Carseat Death

[laundrymom]

I agree. I am not condoning anything the provider did. Just wanted to make mention of it as the it only hurts everyone when details of a tragedy are spread around that aren't accurate. That only serves to hurt ALL unlicensed or unregistered homes and I know many unlicensed/unregistered providers that are awesome and DO go above and beyond to provide quality and safe care.

Agreed. I just can't wrap my head around it. I just can't.

[Unregistered]

Agreed. I just can't wrap my head around it. I just can't.

I know.
The whole situation makes me sick

[nanglgrl]

I know the facts because I live in this area and was aware of the facts before the media disclosed them. Providers, parents and even first responders talk. The child was in an infant car seat that was too small so she wasn't able to secure the leg latches. The child was only restrained by the chest latch. The child asphyxiated most likely because he struggled to get out of the seat and his breathing was interrupted by the chest latch.
The car seat belonged to the provider for sure and the parents gave the provider permission to put the child in a car seat to sleep because he always crawled out of the pack and play (I'm not 100% sure on if the parents actually gave permission). The child was placed in a closet (I know that for a fact) and some have said the closet could fit a twin sized bed (I don't know if that's true).
There was an infection..myocarditis..that can cause mild problems that resolve on their own or sudden death. The exact results of the autopsy should show if it was a contributing factor or just a condition that didn't contribute to his death.
The provider was unregistered but had been in business for many years. In our state you can be unregistered and have 5 children in care but there are still rules you're supposed to follow as far as safety, CPR, first aid etc. this provider was SO under the radar that even after years of providing care DHS had no idea she was running an unlicensed home so I doubt she met the regulations of being an unregistered provider.
Her family is well liked and known around town.
I try to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the closet was large and like a small room itself, maybe it was set up as a quiet room for children who had trouble sleeping, maybe it was inviting and friendly. I don't know. I do know the house itself if small and older and has a large family living in it so it's unlikely, still I try to think maybe it's not as bad as it seems.
As far as the sleeping in an infant car seat I think training on safe sleep could have helped but it's not something required by unregistered providers, new providers or veteran providers. Around here you just try to get in whatever classes you can to meet your yearly 12 hours and a lot of classes get cancelled since sign up is low so at the end of the year you just sign up for whatever has openings.
It does appear that this child was overwhelming her so she restrained him and put him in an area of the house where she couldn't hear him to get peace. As much as that's wrong she did do one thing right, a child made her feel overwhelmed so she put him somewhere instead of physically abusing him. I'm certain she never expected this outcome. I'm not defending her actions of restraining him using a car seat and placing him in a closet. She made mistakes, big ones but she could have made an even bigger one had she let herself become overwhelmed. She made mistakes that others would consider common sense.
To me, a lot of these problems arise from anyone and everyone being able to do daycare. I have a child in care that fell down the stairs at his previous providers house 5 times in two days. I have no idea why she didn't put safety precautions in place before hand or at the least after the first incident but she didn't. Sometimes I think there should be a test to become a provider. Just loving children isn't enough.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

I know the facts because I live in this area and was aware of the facts before the media disclosed them. Providers, parents and even first responders talk. The child was in an infant car seat that was too small so she wasn't able to secure the leg latches. The child was only restrained by the chest latch. The child asphyxiated most likely because he struggled to get out of the seat and his breathing was interrupted by the chest latch.
The car seat belonged to the provider for sure and the parents gave the provider permission to put the child in a car seat to sleep because he always crawled out of the pack and play (I'm not 100% sure on if the parents actually gave permission). The child was placed in a closet (I know that for a fact) and some have said the closet could fit a twin sized bed (I don't know if that's true).
I know the timeline was a bit sketchy as it seemed it was closer to 4pm when the child was found. If that's correct the child was most likely "ignored" for quite a while and well after most nap times end.
There was an infection..myocarditis..that can cause mild problems that resolve on their own or sudden death. The exact results of the autopsy should show if it was a contributing factor or just a condition that didn't contribute to his death.
The provider was unregistered but had been in business for many years. In our state you can be unregistered and have 5 children in care but there are still rules you're supposed to follow as far as safety, CPR, first aid etc. this provider was SO under the radar that even after years of providing care DHS had no idea she was running an unlicensed home so I doubt she met the regulations of being an unregistered provider.
Her family is well liked and known around town.
I try to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the closet was large and like a small room itself, maybe it was set up as a quiet room for children who had trouble sleeping, maybe it was inviting and friendly. I don't know. I do know the house itself if small and older and has a large family living in it so it's unlikely, still I try to think maybe it's not as bad as it seems.
As far as the sleeping in an infant car seat I think training on safe sleep could have helped but it's not something required by unregistered providers, new providers or veteran providers. Around here you just try to get in whatever classes you can to meet your yearly 12 hours and a lot of classes get cancelled since sign up is low so at the end of the year you just sign up for whatever has openings.
It does appear that this child was overwhelming her so she restrained him and put him in an area of the house where she couldn't hear him to get peace. As much as that's wrong she did do one thing right, a child made her feel overwhelmed so she put him somewhere instead of physically abusing him. I'm certain she never expected this outcome. I'm not defending her actions of restraining him using a car seat and placing him in a closet. She made mistakes, big ones but she could have made an even bigger one had she let herself become overwhelmed. She made mistakes that others would consider common sense.
To me, a lot of these problems arise from anyone and everyone being able to do daycare. I have a child in care that fell down the stairs at his previous providers house 5 times in two days. I have no idea why she didn't put safety precautions in place before hand or at the least after the first incident but she didn't. Sometimes I think there should be a test to become a provider. Just loving children isn't enough.

