Guide to avoid nightmares
News about abusive babysitters or childminders are not new. In fact, the husband of a babysitter was charged yesterday with the murder of an 11-month-old girl. A checklist has just been launched by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to help parents in their search for a reliable babysitter or childcare provider.
Among others:
• Always observe the child’s behaviour; do not rely on the Internet in searching for babysitters; go for recommendations by relatives or friends.
• Parents can seek advice as well from the Association of Registered Childcare Providers or the Early Childhood Care and Education.
• A screening system will be launched next year for people working in childcare.
PETALING JAYA: Her two-year-old son was usually happy to be dropped off at the nursery.
But Elle (not her real name) noticed that her boy changed after a new caretaker was hired.
He would scream and cry whenever he was sent there.
Elle, 27, then began seeing small bruises on her son after he returned from the nursery.
“It started about three weeks ago when my mother-in-law told me there was a red mark in between his shoulder blades.
“It was small but the redness lasted for about three days,” said the human resources executive.
The nursery claimed that the red mark was caused by a fall.
“The following Friday, he came home with a bruise on his forearm, which the owner of the nursery claimed was caused by another boy biting my son.
“My husband and I were a bit sceptical but we still needed to send our son to the nursery because we had no other choice.
“But whenever I dropped him off in the morning, he would always scream and cry so hard,” she added.
The last straw came when her boy came home with a red ear and nail marks behind his ears.
She decided then to pull out her son from the nursery.
Elle is not the only parent with stories to share about childcare workers or babysitters.
Pam (not her real name) suspected that the person she hired to care for her three-month-old baby girl had been physically abusive.
She had found the contact number for the babysitter through an advertisement on her apartment’s notice board.
Pam, 35, called the babysitter for an interview and visited her home before deciding to hire her.
The first week went smoothly. Later, she found that the babysitter was cold towards the baby, complaining about her constant crying.
It was towards the end of the month that she noticed bruises on her baby’s face.
“The babysitter told me that it could be because of the way my husband and I carried her; that she was bumped hard against our shoulders.”
“In the second month, the babysitter would get upset if we popped by to check on our baby or if we decided to pick her up earlier,” said Pam, a food technologist.
She terminated the babysitter’s service as she continued to notice bruises on her baby’s face.
“I got in touch with a good friend whose mother offered to babysit. It was the best decision ever.”
Elle and Pam urged parents to find out more about the background of those entrusted with their children.
“Always do a background check with the authorities.”
“My mistake was that I didn’t do any background check because the nursery is owned by people my in-laws knew,” said Elle.
She also said parents should always observe the behaviour of their children when they are in the company of the childcare worker or babysitter.
“Always observe your child’s behaviour when he’s around that person.”
“My son is two years old. He’s unable to tell us what happened to him but his behaviour in the morning changed drastically since the new childcare worker was hired,” she added.
Pam urged parents to pick someone they know personally or through recommendations from people they trust.
“My second child’s babysitter was hired based on a recommendation from a close friend. My daughter and the babysitter get on like best friends,” she said.
Both Elle and Pam were supportive of the checklist on choosing babysitters launched by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry yesterday.
“The guidelines are useful, especially for new parents, in finding nurseries or babysitters,” said Elle.