Scary Thought!!!!

[Hazel]

One of my DCD just called. His sister may be looking for new childcare for her 3 month old and wondered if I would take her until they figured out what they were going to do. I thought this statement sounded SHADY so I asked if he would mind telling me the situation??
SOOOOO... EVERY PROVIDERS NIGHTMARE!!!!
Baby is picked up by her dad on Friday around 4:15 pm and the baby was really "fussy" according to dad.... They assumed it was gas (she suffers from this) but by 10:30 pm when mom came home from work, she was screaming and they rushed her to the ER. Appearently the baby's lower leg was snapped in half! So now there is, of course, a HUGE investigation and a "he/she-said /she-said" situation.
Provider said NOTHING happened. In fact, she sent mom a text during the day saying baby was having a great day. Add that to the fact that the dad didnt see an ER visit was necessary until 10:30 that night...
Mom says that the doctors believe she was either dropped, the provider tripped while carrying her and fell on her OR someone fell on her while she was on a blanket on the floor. Mom said that if the provider had just TOLD them what happened she may have kept the baby here bc accidents can and DO happen, but I'm really nervous about taking her baby now.. or any other infants for that matter. Ive ALWAYS opened my home to infants, usually they come in pairs or some reason.... and Ive never had anything even close to this happening... but now I worry.. I have a $1,000,000 umbrella coverage thanks to my agent who knows what I do, but STILL!!!
Has anyone else had anything like this happen to them? Am I wrong to be nervous now?? On another note, Ive had this baby's cousin for over 3 years, since HE was 3 months old and his family LOVES me.. DCD was actually disappointed that his sister took her baby to another provider bc he wanted them to come to me

[Unregistered]

Run! Far far away! DO NOT get involved with that mess.Who knows what happened,anything is possible(even abuse) Run!

[Blackcat31]

Wow! That is a scary situation to be in. Even scarier is the daycare provider may not be lying about nothing happening. Something may have happened but she just might now be aware if it.

Someone could have fallen on the child while she was in another room or in the bathroom. So it is possible that something happened at daycare and the provider has no idea.

I wouldn't let it scare you off from taking babies as accidents do happen but the most important thing is to always do whatever you can to protect the kids. Things still can happen but as long as you have a good open honest relationship with parents and do what ever you can to always be the safest that you can be, you shouldn't have to worry too much.

A couple years ago I had a 4 yr old push a playmate down right in front of me outside. Not in purpose but while running and playing. The playmate went home and the next day was complaining of his arm hurting. Mom took him to see their family doctor and found out his arm was broken in severl places.

The poor little one needed surgery to set it properly but they had great medical coverage and the family had been with me for so long that they knew and trusted that I wouldn't let anything happen on purpose so it was just never an issue between us.

I stil have the little one's younger sister so it all worked out ok and the little boy is great now with no lasting problems for the arm...although he kind of liked the cast he said.

[Hazel]

I honestly feel kinda bad for the provider. I mean, yes.. she could have hurt her intentionally, but i highly doubt that. I think its just like you said, she might not have even seen it happen. Thats why I never leave a baby in the room with the other kids if I have to leave the room! Kids LOVE babies and usually dont leave them alone!! (at least from my experience).
Just every providers worst nightmare. The mom said "thats what I get for using cheap daycare. The lady didnt even have a license!" I asked how many kids did she have and the mom replied 3. I told her that she didnt NEED a license and that if any of the senerios were the cause, then having a license wouldnt have prevented the accident. I said that if it DID happen at daycare, not having a license MIGHT be why she was afraid to tell Dad what happened..bc she may not even realize she doesnt need one.
Just a scary and sad situation for everyone..... (sigh)

[countrymom]

maybe I'm missing something, but let me say that if it was broken like mentioned don't you think the provider would have noticed severe swelling from her leg. And when her dad picked her up I highly doubt it that she was just fussing. Maybe something happened when dad picked her up, maybe he put her in the carseat wrong. And how did he not notice any swelling on her leg when he changed her. I think there is more to this story than dad is even saying. I wouldn't take the child till a full investigation has occured. Also, wouldn't you notice that the child was kicking her legs without crying.

