Guardians play an important role in the safety of their charge, that’s why serious consideration must go into assigning sitters and nannies to look after your children.
Although relatives are more often the preferred guardians, that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be subjected to the same scrutiny as babysitters.
More often than not, there are important details in the lives of your relatives that you should know but don’t, details that could potentially endanger the safety not only of your baby but the entire household.
Such as the case of 48-year-old grandmother in Lincoln, Nebraska, who accidentally fed his grandson a drug-laced milk which almost killed him.
“Rose Rej was visiting her daughter in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday when she woke up around 1:30 a.m. to feed her grandson but ‘grabbed the wrong bottle,’ said a report by The Boston Herald.
It wasn’t until the she found the child in distress did she realize her mistake, said Lincoln police spokeswoman Katie Flood.
Police arrested Rose when she admitted that she “stores her methadone inside baby bottles.”
Booking photo of Rose M. Rej, of Whitinsville, Massachusetts; Photo credit: Boston Herald
Furthermore, investigators discovered found the apartment a glass pipe, rolling papers and a scale—accoutrements of recreational drug use.
Reports also said that the baby’s mother were aware that Rose kept her methadone baby bottle near others that were being used to feed the infant.
“The argument that it was an accident is so stupid that this woman would literally have had to have been brain-dead to cause it,” said a former prosecutor and victim’s advocate Wendy Murphy.
“It’s so beyond the pale and way past dumb that the argument that it was an accident will never fly, because even a half-brain-dead jury is going to say that it was at a minimum reckless.”
The infant’s mother had not been charged, but Jetta Bernier, executive director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children, hopes that the protective services officials in Nebraska “act swiftly and strongly to make sure this child is placed in a safe environment from now on.”
“In a way, this may end up being what will save this child’s life,” Jetta said.
“Maybe this is what it will take to get him out of an environment that clearly is not just borderline unsafe. Maybe this will ultimately be a good outcome for him.”
READ: This Grandfather accidentally drowns toddler during bath time
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