Mom spots terrifying risk in photo of her baby son at daycare: 'I freaked out'

A mom has slammed a daycare center after spotting a frightening risk when she checked on her baby son.

As reported by Kidspot, a mother was working as a chef at the daycare center in Sydney, where her three young children also attended.

During her shift, she prepared afternoon tea to give to the children and decided to take the opportunity to check on her five-month-old son.

But when she walked in, she was horrified by what she saw.

The mom said she saw her baby boy fast asleep in his cot with his face completely covered, as his bib was still attached around his neck. Credit: Imaginima / Getty

The mom revealed to the outlet that she saw her baby boy fast asleep in his cot, lying on his side, but his face was completely covered, as his bib was still attached around his neck and pulled upwards.

She said she'd asked staff to put the bib on him because he had been drooling onto his clothes but specifically instructed that they remove it when he was sleeping.

"I freaked out," she said, putting her hand on her son’s back to make sure he was still breathing. "I decided to take a photo because this is unacceptable. As a parent, that was worrying, and I just wanted to show the director," she added.

The mom claimed that the center used an app to log when checks were made on babies. She claims her son was checked on at 1.43PM and not again until 2.20PM.

After removing the bib herself, the woman returned to work shaken by what had happened. She walked over to the director, who reportedly "brushed [her] off" so she showed the alarming photo she took to an educational leader in the baby’s area and asked: "Is this safe sleep?"

"And she said, 'No, it’s not,'" the mom shared.

Credit: Lourdes Balduque / Getty

According to Red Nose, babies should sleep on their backs with their faces and heads uncovered to limit the dangers of overheating and suffocation. This is advised until they are at least 12 months old, as the chance of SIDS - the sudden and unexplained death of a baby younger than one year old - is at its peak between two and six months of age.

Following the incident, the mom disclosed that the owner and manager of the daycare apologized and expressed remorse, but she is still angry about the potentially fatal ordeal.

"[If] this is what’s happening to my son and I’m in the center, can you imagine the negligence for those who don’t see this?" she asked, revealing to the publication that she has since contacted the Department of Education and filed a complaint about the center.

She has now left her job at the center and told Kidspot: "I’m just in shock about child care in general now... I’m going to stay home with my kids."

Featured image credit: Imaginima / Getty