A daycare worker has been stood down and an investigation launched after a one-year-old boy was mistakenly handed to the wrong family at a southern Sydney childcare centre.
The alarming mix-up occurred on Monday at First Steps Learning Academy in Bangor, when a mother arrived to collect her son only to be told he was missing.
Panicked staff reviewed CCTV footage and began phoning parents before discovering that a grandfather – who had not realised the mistake – had taken the wrong child home.
“I can’t explain the feeling,” the mother told the Sydney Morning Herald. “They couldn’t tell me his name, they couldn’t tell me who he was, they couldn’t tell me who he was meant to pick up. They couldn’t tell me what he looked like, apart from that he was wearing shorts and he was an older gentleman.”
While she expressed no anger toward the grandfather, she said the blame lay squarely with the centre.
The man’s wife said he was “devastated” over the mistake and had been unable to eat or sleep since. She explained he had arrived during nap time and was focused on strapping the child safely into a car seat, which he had struggled to set up.
First Steps Learning Academy acknowledged “human error” and admitted protocols had not been followed to the required standard. The centre apologised to both families and confirmed one staff member had been stood down pending a review.
It said new measures have since been introduced to strengthen pick-up and drop-off procedures.
The NSW early childhood regulator has described the case as a “deeply concerning and serious incident” and confirmed it will investigate.
The blunder comes at a time of heightened scrutiny for the childcare sector, with authorities pushing for a CCTV trial and a new centralised staff register.
Images: Shutterstock, 7 News
