The two children were at the privately owned Circle of Friends Childcare and Early Learning Centre, now known as Seeds WA Childcare and Early Learning Centre, in East Cannington in May 2017 when the duo were placed in separate cots for an afternoon nap.
But the crying 10-month-old was ignored by the lead educator at the request of her parents as the child was “known to cry when over-tired”.
The educator checked on the children a number of times. At four o’clock, a second child (under the age of two) was found in the 10-month-old’s cot.
When examined, the baby had small amounts of blood on the little girl’s face and scratches. The educator found two parts of an earring in the cot and assumed that is what caused the damage.
Staff administered first aid to the 10-month-old and notified her parents. It wasn’t until the child’s uncle came to pick her up 45 minutes later and took her to a GP that the family was advised the girl be taken to Princess Margaret Hospital.
“It is now known that the second child had climbed into the first child’s cot and had repeatedly bitten the first child,” the State Administrative Tribunal ruled this week.
The 10-month-old suffered multiple abrasions to her right ear, and abrasions/bruising to her left and right cheeks, left temple, right forehead, chest, left arm, back, buttocks, right leg and left foot, doctors confirmed.
The second child had her enrolment cancelled at the centre two days later when she bit another child in an unprovoked attack.
Since the biting ordeal, the centre has shortened the frequency of sleep checks to every 10 minutes, the lead educator on the day is “no longer in a role of responsibility”, the cots are now better spaced preventing children climbing out of one cot into another and an educator is required to remain in the cot area when children are present.
This article originally appeared on PerthNow.
