I hate causing trouble, but should I take extreme measure about this day care that had neglected my child?

Question

For more details, please look up my previous questions.

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080805212459AAP4kS8

See, I'm not taking my baby back there, but should I go further such as taking legal action or going to press, etc?

People are encouraging me to do so, but how do I go about doing any of those? And what's going to happen to the facility? Will they shut it down, cancel their license, or make them pay me money or what?

Thanks. I'm rather clueless on these things.

And I've promised myself never to leave my son with strangers anymore.

Answer 1

personally i would report the daycare to dhs (social services) about what happened (make an actual complaint) then i would try to find another daycare, i personally love the home center daycares they have a lower kid:teacher ratio.

i wouldnt press charges because it was a child who did this and they probably didnt know any better i would be more upset with the daycare personel

Answer 2

They have many children to watch, so there will be a few seconds at a time a child isn't watched. How much harm can come to a baby in a safe environment in a second? Not much. They must have been considerably neglectful and paid very little attention and time to the children for an older child to be able to harm a young child with a hair bow to result in bruises. This sounds like they shouldn't be in charge of one child, let alone several. Their in-adequate care has caused harm to a child, and therefore they should be reported.

This is your young child that you obviously care a lot for. You have every right to report them and take action. I don't feel there is any toom extreme action when it comes to cases of neglect and harm to a child. You do what you think best.

If you choose not to go to the press (as it is of course your choice), at least go to Social Services and report your worries. You need to voice these worries because at the end of the day, you may save another child from harm, too.  

Answer 3

YES!!!!!!!!! How would you feel if you found out that they'd done something awful to other kids but all the parents just rolled over and let it slide so kids just kept getting left with these people??? Call the non emergency number of your local police station, they will help you out. Please don't ignore this, other parents should know what happens at this place so they don't bring children their or at least this daycare needs to make a change in staffing. Take pictures of your son's bruises to prove what happened.  

Answer 4

i think you should let it rest. Personally neither you or your son need the extra stress. But leaving your son with day care workers are not all that bad, you should check out other people's views and stuff to make sure it is suitable.  

Answer 5

Hiya i work in a Day Nursery in the UK and after reading your 1st question i am deeply shocked at why staff didn't notice an older child doing this to your baby! And also i would like to know what an older child was doing in the same room as your baby, usually day nursery's have seperate rooms for seperate age groups! Was the incident recorded in the accident book and signed by you? If not why not? Find this out! Also ask the day care what their complaints procedure is and follow that, you should definately put a complaint in and move your child to a different day care setting! I don't think the nursery will shutdown if you take it further will legal action, the staff members who were looking after your child will be punished with a Warning, possibly dismissal! I'm really sorry this happened to your child, but rest assured not all dare care settings are this neglectful.

Best wishes xx

Answer 6

Just for reference, it is pretty pointless contacting social services about this as they will only say it's not their area unless it was abuse by an adult.

It is OFSTED that you would need to contact if you want to persue it (presuming that you are in the UK??)  THey are the governing body for all UK registered day care and childminders etc.

They probably won't lose their license or anything like that although they may get a surprise visit from OFSTED to do a review of care.  Unless you sue then I can't see the nursery paying you any money.

Unfortunately, things happen VERY quickly when it comes to kids up to mischief.  I would be wondering though how long they had left your little boy alone for and why he was in with a child old enough to tie a scrunchie!

At my son's nursery, they separate the little ones from the older ones for obvious reasons!

Good luck

Answer 7

I believe i parental justice ie you should by a pump action shotgun and slaughter the people responsible for neglecting your son after you should burn the centre down  maybe that to extreme

Answer 8

Take legal action. You need to step up to prevent this from happening to others. Sorry for your trouble, I'm sure you would just like it to be over, but you could be saving someone else's life!

Take care of yourself and God Bless!

p.s. -- Don't be guilty about leaving your baby at a day care. Your child needs to eat, have a place to live, and clothes to wear; you are being a great dad by providing this for him. Very few day care centers are like this.  Get some recommendations from other parents and try again.

Answer 9

I think you should talk to a lawyer because a scrunchy would not cause bruising like you say he had.

