Ack! Didn’t get to finish my comment! In regards to this: “Considering this would be her second referral in a short period of time, it is very possible that she will be asked to enter into a Voluntary Family Services contract so that the County can monitor the family. Children have also been removed from their parents for less than these two incidents combined.” I have NEVER removed a child because he fell out of a high chair or mom didn’t use a car seat. Children are removed because they are in danger of being seriously injured, neglected, or dying. It’s these falsehoods that perpetrate the myth that DCFS (CPS where I’m at) just walk around taking people’s kids on a whim. Would I suggest that Britney take a parenting class? Um…yeah. I plan on taking parenting classes when I start my family! As I tell people all the time…”It can’t hurt!”

Also re: DCFS. I’m a child protective service worker myself. As Sarah stated, most states have laws that require professionals to report suspected abuse and/or neglect. I know that if I personally saw a baby who may have a head injury and mom said, “His high chair broke and he fell and hit his head”, I’d be suspicious as well. You have to understand that doctors, like cps workers, probably hear the most outlandish scenerios ever. So yes, many doctors are mandated. Simply because a report is made doesn’t mean that Britney is a horrible mom or anything. It means someone had a concern and DCFS looked into it. Personally, I would rather have a thousand investigations where nothing is going on, than one investigation where a child is in danger of dying.

Re: The DCFS getting involved. Different states have different rules. For example, where I live in New Hampshire, you are mandated to report if there is any reason to suspect abuse or neglect. All the hospitals are required, all agencies, all citizens. Of course, that’s why our Child and Family Services is so backed up as well! I intern at an early intervention center, and my boss even had to send in a report about a family with a newborn who didn’t have heat for three nights – we’re required to because it could possibly be considered neglect (even though the parents had nowhere else to go). Not all states are mandated, for some reason. If you live in a state that’s not, your hospital may not have to report it.

I think in this one, she did everything right… it said that something malfunctioned in the highchair… that can happen.

Kids do fall and get hurt.

She was worried, so she took him to the hospital to be sure.

Did anyone notice in that bottom pic from PEOPLE, she looked pregnant?

I do think she needs to make sure that the highchair she uses is sturdy and repaired… and that her nanny is more careful… or how about feeding the baby herself?

I know that Britney means well… she’s just young and stupid a lot of times (driving with baby on lap… front facing baby so early), but this one is just not anyone’s fault.

I do agree that it needed investigated… things like this should always be checked out… but I don’t think it was anyone’s fault.

OK, I have to say…things do happen…I’m a mom of 3 and there have been many times that I have had to take my kids to the hospital because of things that have happened. I was once invetigated by DCFS. In that instance my middle daughter was 15 months old and my dh held her hands and was just swinging her in a circle one time in a hotel room( we were out of town at hte time). Her bone in her arm slipped out…she couldnt hold anything with her arm so we took her to the hospital. Well about 10 days before hand I had fallen and had dislocated my elbow and twisted my leg and knee so I was walking with a cane in a sling and here we are at the ER. We were instantly the talk of the place…I’m guessing they thought my dh was abusive when nothing could be further from the truth. They popped my dd bone back into place, showed us how to do it, explained it happens ALL the time and is quiet commen. BUT they also sent a report to DCFS in our hometown and they showed up at our door 3 days later. Of course they couldnt find anything but a family of 5 in a clean house, well behaved children etc etc etc.

The point is things aren’t always what they seem. Things do happen. I can completly understand how a fall from a high chair can injure. When I was 6 months old I was in a pumpkin seat (kinda like a carrier) and my grandma had me on the kitchen table and I wiggled out and cracked my head. Of course my mom was investigated for it and they found nothing wrong…my mom wasnt even the one who did anything wrong.

Ok enough with the book. I just feel like she is overanalized and treated so harshly sometimes. I do not think that she is a young mom…17,18,19 is young to me not a married women of 23,24 who has seen so much of the world and been involved in so much since she was 16…it does make you older than you are.

jsut my 2 cents of course..:)

And something else fishy too…If you bought a high chair that legitimately “broke” on its own, wouldn’t you say what kind it was? If it was all the high chair’s fault and the magical broken piece, why didn’t they get any more specific about what high chair it was and specifically what part broke? If this happened to you wouldn’t you expose the manufacturer for making dangerous products that break without warning. If an item spontaneously broke and caused injury to your own child and poses a possible danger to other children, don’t you have a responsibility to warn others in case a recall is needed? Point being, I don’t think the high chair broke. For if it did, we would be hearing more information on the chair of death itself. I have to quote Judge Milian (People Court Rules!) “You can’t even season the lie enough for me to swallow it.”

According to the Federlines, “The hospital automatically files reports with DCFS in the case of head injuries and other injuries that can be associated with shaken baby syndrome and other forms of child abuse, just in case.”

This is the part I find fishy. If it happens so often that babies accidently get hurt and it’s standard to send DCFS for a head injury, why haven’t they visited the multitude of other families in this same predicament. Why didn’t they come to my sister’s house when an older child running into the room accidently kicked my baby nephew in the head while he was laying on the floor playing? It was only an accident too. My nephew was immediately taken to the hospital, had a CAT scan and was put under observation. No one from DCFS ever visited them. I hardly think our social services are so vast that they can send DCFS to homes routinely everytime a baby falls out of his high chair. Maybe Britney should have tried taking care of a plant first.

finally able to go online again!!! I just heard about this Britney/Sean falling thing and it really sounds like a simple kid accident. My DD was about 7months old when she actually fell into our coffee table, head first, and came up with a baseball sized knot on her head immediately. I freaked and called 911. They were like, “Just keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn’t start vomiting or falling asleep and not waking up easily.” They didn’t even say I should take her to the hospital. Kids have accidents. It doesn’t always mean neglect or abuse.

I think Britney is blaming her nanny for the incident, if anything, she would have named the exact piece that broke from the highchair instead of “some piece” LOL it was probably k-fed
If my kid fell out of a high chair, I’m sure it wouldnt make front page and I sure as heck wouldnt have waited 6 days. Doctor or no doctor, if I feel something is wrong with my child, it would be the hospital pronto- no harm in a second opinion.

Britney is a first time monther, and a young one at that. It is very unfair to just assume that she is a bad mother just because she is young and because of who she is. However, she doesn’t have the greatest track record. Kids do get hurt all of the time, true, and that is why it is important to watch them all of the time. They can get hurt in the blink of an eye. You have to be really careful. Apparently the nanny was in charge this time, which gets Britney “off the hook” this time, but she still needs to make better choices.