[littlemissmuffet]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't believe for a second that this incident happened at daycare - the dad picked up at 4:15pm but there wasn't any screaming until 10:30pm? Yeah right.

I don't take infants under 12 months any more - there are too many risks involved, and it's just too much work. However, IF I did - I would absolutely not take this child - I'd be way to suspicious that the injury came from home and wouldn't want to end up with a situation like that of my own to deal with.

[PolkaTots]

It could have happened at either place...if the baby was crying a normal cry, the dad might not have suspected something seriously wrong.

My son was at a birthday party last year and his arm got jumped on on the trampoline, the parents throwing the party never told us, just asked us to come pick him up as he was kind of fussy and wanted to go home (He was 5 at the time) I picked him up and didn't notice anything wrong, he just said his arm hurt and he didn't feel good and wanted to lay down. The next morning his arm was swollen and we rushed him to the ER, sure enough, it was broken and then he tells us about the trampoline incident (I think he was afraid to get his friend in trouble) I felt like a horrible parent for not realizing it sooner

[Breezy]

My DS is 22 months old. I was holding his hand on the way to his bedroom for a nap a week or so ago and he realized where we were going and threw himself on the floor while I was holding his hand. He started screaming and I figured he was just mad he was going to nap. I laid him in bed and tucked him in and kissed him. Then I left the room assuming he would stop screaming and fall asleep. I go to my room to start the shower and I hear him hysterical over the monitor. I went back in and comforted him and he kind of stopped crying but then started again when I put him back down. I finally realized that something was wrong . Realized he wasn't moving his arm! I rushed him to the urgent care immediately thinking Omg I broke his arm!!!! Turns out the elbow was just dislocated because I was holding his hand when he threw himself on the floor.

So......i find it hard to believe it happened at daycare because the child would have been just hysterical I wpupd think!!

[Hazel]

Yea, I only know what they told me.. But the provider said she had a great day yet the 5 yo brother said she'd been crying ALOT. I take that with a grain of salt bc any noise a baby makes is considered crying to a 5yo! Lol
But also, the provider sent a text that baby's day was great, which wasn't the norm for her to text anything during the day, not in the weeks she had been watching baby.
Mom said they (i assume she meant dad bc she wasnt home til 10:30) thought it was gas so they were "bicycling" her legs to help dispell the gas but the dr said you couldn't break the way it was broken by doing that. I never heard anything about swelling. Mom said she noticed the baby wasn't moving the leg, so that's what caught her attention the most. The other red flag was that mom sent a text to provider that they were in the ER and baby had broken leg, had anything happened. Provider just messages back, "no. She had a great day. She was very happy". Mom felt there wasn't enough concern on providers part. Making her think she was scared to talk to the parents.
I wouldn't blame her for being scared tho... They just had an episode on Katie about a sitter that went to jail for 11 years for "shaken baby syndrom" but was released due to new medical evidence. I taped it and plan to watch it tonight!
I think I may take her the 2 days this week but not on a full time basis, which is what my DCD was hinting at.

[Hazel]

My DS is 22 months old. I was holding his hand on the way to his bedroom for a nap a week or so ago and he realized where we were going and threw himself on the floor while I was holding his hand. He started screaming and I figured he was just mad he was going to nap. I laid him in bed and tucked him in and kissed him. Then I left the room assuming he would stop screaming and fall asleep. I go to my room to start the shower and I hear him hysterical over the monitor. I went back in and comforted him and he kind of stopped crying but then started again when I put him back down. I finally realized that something was wrong . Realized he wasn't moving his arm! I rushed him to the urgent care immediately thinking Omg I broke his arm!!!! Turns out the elbow was just dislocated because I was holding his hand when he threw himself on the floor.

So......i find it hard to believe it happened at daycare because the child would have been just hysterical I wpupd think!!

