I am a little worried about the development of a friends child. As a child care worker we are aware of certain milestones children should reach at certain ages. The parents are not at all concerned about how the child is developing. Should i approach her and let her know i am concerned about the childs development or should i just let it go.
I am also worried as this mother lets her child ride in the front seat of the car (she is doesnt have a license) and says its too hard to put the child into the car seat.
I am really worried about the safety and well being of this child.
any advice would be great,
How old is this child?
I would be VERY worried about the fact firstly that she is driving without a licence and secondly that obviously this child is nowhere near old enough to be sitting in the front seat!
I would most definitely be discussing this issue with her and pointing out that shear laziness is no reason to put her child at risk.
I would find a video if possible of crash test dummies of a young child and show her, she obviously doesn't think.
Regarding the milestones i think that is a little harder and each child is different, just becuase they don't reach a milestone at a certain age does not mean there is a problem.
One boy @ MG is 16mths old and still wont walk, he is the only one left out of ALL of the kids to not be, yet he has done other things earlier.
Depending on the issue i would broach that subject lightly.
Why dont you see if she is taking her child to the CMH visits, ask in passing. If she is going to these visits a health care worker would pick it up and you would not have to say anything.
What milestones are you talking about?
Some children dont make all their milestones at the same point but still are happy and healthy babies.
As the parent is not worried, maybe they have been to checks or have enquired themselves and know what the situation is. I have a friend whos child was not meeting her milestones, we never discussed it, then she mentioned something in passing about her child not sitting up/crawlling etc and how hard she found mothers group. Turns out there was a problem, she just didnt feel comfortable about discussing it to begin with - not everyone is happy telling people that their child has something wrong.
As for not strapping a child into the seat, thats down right irresponsible. I saw a family drive up to the shops holding a baby on their lap (passanger seat) the police happened to be their so i asked them to have a word. I think if i had a close friendship with someone i would hope that i would be able to discuss this in a non threatening judgemental way (even though i dont agree with it) so that you could gentley show her the benefits of her child sitting in a car seat and up the back - its now illegal in some states isnt it?
Combined with the fact that she doesnt have a liscence however demonstrates how little regard she has for the law however, so you may just be banging your head agains a brick wall in trying to open the discussion.
If you are concerned with the childs safety, why dont you call DOCS see what they have to say. you can remain annonymous and to begin with could just give a broad outline of your concern and see what they tell you. other than injurys that could occur in an accident, she has no insurance or TAC coverage if she is unliscenced and has an accident
Hi,
This child is about 18months old. is still eating pureed foods and is fed by mum and dad as she cant hold a spoon or fork, is walking quite well, can only say two words and these are very unclear most of the time, is still having formular (am not sure if this is ok as i have seen some formulars designed for toddlers) cant drink from a cup or sipper cup.
As far as i know she has stopped taking her child to see the health nurse, as its too much of a pain in the butt to pack her up and go visit the nurse, and her last visit was at 6mths
I just dont know if i should risk mentioning something to her. maybe i will just leave a copy of the recommended milestones she should be reaching on her coffee table.
Worried
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