DB's mother scares me around the charges

[Anonymous]

I work for a great family, with three very young children. Often DB's mother comes up and usually my hours are cut, but I do work from usually dinner to bed just to "help" her out. Now, the fact that my hours get cut obviously is a bit upsetting, but she tends to only stay one or two days so I loose like maybe 5 hours, which isn't that big of a deal and it' a nice break.

However, she has been there all week, and I will only have about 20 hours (I usually get 40 to 50 depending on the week), this is not the main issue I am concerned with... I've spent quiet a lot of time with the grandmother, and have seen how she interacts with the children. She's very sweet, and loves them to bits but due to some health complications she just can't keep up with them. She is extremely absent minded and I've witness some things that may put the kids in danger.

-She's given the children the wrong doses of medication (nothing more than a few ml, but still)
-She's accidentally wiped the 18-month-olds face with a Clorox wipe, not a wipee.
-She's left the three year old in the bath, yes... he is older but still, not something I would do, or MB would do.
-leaves the NB on the floor with the 18-month-old and three-year-old in a different room, totally walked into the three year old with his baby sister hanging by her Onsie.
-Generally does not follow MB's schedule, including feeding and nap times which screw up a lot of stuff.

She's just not mindful, and can't keep up. I don't know how she does it when she's alone. I'm afraid the kids will end up hurt. How do I address this with my MB/DB without sounding like it's because she forces my hours to be cut?

[Anonymous]

Just casually bring it up to the grandma. If she is not receptive, be straight forward to DB and MB. Tell them that you genuinely care and that you are scared for the kids' safety

[Anonymous]

Many of the things you mention are concerning, but the incorrect medication doses worry me the most. You didn't mention the type of medication, but a few mls can be a huge deal depending on the type of medication.

One of my charges takes a heart medication twice a day. If we were to underdose by a couple of mls the child can end up in the hospital. If we were to overdose by a few mls the child's heart could stop. Needless to say I take medication doses very seriously. If it were my charge's grandmother I would have said something after the first incorrect dosage.

[Anonymous]

Just casually bring it up to the grandma. If she is not receptive, be straight forward to DB and MB. Tell them that you genuinely care and that you are scared for the kids' safety

Don't bring it up to the grandma. Grandma's can get VERY defensive and its likely that she will complain about you to your MB and DB. You should talk with your MB and just include the facts that you outlined above. If your hours are only getting cut every so often its unlikely that MB will think you are making this up because of hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the things you mention are concerning, but the incorrect medication doses worry me the most. You didn't mention the type of medication, but a few mls can be a huge deal depending on the type of medication.

One of my charges takes a heart medication twice a day. If we were to underdose by a couple of mls the child can end up in the hospital. If we were to overdose by a few mls the child's heart could stop. Needless to say I take medication doses very seriously. If it were my charge's grandmother I would have said something after the first incorrect dosage.

No, nothing overly serious. Thankfully none of the children have any serious health issues, mostly just pain medicine/fever reducers, allergy meds.

This was a two ML overdose on antibiotics, which definitely can cause a lot of stomach issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Just casually bring it up to the grandma. If she is not receptive, be straight forward to DB and MB. Tell them that you genuinely care and that you are scared for the kids' safety

Don't bring it up to the grandma. Grandma's can get VERY defensive and its likely that she will complain about you to your MB and DB. You should talk with your MB and just include the facts that you outlined above. If your hours are only getting cut every so often its unlikely that MB will think you are making this up because of hours.

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