You know what I find interesting? The amount of risk many providers will allow, even those who "know better". Childcare is such a liability and with ANY daycare (licensed or not) the day to day risk factor is so high that I amazed anyone wants to do it at this point. I have been seriously considering giving it up (after 17 years), because even if I do everything right, I still hold so much liability and my life could be turned upside down in a matter of seconds. Not too mention the lives of my family members. My home town is dealing with a case where the provider took kids to the pool and a girl drowned. She is now facing negligent homicide. I am scared to my job for fear of making a terrible mistake one day and having the world crash in

[hope]

When my DS was an infant he was allergic to soy and had issues with milk so we were in the process of finding a formula that helped him. He was not happy at that time, always crying. I had an emergency and asked my sister to watch him overnight. I came 1st thing in the morning and she said he slept great because she kept him in his car seat all night. She had 3 children of her own. I expected her to know better. Did I blame her? No. I was to blame. DS was my child and I should have made sure my sister knew how to properly and safely have him sleep. I assumed she knew and he could have died.
In the case of this provider.....it is her job to keep the children she cares for safe. She should have known. The parents should have asked for proper sleeping conditions. It is the parents responsibility to notice if there are 9 children in a home daycare. This child was given up on and it is so sad.

[nanglgrl]

[/B]

You know what I find interesting? The amount of risk many providers will allow, even those who "know better". Childcare is such a liability and with ANY daycare (licensed or not) the day to day risk factor is so high that I amazed anyone wants to do it at this point. I have been seriously considering giving it up (after 17 years), because even if I do everything right, I still hold so much liability and my life could be turned upside down in a matter of seconds. Not too mention the lives of my family members. My home town is dealing with a case where the provider took kids to the pool and a girl drowned. She is now facing negligent homicide. I am scared to my job for fear of making a terrible mistake one day and having the world crash in

I undertake that! I feel like I'm constantly looking for the dangers. "No running", "no climbing", "pick the toys up before someone trips", "stay away from the baby" and on and on and on because it's natural for children to want to run, climb, make a mess and want to be close to babies.

[Annalee]

In child care, even if we do everything right, something could happen that could be life-altering...BUT as long as we follow licensing and all state expectations I think we are protected. Meeko's situation proves this!!!!! I have recently considered my options getting out of daycare due to the ever-crazy parenting styles that can lead to a he said/she said lawsuit. Some of the issues I have faced since enrolling my last 4 children/3 clients has nearly caused me to throw in the towel. :confused:

[mommyneedsadayoff]

I undertake that! I feel like I'm constantly looking for the dangers. "No running", "no climbing", "pick the toys up before someone trips", "stay away from the baby" and on and on and on because it's natural for children to want to run, climb, make a mess and want to be close to babies.

I am on repeat everyday. "Stop, don't touch, come here, get down, no no, ect". I feel like in some cases, I have to stop kids from being kids because if they get hurt in the process, I am still on the line for it. I feel like I have been lucky in my daycare years. Some very close calls and not from negligence, just kids being kids and me putting my guard down. It is scary and getting scarier everyday. I went to my sister's house this weekend and her husband is a farmer and rancher and great with kids, but not a "kid guy", if that makes sense. He is the last person I expected to say to me, "yea, once you daughter can go to school, maybe you should stop doing daycare because there is so much risk anymore and I would hate to see you end up in hot water over an accident or something."
This is a guy who never talks unless it is about farming/ranching, yet even he can see the liability issues with doing child care. I am not saying the woman in this article is right, but I also hate condemning other providers without knowing all the info. An example, I was reading the archives on here about a slide burning a little girl who slid down it on a hot day. I was shocked that many of the providers didn't know that plastic could get so hot and burn a kid, but I thought that was common sense(lived in texas 10 years, playgrounds are too hot in summer). Yet some of the same posters know that it is not okay to let a baby sleep in a carrier/swing/ect., which I never knew until about 2 years ago, and I have been doing childcare forever! I put my self at so much risk because I didn't know, so this job kind of freaks me out now, since I seem to learn something new everyday and then thank my lucky stars that nothing bad happened prior to that knowledge. Sorry for the vent, just stories like this make me so heartsick.

