I don't normally indulge in RO, but DAMN...Daycare workers tape infant's mouth shut

The BBQ Pit
21

Yeah, a parent’s reactions to the very young crying are ordinarily not the same as those of non-parents. A typical parent is goaded into action by crying - to make it better, not to inflict violence on the crying baby. Makes evolutionary sense, when you think of it!

A typical parent’s reactions towards those who attempt to inflict violence on their crying baby is another story. One again, instincts goad parents, in this case into an extreme level of violence against the perp. Which also makes sense from an evolutionary perspective.

22

That’s me when allergies attack. It’s slow, painful, distressful death. The notion someone could be so cavalier as to even make that a possibility with a newborn

and

then not even monitor them…

23

From the DHS handbook, Chapter 12, Methods of Keeping Children Quiet –

Three-star: Packing tape
Two-star: Krazy-glue
One-star: Staple gun and arc-welder

24

Clearly, you’ve never set foot on Fark. Florida has its own tag even.

25

Oh please…he’s not talking about taping the damn pacifier in the baby’s mouth just to shut him/her up. I have two kids of my own. Two and a half and a 3 month old. I’m positive I can’t be the only parent to be getting the baby to just drop off to sleep with the paci in their mouth, only to have them do a wrong suck or something and lose the pacifier. Which makes the baby wake back up and fuss until you give him/her back the pacifier. Repeat ad nauseam for an hour or so until they finally fall asleep deep enough not to notice when it comes out of their mouth. So has the thought crosses my mind “Damn I wish I could just tape this in”? Sure it has. Hell my wife and I joked about that the other day when we were trying to get the little one down for the evening. Doesn’t make us bad parents, or mean that we’d actually do it. It just means that it’s one of those little frustrations that crop up all the time to parents. Jeez, lighten up about the obvious joking tone of his post.

Save your ire for the people that actually did it, and to someone else’s children.

26

I thought we were. :confused:

27

What frightens me about the OP is that I’m certain there are day care workers who are ignorant enough to believe that they were not endangering the child by doing this.

28

At the risk of inciting a pile-on, I’m going to defend Brainglutton, because I think I know what he’s saying. I’ve got kids. When you’re awake at 2 am holding a screaming infant, or when you’ve spent 3 hours trying everything you can think of to comfort your child, your brain thinks all sorts of awful things.

I’ve thought, on more than one occasion, “God I want to throw you out a window.” or “I could just throttle you right now.” Have I done it? Of course not. Would I? No, never. And, in talking to other parents, many people I know admit to similar thoughts. I believe that many more have them, but refuse to admit it, because it’s just such a horrible thing to think.

But I believe that the impulse is a very human one. Giving in to the impulse, on the other hand, is the inhuman act.

29

I don’t even have kids, and just babysitting I’ve had the screaming thought in my head SHUUUUTTT UUUUPPPP! and that flash of rage. If I were surrounded by a group of screaming infants? :eek: So I know what you’re saying,** BrainGlutton**.

Don’t worry, I won’t be having any children. Or working at a day care.

30

You really have to have a certain temperament to work in day care. I’ve gone over to the one my kids are at, and sometimes it’s like utter chaos…the babies are all crying, the toddlers are fighting with each other, etc. It doesn’t get like that very often, but every once in a while all the kids seem to lose it all at once. The lady who runs it and her assistant are always remarkably calm or just laughing about it as they run around trying to comfort everyone. It’s amazing. I would be loony tunes if I had to deal with that.

31

I have that same instict. However, since I have twins, usually the thing making one of them cry is the other. This leads to internal conflict.

32

duplicate post

33

Is the double posting intentional?

If so, bravo. :smiley:

34

Darn; I saw the double one briefly, but not long enough to tell if they are identical twins.

35

Calm down, d00d. That was me pickin’ at BG. I have inside knowledge that he’s no baby-torturer. :wink:

36

I do not believe BG was, or would become an abuser of infants.

Tris

37

NOT ADVOCATING TAPING UP CHILDREN… At least not infants.

I’ve got 5 kids. 4 within 5.5 years. All born within 9 years. I can safely say that at least once, I have entertained various creative non-appropriate responses to specific problems.

Anyone who tries to assert that they have never felt very negative feelings about their offspring, at 0300 after being up for hours, and day after day, with little reprieve from childrearing, is going to qualify for sainthood, or is lying through their teeth. I vote lying through their teeth.

I distinctly remember holding crying children, walking in circles for hours to comfort them, a pacifier in my mouth, trying to bite through the damn thing myself. Pacifiers are damn durable, I never chewed through one.

One of the things I think make people crazy about childrearing, and women especially, is this whole fantasy world that is a tool of marketing.

Your house is not going to look like Pottery Barn Kids. Even if you buy the entire room from the catalog, it’ll last a week, and the foot deep mess of dirty clothes, legos, torn off barbie heads, cars and stuffed animals will pale beside the foot high permanent marker drawn on the wall.

Even if your buy the deluxe crib, with all the bells and whistles that retails for $1500, she’s going to end up sleeping in your bed the first 4 months. At least.

After shelling out $500 for dance lessons for your three year old, not to mention the money for 3 different outfits and shoes for performances, she will promptly pee herself during the show.

Your house will be trashed, sunup to sundown, unless you drive yourself and your children crazy by following them with a vacuum cleaner, some wet wipes, a laundry hamper and a bottle of bleach.

I wish people would talk to other moms in real life more often, be more honest in general, and throw away all the mags, blogs, and TV that shows an unrealistic view of children and childrearing.

I love my kids, and I’m giving them the best life I can. They’re all turning out pretty damn good so far, and more than one person/parent/teacher/relative/stranger has said that I have great kids.

But don’t ever think that parenting doesn’t entail at least one incident of chasing kids through your house, wielding a broom, telling them they better* run*.

38

I work at a the nursery at the local Y, and I do agree with this. I’m only 19 and not the type of person that coos whenever I see a baby. I don’t love every child I see- I sometimes don’t even like them all that much. But when you work in a daycare you have to put your comfort last- even if it is just having to endure holding a screaming child for a while.

One day a few months ago I had to go to testing for college and I did not have time to go home and change after work. I just brought an extra shirt and everything was fine. Of course, that had to be a day when a child’s pull-up leaked in my lap. I just laughed. Before I started to work in the nursery I would never have thought that a child peeing would not cause me to to at least swear or something. The child was not my own- not even one of my favorites.
(I did clean my pants before taking my test though- Clorox spray and Lemonex can clean everything.)

If your first reaction to a crying baby is “let’s tape that fucker up!”… You really should not be working in childcare.
You should only think that after 20 minutes. If you actually do it you should not be around other humans. I just can’t think of a person that would think it was a good idea. This makes me a bit sick.

39

Well, yeah … you have a point there.

Just wait 'til they start calling you from the police station and wrecking cars. :wink:

Where BG got off on the wrong foot here was that his meaning wasn’t clear at first. “I wish I could get away with” X sounds more sinister than “sometimes my kid makes me want to do X !!!”.

40

Yeah, that’s what my husband says, too. Seeing that he comes from a family of six kids, all of them totaling a car at least once, you guys might have a point.

Something to look forward to.