Answer 10

i am a mum of three, my eldest two were in day care whilst i worked. when i started my new job i heard a really scary story about the grandson of one of my work colleagues. the child was in creche. was left on a changing mat which was up on a raised surface when the girl went to look for a nappy or something. the boy fell of the mat and nobody in the creche did anything other than put him in a bouncer. it wasnt even reported to the parents when they collected him that day. to cut a long story short, the baby ended up in hospital before the truth came out and ended up with brain damage. the way i see it is this - we parents entrust these people to care for our most precious possessions for us whilst we work - what if next time, it is more serious? can you really live with yourself if something happened to another persons child knowing what you know? please, i would want to know if someone had had a bad experience with a creche that i was considering putting my child into. children cant speak for themselves - we need to do it for them

Answer 11

Contact a national paper!

Answer 12

I think that if you have time, visit your local citizen's advice bureau. They will be able to provide you with basic legal advice for free. If it were me, I would also insist that the other child's parents are informed because this is a particularly nasty thing to do. Kids can sometimes get jealous of babies and give them a sly pinch, but this takes more thought and therefore, is more worrying, I feel.

Answer 13

Not taking your child back is enough if you tell them why. Ask around with other users to see if they have had problems. Check with whoever licences this daycare centre if there has been other complaints and anyway register your own misgivings.

Answer 14

i think you should let it rest. but that was really mean of the kid to do that to your son! shame on them!  

Answer 15

its a hair tie incase no ones got back to you, and i guess kids do that sort of stuff, but you should def talk to them and find out what went off n why know ones noticed it must have been on a while to get bruises, and how old were the other kids, have they been spoken to about their behaviour.  it is not ur fault in the slightest for trusting people u believe will give good care to your child, if it was me i would arrange to go back and discuss this with the staff and make sure the other kids parents know what they have been doing -this is serious it could have ended a lot worse,as im sure uv imagined.  if they dont give u a good enuf answer to all your questions take it further -next time it could seriously hurt or even kill a child.  bear in mind things like this can happen even if u were they but with it being a proper care provider they should be well staffed to notice a tied up baby.

Answer 16

I would take this further so no other babies are harmed while under their care.  I wouldn't take it as far as to get damages paid but at least have them revoke their license or something.

Also, I don't think a scrunchy could have caused the damage you describe.  It would have to be pretty tight to cause bruising.  Best wishes!

Answer 17

This is your child we are talking about! I would go to the ends of the earth trying to legaly punish someone for causin damage (in any way shape of form) to my child, so long as it doesn't take from me being with my child!

Answer 18

id defo take things futher if i wer u, wots if the bobble (scruchy was around is neck, the fact is they should be watching out 4 that sort of stuff thats wot they get paid 4, good luck

Answer 19

Contact Social Services, and tell them of your concerns. If you don't act you put others at risk.

Answer 20

First off, how old is your son? The younger he is, the more likely you should call social services on the caregiver. Did you ask the caregiver how they could have let that happen? Part of me says it's terrible, it could have been worse, and the caregiver wasn't doing their job. Another part of me says that's the sort of thing that happens when children get together. Minor injuries in daycare are fairly common, and sometimes it's simply impossible for a caregiver to prevent every incident. If your son is still a baby, you should definitely call CPS, because it is a big no-no to leave a toddler alone with a baby. If your son is closer to the two or three year old set, I would let it go as a case of kids being kids.    

Answer 21

hmmm now if this were MY son i would be PISSED that they were not watching my baby - it was long enough that other kids were able to do this (and what are the older kids doing around the babies anyway?  wouldn't someone notice if an older kid was messing with a baby??)

i don't see how you could really take LEGAL action if no real harm was done but i would file some sort of complaint about the daycare if i were you.

and it is strange that he got bruises from a scrunchy.  it leaves marks for a little while but they fade (like if you put one around your wrist it won't BRUISE it.)  so the kids must have done it VERY tight or something where it caused bruising.  this must have taken a little while to do i would imagine meaning they were not watching your baby for awhile and the scrunchy must have been left on him for awhile too.

i think filing some sort of complaint would be appropriate as you don't want something worse to happen to another baby since it doesn't seem they are keeping a close eye.

Answer 22

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ANOTHER CHILD BIT YOUR CHILD? I WOULD LET IT REST AND IF YOU FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT NOT TAKING YOUR CHILD BACK THERE, THEN I WOULD FIND ANOTHER DAY CARE. I DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS A LAWSUIT CAUSE THERE IS NO PERMANET DAMAGE DONE.