child injured due to the inattention of a caregiver - what would you do?

[Anonymous]

If the nanny was texting for a long time or does not watch your child then yes, I think it's a reason to fire her. But she is not to blame for your child injuring himself. If he is allowed to go on the swing, then there's little one can do to stop a injury. Even when you are right there, accidents happen.

I have had a child fall from a swing while I was standing right in front of them and they weren't even swinging! The child tried to sit on the swing, somehow managed to slide backwards on it and instead of holding on, let go and fell backwards, almost doing a backflip and landed on her head. What the heck could I even do? Luckily the mom is not too crazy and was not angry or suspicious of me when I told her what happened. And luckily nothing serious happened, just a bump on the head and luckily the ground was soft rubber, not concrete or anything like that. But can you imagine if it wasn't? And I was watching the kid like a hawk!

And I feel bad for the nanny, if she wasn't being neglectful that is. I'm sure any parent knows how horrible it feels to have your child get hurt, it's even more terrifying to have someone else's kid get hurt on your watch!

No one knows what happened, if the nanny was being neglectful or if the child was being careless. Maybe it was just an accident that would have happened even if the nanny was right next to the child, not taking her eyes off the child for even a second.

I do know that I would feel horrible if it happened on my watch, and if the mother went crazy on me, I would either quit or not allow the child on the swing or anything remotely dangerous because what else can you do?

As long as the nanny is allowed to take the child out of the home there's a bigger risk that an accident may happen. It sucks, but that's life. If one cannot accept that, then one must stay home with their kids so that they can be 100% sure that no one else was to blame for anything bad that may happen. School is probably out of the question too.

Like I said, if nanny is neglectful or cannot be trusted, that's a whole other story. But it puzzles me that some parents expect nannies and babysitters to do an even better job than they do and hold them to a much much higher standard. The only person who will act exactly how you want them to at all time, is you...if you are lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the nanny was texting for a long time or does not watch your child then yes, I think it's a reason to fire her. But she is not to blame for your child injuring himself. If he is allowed to go on the swing, then there's little one can do to stop a injury. Even when you are right there, accidents happen.

I have had a child fall from a swing while I was standing right in front of them and they weren't even swinging! The child tried to sit on the swing, somehow managed to slide backwards on it and instead of holding on, let go and fell backwards, almost doing a backflip and landed on her head. What the heck could I even do? Luckily the mom is not too crazy and was not angry or suspicious of me when I told her what happened. And luckily nothing serious happened, just a bump on the head and luckily the ground was soft rubber, not concrete or anything like that. But can you imagine if it wasn't? And I was watching the kid like a hawk!

And I feel bad for the nanny, if she wasn't being neglectful that is. I'm sure any parent knows how horrible it feels to have your child get hurt, it's even more terrifying to have someone else's kid get hurt on your watch!

No one knows what happened, if the nanny was being neglectful or if the child was being careless. Maybe it was just an accident that would have happened even if the nanny was right next to the child, not taking her eyes off the child for even a second.

I do know that I would feel horrible if it happened on my watch, and if the mother went crazy on me, I would either quit or not allow the child on the swing or anything remotely dangerous because what else can you do?

As long as the nanny is allowed to take the child out of the home there's a bigger risk that an accident may happen. It sucks, but that's life. If one cannot accept that, then one must stay home with their kids so that they can be 100% sure that no one else was to blame for anything bad that may happen. School is probably out of the question too.

Like I said, if nanny is neglectful or cannot be trusted, that's a whole other story. But it puzzles me that some parents expect nannies and babysitters to do an even better job than they do and hold them to a much much higher standard. The only person who will act exactly how you want them to at all time, is you...if you are lucky.

If I had a parent freak out of a playground accident and blame me, I'd quit on the spot. I don't believe in wrapping kids in cotton wool to protect them, nor am I a fan of keeping them inside and limiting physical activity. Those are the only ways to prevent accidents, and they do more long-term damage than a broken arm or leg which will heal in a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

She allowed him to swing too high. And he fell off the swing.

Poor judgement. Good luck ever trusting her again. This will be haunting.

Also folks, "going down the slide with DC on your lap" is one of the #1 reasons for ER visits. Kid sticks his/her leg out, speed is faster given weight of two people, and SNAP. Every pediatrician warns not to do this.

BAHAHAHA!!!! What ER do you work in???? Absurd.

It's really not that absurd. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/a-surprising-risk-for-toddlers-at-playground-slides/

This is really good to know. We never did this with our kids but we saw parents of toddlers doing this all the time.

[Anonymous]

As a caregiver, I HATE when I see parents lift their kids up and down stairs or over curbs by hoisting them up by one arm, usally holding their hand.

Way to dislocate their wrist, elbow or shoulder..... and I see it all.the.time - going up stairs, into a bus, down stairs into the house, ugh.

Going down the slide with a child on your lap is new to me but totally makes sense... I'll make sure I don't do that again.

[Anonymous]

Your witness sounds great. Why didn't she say something to nanny or child that they were going to high? I still can't see a 4 year old going that high. Also their bones are softer than an adults and falls from low places can happen if you land right. I know she's getting paid to watch your child but she sent a text (maybe to you) it's not like she was surfing the net. Op I would love to know if you've ever texted while watching your child

[Anonymous]

Unless you know for a fact that she is totally negligent, ie. Just sitting on her ass on her phone while your child was playing, then im positive this was just a tragic accident. Even for hellicopter nannies - accidents do slip through he cracks and happen.