A furious mother has demanded urgent answers after her three-year-old daughter returned home from daycare with severe sunburn on four separate occasions within a single month.
Repeated Incidents and a 'Pathetic' Response
Ashlee Jade detailed the painful ordeal her young daughter endured, starting with an initial incident last month. Concerned, Ashlee requested a daily log documenting when sunscreen was applied to her child. The situation escalated dramatically earlier this month when the toddler was sunburnt again. Ashlee took her complaints to the daycare's head office.
"They pretty much deflected it and told me that their centre meets the sun safety requirements," Ashlee stated. A day after that conversation, her daughter was burnt for a third time, with Ashlee sharing a photo showing the child's reddened cheeks. "I'm not happy with the response at all," she said. "I said to them, 'Something needs to change as it's not working.'"
A Three-Year-Old Left to Apply Her Own Sunscreen
Ashlee revealed a critical point of contention: the daycare's approach to sunscreen application. "At the end of the day, she's three years old. Yes, she applies her own sunscreen, but she's not covering her face and arms as they're the areas getting burnt and I would prefer an adult applying it," she explained. "It didn't go down well."
The fourth and most severe burning incident, which Ashlee described as "the worst I've ever seen," proved the final straw. "Four times within a month, three of them within a week. I genuinely can't believe this has happened again," she fumed. "The most heartbreaking thing is that my little girl has been crying all day, in pain. They just don't care." She also confirmed she never received the promised daily sunscreen logs.
Formal Complaint and Sector-Wide Standards
Following further calls to the head office which fell on deaf ears, Ashlee has taken decisive action. She has removed her daughter from the daycare and lodged a formal complaint with the relevant department. "I can’t return to a place where my child isn’t safe, or where I don’t feel she is safe," she declared. She is also investigating the specific sunscreens used on her daughter.
The case has sparked outrage online, with many criticising the practice of a toddler self-applying sunscreen. One childcare educator commented, "As an educator myself this is wild! I don’t mess around when it comes to the sun every bit of skin showing will be slathered in sunscreen and constantly checked and reapplied."
Under the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority’s National Quality Standard, all childcare services are required to have a sun protection policy. The Cancer Council NSW emphasises the heightened risk for young children, stating, "Infants and toddlers have more sensitive skin, making them especially vulnerable to UV damage. Research highlights that childhood is a critical period when sun exposure can significantly increase the risk of developing skin cancer later in life."
