pacifierWe've all had those wicked little thoughts of things we'd love to do to our kids but never really would. You know: donating the wild toddler to the zoo, taping that pacifier to the baby's mouth so they will stop throwing it! Well, you'd hope no one would do that, but it seems someone thought it was a good idea to tape a binky to a baby.

Where it happened is almost as disturbing as what went down. The 4-month-old was -- get this -- at a hospital!

Before I go any further, if you're anything like me, I know your heart is in your mouth because you're worried about the baby. Good news. He's fine! He suffered no ill effects from having a pacifier stuck to his face.

That's no thanks, of course, to the imbecile who did this to him at the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust in the UK. It's considered such a serious offense that the cops have been called in to investigate. Which leads me to wonder how they ended up in the medical field in the first place?

Ask any mom, and she'll tell you she won't leave her baby with just "anyone." You don't hand your baby to grocery store clerk or the waitress so you can make a run to the bathroom. But most of us will leave our kids alone in a hospital room for a short bit of time (enough to grab a cup of coffee or a quick shower) without thinking twice.

Of all the people we would expect our babies to be safe with it, it's medical professionals, the people who aren't just trained in proper care of kids but also tend to have heard a "calling" to help people.

But then stories like this pop up, and we're right back to trusting no one with our kids. Because it's one thing for someone to think jokingly that it would be so much easier to do something like tape a baby's pacifier in place. It's another thing entirely to actually do it.

Would you leave your baby alone in a hospital room? Does this story make you more or less likely?

 

Image via WarmSleepy/Flickr