Suspended by the Bouches-du-Rhône PMI, a cadolive childminder appears before the Marseille criminal court. She is accused of violence on infants she was keeping. It was the mother of one of them, Doriane, who uncovered the facts. Worried, she slipped a microphone in her 11 -month -old son’s bag. The apparatus captured insults, cries and negligence. Faced with evidence, justice has seized the case. Another family also filed a complaint.
“”I had put my son in the horror house“”
Doriane, 37, says with anger and pain what she discovered. “”I hope she will be punished, that she will go to prison“, She says to the Parisian.”You have to get a message across. What she did is very shocking. Being a nanny is a very beautiful job but you have to have the vocation and not do it for bad reasons “.
Quickly, the young mother had doubts. “”When I was going to get him unexpectedly, I heard him cry and scream from the outside. He had the red buttocks all the time when I recovered it, his diaper was all the time full, he was not changed “. Doriane remembers: “I asked her to put her cream but she didn’t do it. At night, he was sleeping very badly, he woke up permanently … And then he struggled a lot when I wanted to change it “.
Then come the glazing words captured by the recorder. “”She lets him scream for thirty-three minutes, after I had to stop … In the meantime, it’s insults: your mouth, you break the C …, you finally climb it your mouth. I understood that I put my son in the horror house “.
Since then, Doriane “has no confidence” and herself has kept her child herself, always followed by pediatricians.
Choose a childminder: the criteria not to be overlooked
Beyond the shock of this affair, a question haunts many parents: how to be sure of finding a reliable nanny?
Specialists recall some essential rules:
- Check that the maternal assistant is approved by the PMI and request to see his official authorization;
- Opt for a childminder located near your home: this offers peace of mind and facilitates the deposit of your child in the morning on the way to work;
- Meet several candidates and ask specific questions about their way of managing meals, sleep or crying;
- Favor word of mouth with other parents, neighbors or nursery schools;
- Observe the child’s reaction during the first contacts, because his behavior often speaks long;
- Examine the environment where your child will spend his days (safety, calm, toys, number of children …);
- Do you find out about the proposed activities (affiliation to a maternal assistant relay (RAM), regular outings?);
- Choose an assistant who shares your educational values concerning sleep, child rhythms, discipline or food diversification;
- Take care of your instinct: if something seems strange, it is better to abstain;
- Discuss delicate subjects: Keep if your child is sick? Flexibility on schedules? …
- Approach financial issues. The hourly rate, compensation for meals and maintenance, payment of holidays …
How to identify signs of mistreatment?
It is not always easy to know if a baby is well treated with his nanny. Some signals must however alert parents.
Among them: unusual crying with the idea of returning, persistent sleep disturbances, sudden anger or marks on the body which do not find a clear explanation. Negroly hygiene, systematically full layers or red buttocks can also be clues.
Pediatricians recommend staying attentive to the overall behavior of the child. If it is abnormally fearful or if it refuses physical contact, it may be a sign of discomfort.
If in doubt, parents are encouraged to talk about it quickly with health professionals and report their concerns to the PMI or the competent authorities.