When Léo's head tilts for a few seconds at the childminder's, a label in his school bag stops the panicked call to his parents
A label slipped into the school bag, and within seconds the childminder recognises the signs of a West syndrome seizure: she knows how to position the child and what to watch for, before even thinking of making a panicked call to the parents.
This case involves a 5 year old child with West syndrome, a form of epilepsy that begins in early childhood, regularly looked after by a childminder or babysitter outside the family circle, several days a week.
The few seconds that matter
His head tilting to one side, his arms stiffening for two seconds too long: that's the only sign, this Wednesday afternoon, on the play mat where Léo, 5, is being looked after with two other children. The childminder, who has only been looking after him for three weeks, doesn't know whether to step in, wait quietly, or call emergency services right away.
She remembers the label stuck inside his school bag, put there by his parents on the very first day of childcare. She scans the QR code with her phone and reads the steps to follow, written simply: stay calm, note the time the episode started, lay Léo on his side if he falls, put nothing in his mouth, and don't hold him down. She follows the steps one by one, without rushing or waking the other two children.
The episode ends within seconds, Léo blinks and goes back to playing as if nothing happened. The childminder calls the parents at the end of the afternoon, with the exact time and precise account of the episode she has just experienced and noted down, rather than a panicked call interrupting their work day with no useful information to pass on.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR code for this case
Léo is looked after by someone outside the family circle several days a week, so the information needs to be easy to find without depending on a verbal handover repeated at every new childcare session.
- Label inside the school bag, printed from a standard A4 label sheet, visible as soon as the childminder opens it.
- Laminated card in the changing bag, slipped next to the health record handed over each morning.
- Label stuck under the play mat or near his usual bed, exactly where the child spends the most time at the childminder's.
- Link sent by message to the childminder before the first day of care, so she can read it before a first seizure ever happens.
The rule of thumb: the childminder needs to be able to read the steps to follow during the episode, not after already calling emergency services on reflex.
Ready to use text templates
The following sentences are a starting point for explaining to a childminder or babysitter what to do during a seizure. They can be copied onto the card or rephrased in your own words.
For the "About me" section
"[First name] has West syndrome: a form of epilepsy that begins in early childhood and can cause brief absences or short movements of the head and arms, usually without prolonged loss of consciousness. He continues regular medical follow up."
For the "How to help" section
"You can: stay calm and stay close to him, note the time the episode started, lay him on his side if he falls, put nothing in his mouth, and call us once the episode is over to calmly describe what you observed."
For the "What to avoid" section
"To avoid: shaking him to get a reaction, forcing him to drink or eat during the episode, leaving him alone in the minutes that follow, downplaying the episode to his parents when describing it, or bringing up the episode in front of the other children."
Conditions involved in this case
This case involves West syndrome, a form of epilepsy that begins in early childhood and is often accompanied by regular medical follow up. The linked page details what epilepsy involves and the support that helps someone looking after the child who is encountering an episode for the first time.
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