

I work in a creche and this happened, although we noticed after 6mins (cctv in creche gave exact time) because we did a head count once we'd settled into the other room. To not notice for so long is disgraceful! Not unusual for 2year old to go toilet on their own but to not be checked on after being longer than a few mins is wrong ... This is laziness on the workers part and bad procedures from the management. Our manager/supervisors do a head count in every room every half hour to be sure. And there is always a staff member floating around the toilet area to make sure all is ok!
You should have been called straight away considering how long he was alone! You also need to inform hse to makw sure this doesnt happen again. Also if its a community creche i pressume it has a board of managment running it, inform them aswell!!
Good luck

byhookorbycrook

30 mins is not accceptible in any way.

CaraMay

racso1975 wrote: »

It would also be wise to inform your county childcare committee about the incident. The hse inspection unit for whatever area you are.

Definitely report the incident. My son got onto a main road in a previous crèche and I reported them. The inspector told me they had been warned many times but weren't following her recommendations.

BabySlam

utterly horrifying for you. I think you are right to take him out of it, whatever it costs.

MDwyer

i was going to say its something that can happen but then read he was alone for 30mins i dont get hysterical over things like a lot of people buy my god that is bad could they not have done a simple count when moving the kids thats the first thing youd think of once they were all in the new room

DK man

My child 2/3 year old at the time came home with 3 bite marks on her body - at first I thought it was a bad case of ring worm but when I saw the other 2 I knew and the teeth marks were so clear when examined. Phoned up the owner who denied it and got very offensive and slightly aggressive - they were clearly child sized bite marks and she had no other contact with young children as she was our first.

I don't have an aweful lot of trust in crèches - no doubt there are many good people but there are many who doss on the job and play with their phones etc. You just can't do that with children.....

Best of luck op - I would be gone too no matter the financial cost

MDwyer

sorry to hear dk man. i think the trouble is you get good workers who are understaffed and then have to deal with lazy co workers at time too from whats ive seen with one of my nephews who goes to a creche.

no excuse for not looking after kids though

Rose35

I would be livid if this happened my boy absolutely livid!!! You said OP that this is a community creche so there will be a committee that run this establishment and employ the manager and staff. I would ask for a meeting with the chairperson of the committee and the manager with a view to reporting them for negligence. My heart goes out to your little man he must have been very upset and you should have been rang immediately as I can only imagine the state he was in. Best of luck with it.