What would you feel what happened to the child in the video happened to your own child?
WARNING: The video below might contain content that can shock, offend, and upset
Sometimes, the people we think we can trust are actually the ones who we should keep well away from our children. And in the case of 1-year-old Adriana Javier, her yayas who were tasked to take care of her and protect her while her parents were away, turned out to be the ones who hurt her, and harmed her, even potentially causing her trauma as a result of their abuse.
Adriana’s father, Nathan Javier, shared in a Facebook post, “We notice that Adriana would intermittently hit her head with her hands. She is very jumpy, easily gets frightened, and easily gets surprised with trivial matters. We are set to meet with a Child Psychologist to check Adriana’s emotional, behavioral & psychological well-being and give us evaluation on the possible psychotrauma. The results of the evaluation will also be submitted to the court as supporting evidence.”
He adds, “This incident has caused us mental anguish especially on my wife’s part who cannot bear seeing our defenseless & very scared little baby girl being tortured & abused by these 2 heartless yayas. My wife had a high-risk pregnancy & threatened abortion, but our baby Adriana is a fighter even when she was still in her mom’s womb. We are confident that with God’s grace and through the support of our families & friends, we will surpass this.”
This is definitely a parent’s worst nightmare, and even with the CCTV installed in the home, the yayas had the gall to hurt and abuse a defenseless 1-year-old. So, what steps can you take in order to ensure that your children are always safe at home?
Keeping your kids safe at home
As much as parents want to be the ones to take care of their kids, it can’t always be the case, as some parents need to go to work in order to provide for their family. And in situations where both parents are working, then they might need to hire a nanny to take care of the kids.
And while some nannies are amazing, and will take care of your kids just like their own, some nannies seemingly don’t have any care and respect for your little one. So, what’s a parent to do?
- Always do a background check. It might sound excessive, but for the safety of your child, it’s very important to make sure that the nanny you’re hiring has no criminal history, nor do they have a bad reputation that they’re trying to hide. It’s always best to look for a nanny from an agency, or to get someone who has been highly recommended and can be trusted with caring for your child.
- A CCTV system is important. These days, CCTV systems that can connect wirelessly to your phone, or to a computer are relatively cheap, and are a good way of making sure that your child is always safe, and that you can check on your child and your nanny whenever you’re at work. It helps give you some peace of mind, and you’re always assured that you can check on your child anytime.
- Ask a neighbor or a relative to visit every so often. If you think that your nanny is up to no good, then you can try asking a neighbor, or a relative to check up on your house to make sure that everything’s alright. It’s also a good way for you to know how your nanny behaves around someone else.
- If your child suddenly has a lot of bruises or wounds, it might be abuse. Now, some kids are just clumsy, in that they have a habit of running into things or falling down and getting bruises and scrapes. However, if your child suddenly has a lot of bruises all over their body, or if their behavior changes whenever their nanny is around, chances are, they’re being abused by their nanny. In cases like that, it’s best to part ways with your child’s nanny, or if you can find evidence of their wrongdoing, you can even file a child abuse case.
- Know what questions to ask a nanny. Before hiring a nanny, it’s important to ask them questions so that you can gauge their character. Give them hypothetical situations that might happen while they’re taking care of your child, and ask them how they will be dealing with those situations, and then gauge their character from there.
- Call home every so often. If you can call home to check up on what’s happening, then it’s a good idea to do so, just so you’re sure that your nanny isn’t going out to leave your child alone, nor is she neglecting her duties at home.
- Trust your gut. If you feel that something’s off with a nanny, even before you hire them, then trust your gut, and look for someone else. Nothing beats your instincts, so if you feel off about a person that’s going to take care of your child, you need to trust that feeling, since those are your parental instincts kicking in.
Sources: facebook.com, patch.com, childdevelopmentinfo.com
READ: “The day I caught my maid on nanny cam, slapping my little boy”
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