Toddler found in nursery grit bin by horrified mum

A mother feared the worst when she arrived to pick up her two-year-old son from nursery. Staff informed her that he hadn't been seen for nearly an hour and that police had been notified. An urgent search ensued, with the mother eventually locating her child, cold and motionless, curled up inside a grit bin.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said she believed he had died when she discovered him. She said: "When I opened the box I thought he was dead because he was curled up in the foetal position and wasn't moving.

"He was cold, shivering, his skin was pale and his face, mouth and nostrils were covered in grit.

"When I picked him up he was disorientated and just slumped into my arms. And once we were inside he didn't appear to be his usual self and he was shivering and gulping down water.

"I didn't know how this could have happened or how long he had been in there or how much salt he had ingested. I don't understand how nobody noticed that he wasn't there anymore." 

He was subsequently taken to A&E with raised salt levels but was released following additional tests.

Under an arrangement between the school - Maybury Primary School in Edinburgh - and his parents, his mum claimed he was meant to be under tag-team supervision - a system where staff communicate his whereabouts throughout the nursery.

The 36-year-old claimed: "They still haven't told me what actually happened to my child on that day (Friday, January 16.). They described it as an unfortunate incident but that is just completely not acknowledging how serious this situation actually was. After everything that's happened I can't send him back there. No-one has actually admitted to what went wrong on that day.

"I asked to see the CCTV on the day that it happened so I would have more information to give the doctors.

"They said they would check it but I didn't hear anything back. The next week I was told the CCTV didn't cover the area where the grit bin was and then a few days after that they told me that the CCTV hadn't been working that day - it just doesn't make sense," she claimed.

Following a brief return to the nursery last week, the young boy has now been kept at home. The distressed parent explained that multiple factors, including a breakdown of trust, had prompted the decision.

The Care Inspectorate has been notified of the incident.

City of Edinburgh Council leader Jane Meagher commented: "I was shocked to hear about this awful incident and can only imagine how frightening it must have been for the child's mother and family. I'm so sorry they had to go through this.

"It's simply unacceptable that such a young child could be unaccounted for and put at risk, particularly in a place where they should be safe and cared for.

"I want to reassure the family that the Care Inspectorate were immediately informed, and urgent improvements have already been made at the nursery. I am insisting that these are independently reviewed to make sure all lessons have been properly learned and that this can never be allowed to happen again."