Nuresemaid's elbow! Had that happen here ONCE, but only bc it had happened 3 times at home. Once it happens it's happens more and more easily... Normal kind of thing. Must have scared the poo outta you!
I agree, I don't think it happened at DC either.. No way that kid wasn't screaming putting her into her car seat.. That or dad's clueless!

[SilverSabre25]

I also can't imagine that it happened at daycare and it took 6 hours for them to realize there was a huge problem going on. Unless she fell asleep in the car seat for a long time...?:confused:

BUT--to play devil's advocate--perhaps she has a heretofore undiagnosed condition that causes her bones to break really easily?

[Heidi]

My DS is 22 months old. I was holding his hand on the way to his bedroom for a nap a week or so ago and he realized where we were going and threw himself on the floor while I was holding his hand. He started screaming and I figured he was just mad he was going to nap. I laid him in bed and tucked him in and kissed him. Then I left the room assuming he would stop screaming and fall asleep. I go to my room to start the shower and I hear him hysterical over the monitor. I went back in and comforted him and he kind of stopped crying but then started again when I put him back down. I finally realized that something was wrong . Realized he wasn't moving his arm! I rushed him to the urgent care immediately thinking Omg I broke his arm!!!! Turns out the elbow was just dislocated because I was holding his hand when he threw himself on the floor.

So......i find it hard to believe it happened at daycare because the child would have been just hysterical I wpupd think!!

That happened to a dcp of mine years ago, going up the front stairs to their apartment. Groceries in one hand, toddler in the other...decided to do the "toddler buckle" manuever.

DCM was terrified to take her to the ER because she thought they'd take her child away! I was just looking up the name he gave it...but I see PP posted it "Nursemaids Elbow".

The doctor told her "don't worry, it happens all the time"

[PolkaTots]

I think from the providers reaction and even the 5 year old saying how fussy she was at DC, that it's very possible it happened there and the provider was afraid to get in trouble. Like with my son, he didn't act out of the ordinary, so we had no clue his arm was broken, I can see how it took the parents a few hours to realize it when they thought her fussiness was due to something else. Her leg probably appeared normal to them like my sons arm did. I'm sure they feel horrible they didn't realize the injury in the first place

[Heidi]

Years ago I had a very fussy 6 month old. Cried a lot and loudly...

One day we were all doing some art, and I had her in the excersaucer near me "watching", which really was crying loudly in everyone's ears. But, I kept talking to her periodically in between, and she seemed no worse than usual.

A couple of the children decided they would try to "help", and walked (or toddled) over to console her, offer her toys. She screamed louder.

I said "Hey, guys..xx doesn't like it when we crowd her, lets give her some space".

We finished our art project, had lunch, changed diapers, layed down for nap..you know, the usual. I even changed her shirt because there was baby food on the collar and mom was a bit finicky about that sort of thing.

The next day, she was off, but my licenser showed up...

Turns out, that at some point during the time I was sitting there, someone BIT HER ARM.

The mom had taken pictures and everything, and the licenser had them with her. I explained the whole story as best I could, and they did NOT site me. Because, they could not prove that it had happened at daycare. I still assume it did, because I don't think MOM bit her, but to this day (15 years later), still can't tell you how.

Sometimes things do happen.

Strangely enough, I didn't have a "biter" in the group, and no one else in long memory was bitten before or after that. All I know for sure is that I did not bite her...

:confused::confused::confused::confused:

[Blackcat31]

A DCP of mine is a nurse practictioner and I relayed this scenario to her. She brought up a good point or possibilty....perhaps the child was injured inadvertantly at daycare and didn't cry much or indicate in any way they were hurt but when dad took the baby home and perhaps changed her or moved her in a certain way the fracture or break became worse.

She said young children have a super high tolerance for pain and especially in situation where something is broken, they tend to go into shock and not necessarily scream but simply become quiet, reserved and not really themselves.

She cited a case of an 18 month old who had fallen off the top bunk bed of his brothers and didn't seem badly injured at all. 3 days later at a well child check, she noticed he was kind of "flinching" when she touched a certain part of his leg. Turns out he had fractured his shin bone and even though he had been walking on it, no one really noticed him acting any different.

So stranger things have happened.