Unlicensed daycare provider kills infant with adult dose of Benadryl. (day care, infants)
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Could it happen in a licensed daycare? Sure it could. Bring licensed doesn't make daycare providers immune from making stupid mistakes. It's a terrible tragedy that the baby died. Unfortunately parents are caught between a rock and a hard place. Quality daycare is expensive, so they often seek the cheapest daycare they can find, and those providers are sometimes neglectful and abusive. How awful for the parents.
Sure. Unfortunately, a license is not a force field against evil. There have been numerous cases of infants being physically abused in licensed day cares, including this one in April:
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I did licensed family (in home) daycare about 16 years ago.
I had to be certified in 1st aid and CPR (including infant CPR). I had to have a daily schedule, get a physical, have letters of recommendation as to my mental soundness, commit to continuing education every year, have my home inspected for safety and also by the fire department for specific fire code violations. I also had to have documented fire drills at least once a year. I had to have written contracts that were kept on file for inspection for each child in my care.
I was subject to announced home inspections as well as one unannounced (surprise) inspection every calendar year. These inspections covered every space a child could go. My kitchen was searched, my bathroom, etc.
I could have a total of 8 kids for each adult and I was limited to 2 infants per adult. I had to have written policies in place about how I was going to dispose of diaper waste, where I was going to change baby, and I had to have a pre-approved back-up provider in case I was incapacitated in any way. This person had to attest that they would step in, with no notice, if needed so the kids wouldn't be unattended.
There were continuing education requirements, too.
I do think that the licensing requirements in my state may have saved lives.
Administering medicine is crazy regulated by most state licensing agencies. The requirements for labeling, administration, etc. are very strict. You may NOT give any medication that is not prescribed to the child. Benadryl is obviously not prescribed so it shouldn't be administered at all. The only exception to that is if a child is having an acute allergic reaction to something (bee sting, etc.) in which case the 911 operator will give instructions for administering it.
Could it have happened in a licensed facility? Sure. Just because someone knows they're not supposed to do something doesn't mean they won't do it anyway.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I think what really bothers me about the whole benadryl thing is that I know parents who have done this or used tylenol or other medication to get baby to sleep. Not defending the daycare provider at all, but I don't think (and haven't read anything ) to make me think she intentionally killed the baby.
My point is that I think this is far more pervasive (medicating babies to get them to sleep) than it would seem.
Administering medicine is crazy regulated by most state licensing agencies. The requirements for labeling, administration, etc. are very strict. You may NOT give any medication that is not prescribed to the child. Benadryl is obviously not prescribed so it shouldn't be administered at all. The only exception to that is if a child is having an acute allergic reaction to something (bee sting, etc.) in which case the 911 operator will give instructions for administering it.
Yes, this is how the daycare is where my children go. They are completely not allowed to administer Benadryl and other OTC meds. The parent has to come administer it during the day if they want their child to have it. Prescription medications can be administered by the front office (staffed by a retired nurse) with a current form signed by the pediatrician, but the pediatricians here will not sign for over the counter medications so parents must do it. When my children were teething, I had to drive over once a day to give Tylenol too. At first I thought it was annoying and ridiculous, but now I greatly appreciate it.
They even do random inspections of the children's bags and if they find any OTC meds, the front office will take it and give it to the parent at pick up and tell them it's not allowed, just in case.
I think what really bothers me about the whole benadryl thing is that I know parents who have done this or used tylenol or other medication to get baby to sleep. Not defending the daycare provider at all, but I don't think (and haven't read anything ) to make me think she intentionally killed the baby.
My point is that I think this is far more pervasive (medicating babies to get them to sleep) than it would seem.
I have used Benadryl to help my child sleep at night when they are sick with a cold and have a runny nose and cough, but I have very carefully measured out the children's dose that my pediatrician gave me based on my child's weight at their last well-visit.
That's a whole lot different than what happened with this babysitter.
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