Would you consider this child abuse?

[Sandy Feet]

What a STUPID young woman. I totally agree it's child abuse/endangerment. That kind of thing can keep you up at night worrying about the poor baby.

 

[jrydberg]

Just to clarify, I don't think that fits any legal definition of child *abuse*... it does however qualify as child neglect/endangerment. Either way it's awful.

 

[Nancy]

My kids ar 11, 14 and 16.....I still don't have time to just go to the beach and get a tan.

That poor baby. I remeber my Mom telling me "if it's too hot for you, then it's too hot for the baby"

 

[leahannpen]

And I would not have given up on her. I'd have made a fuss in this case. What an idiot this girl is!

 

[wtpclc]

First, I'd like to completely agree with you. That is horrible.

OTOH, it seems like first-time moms tend to think babies need to be kept warm under any circumstances. My niece was a premie and she came home around 4 pounds. They were told she needed 1 layer more than what we would be comfortable in. Now, it was end of August and about 85 degrees. No, she did not have the baby on the beach, but the baby did have a long-sleeved sleeper and was swaddled in a blanket. I'm usually cool until it hits 80 and I was sweating in shorts and short sleeves. My poor niece kept trying to get out of teh banket. When I was holding her, she tossed and turned until she was free of the blanket. Then she settled down. Pretty obvious to me that she was hot. As she lay there sleeping in my hands, my SIL, just kept looking at me. Finally, my niece hiccupped. My SIL grapped her, said she must be cold and proceded with teh swaddling thing again. Poor thing went back to struggling for freedom and to cool down. If a ~30 yo could be that way. I can see an 18-20 yo doing the thing on the beach.

Does that excuse it? No, but it does seem to me like the hospitals should stress, especially with summer babies, that heat is just as bad, if not worse than cold.

Just my 0.02.

 

[Chicago526]

Originally posted by jrydberg
Just to clarify, I don't think that fits any legal definition of child *abuse*... it does however qualify as child neglect/endangerment. Either way it's awful.

Yup! For abuse, you have to hit the child. This would be either neglect or endangerment, depending on how the local law reads. Either way, it's wrong and dangerous! It's almost as bad as leaving a kid in a hot car while you go shoping or something.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Just another example of the need for parental education... we make those that fish get licenses, but hand children over to anyone that births them.

I honestly think that some moms REALLY just don't know...

 

[snowglobe girl]

I am a supervisor of a child protection services team and have been in this field of work for five years. I totally agree that it would be child neglect. While our state policy doesn't go into anything as specific as this incident, the nearest thing that addresses it states:

A report may be accepted as clothing neglect when the reporting source has reason to believe that:
(a) A child suffers illness, exposure, or frostbite due to inadequate clothing; or
(b) The child’s clothing is insufficient to protect the child from the elements. (This may include severe sunburns.)

That was taken directly out of our standards of practice manual. I think that it could easily be surmised that being bundled up in excessive clothing as well as covered by a blanket in extreme heat would be considered "inadequate clothing" - but it would be a little of a stretch. It could also be argued that the mother was an inattentive / inappropriate caretaker and the child was at "risk of harm" due to the fact that the child was screaming and crying due to the exposure and the mother was not addressing the situation and ignoring the needs of the child.

Sounds like she is very young, immature, and this is probably her first baby. She most likely needs parenting classes, etc to learn appropriate parenting skills.

Some people just don't think about things before they do it.

Well, that's just my two cents worth.

 

[vettechick99]

Terrible judgement!! That woman needs some mother training (a (little common sense couldn't hurt either apparently).

A friend of a friend (whom I NEVER liked) used to take her baby with her to the tanning bed. Even though my friend told her that wasn't smart, she continued. FINALLY a staff member told her it wasn't good for the baby to be in there and forbid it.

Some people!

 

[ballroombelle]

It may not have been the mother if it indeed was about 8 days old....maybe a very ignorant babysitter. Even so, would a mom ok a younger sister or cousin to take out her newborn...to the BEACH, no less?!

Negligent, awful, sad.

 

[wilderness01]

Just to clarify, yes we tell the parents of preemies that they MAY need an extra layer to keep them warm but that is only in cold weather. Not in the summer heat. Perhaps your sister-in-law didn't quite understand the discharge instructions. Doesn't everyone also think some of this is common sense? If the baby is struggling while swaddled, but calm when not, doesn't it make sense not to swaddle? We can not teach everything, as much as we try. Some parents do not listen or are so overwhelmed that they remember only bits and pieces of what they want to. Some people just have complete ignorance and think since they have read a book or two, or have had other children, that they know it all. Those people are very hard to teach and reach.

To the original poster, yes she put this baby in danger. Overheating a baby may lead to severe consequences. I would have called the police. It's a shame if something terrible would happen to that baby. I can only imagine what that baby 's respiratory rate was. The baby was probably hyperventilating because it was trying to blow off it's heat. A real shame.

 

[HollyJoy]

I would say YES! That's really sad!

 

[IandGsmom]

YES. I would have called the cops. I wouldn't have said anything to mom or dad myself sicne you never know what people might do.

 

[slo]

Hearing stories like this actually makes me a little nauseas because I get very sad when I hear/read of little tiny babies that have bad things happen to them. These poor babies just want/need to be loved. Taking an 8 day old baby to the beach is just unbelievably wrong and blaming her youth just doesn't cut it for me. When I was 16, 17, 18 or whatever I would have known to not take a tiny baby to the beach - but then again, I don't put myself first for to many things - the people I love come first. Oh well, I better get off my soapbox.

 

[Mimi Q]

YES.

 

[Alice28]

Yes, abuse to the nth degree.

 

[trishy]

Poor baby! Bet the stupid young mother wasn't bundled up in sweaters and blankets. What a moron. Glad you said something to her.

 

[treesinger]

I'll add my voice to the chorus to say how terrible it is for that child to be treated that way. I only pray that I would have the presence of mind to get the police involved.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

How terrible. Absolutely abuse.

 

[ducklite]

Either in NJ or FL recently a father was arrested and charged with abuse in a similar situation. If I can dig out the article I'll post it.

Anne