[nanglgrl]

In child care, even if we do everything right, something could happen that could be life-altering...BUT as long as we follow licensing and all state expectations I think we are protected. Meeko's situation proves this!!!!! I have recently considered my options getting out of daycare due to the ever-crazy parenting styles that can lead to a he said/she said lawsuit. Some of the issues I have faced since enrolling my last 4 children/3 clients has nearly caused me to throw in the towel. :confused:

I just had an incident where a child was dropped of and within a minute of shutting the door I noticed she was acting like something was wrong with her leg. I started making a video of it less than 5 minutes after she arrived because I didn't want to call the parents only to have them arrive and have the child acting fine (at first I thought maybe she just wanted me to carry her or was grumpy). I called the parents a minute after the video was done. The parent showed up about 15 minutes later even though they'd just left and at first said the child was fine at drop off until I mentioned that I had a video that was time stamped as starting almost immediately after drop off. Then I was told the child was acting like something was wrong with her leg since they picked up from my home the day previously.
I knew it wasn't true, for one thing she hadn't gotten hurt here, had walked to the door herself at pick up and no good parent would ever let their child be in the pain this child seemed to be in all night without taking her to the doctor and bring her to daycare the next day without saying a word. I felt I had myself covered by was really seeing my life flash before my eyes. They took her to the doctor and it ended up being a virus that causes joint pain in toddlers. Now I'm installing 4 cameras with recording straight to DVR to protect myself thanks to the advice of a veteran provider. That feeling of wondering if these people had just ruined my life because they didn't want to take responsibility for something that happened at home was eye opening.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

In child care, even if we do everything right, something could happen that could be life-altering...BUT as long as we follow licensing and all state expectations I think we are protected. Meeko's situation proves this!!!!! I have recently considered my options getting out of daycare due to the ever-crazy parenting styles that can lead to a he said/she said lawsuit. Some of the issues I have faced since enrolling my last 4 children/3 clients has nearly caused me to throw in the towel. :confused:

And I am thankful for any protection, but I guess the stress of something bad happening has really been getting to me. Even in Meeko's situation. You can do everything right, yet bad things happen and at a few dollars per hour, do I really want the pain and baggage that comes along with a child dying in my care. I guess I just have been feeling very scared to do my job lately and I either need to buck up and deal wit or move on, but it seems to be a daily conversation in my head
My heart goes out to the family of this little baby and to anyone involved.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I agree. I am not condoning anything the provider did. Just wanted to make mention of it as the it only hurts everyone when details of a tragedy are spread around that aren't accurate. That only serves to hurt ALL unlicensed or unregistered homes and I know many unlicensed/unregistered providers that are awesome and DO go above and beyond to provide quality and safe care.

No, it doesn't hurt ALL unregistered or unlicensed. Just the illegal ones. The operative word being illegal. I am very interested to know if this was an illegal operation. It matters. I do agree that the facts are limited here. I did not read closet anywhere either. If it's true, about the closet.....negligent homicide. Seriously. I need more facts. It bothers me to see the phrase "ruled accidental"' because it was no accident that a child care provider placed him in a car seat with the intent of the child napping. Being put in a closet is certainly not accidental.

Eta I didn't see the post about first hand knowledge of the closet. My mistake nangjrl sorry!

[Unregistered]

No, it doesn't hurt ALL unregistered or unlicensed. Just the illegal ones. The operative word being illegal. I am very interested to know if this was an illegal operation. It matters. I do agree that the facts are limited here. I did not read closet anywhere either. If it's true, about the closet.....negligent homicide. Seriously. I need more facts. It bothers me to see the phrase "ruled accidental"' because it was no accident that a child care provider placed him in a car seat with the intent of the child napping. Being put in a closet is certainly not accidental.

of course it gives all unregistered and unlicensed caregivers a bad rap. not just the illegal ones. generalized sweeping statements or untrue or half true statements hurt everyone. even those that are providing quality care as unlicensed or unregistered.
just like not all centers are bad

[nanglgrl]

http://m.wcfcourier.com/news/local/cause-of-death-released-in-day-care-incident/article_7602bde2-69c3-57a3-9496-561a87d05050.html?mobile_touch=true

Here's the link to the story that includes the information that the child was in a closet. A lot of people in the area have known this information for a while. I'm surprised the media waited to release it for so long.

[Thriftylady]

As a legally unlicensed provider I just want to add that this could have happened even with a registered provider. Nobody can watch every provider every second, and I have heard of some licensed providers that broke every rule in the book. When parents come and talk to me I tell them that even if they don't choose me, to use their eyes, ears and every other thing they have to use and not just at the interview.

The real issue to me is that this happened at all. I don't understand why the provider or the parents thought this was okay to begin with. To me there must be some issue with either the child or parenting that they felt the need to put this child in a closet in this car seat that neither party was working on.

[BabyMonkeys]

He died of positional asphyxiation while he was asleep.
Doesn't make the situation any better but from everything I read, he didn't die in the middle of a crying fit. I could definitely be wrong but all the stories posted on various sites say nothing of him dying while struggling or crying.

Positional asphyxia just means that someone is unable to breathe due to their position. Has nothing to do with whether they are sleeping or not. A dangerous criminal that is violently resisting arrest may die of positional asphyxia if the officers restrain him face down. I assure you he wasn't asleep. I'm sure that criminal was struggling and screaming.

It is a beautiful thought that the baby just went to sleep...and I pray to God that is what happened...but it's unlikely. The reality is that most likely that baby screamed and struggled to get out, while left alone in a dark closet to die. NOT OK!