Questions continue to go unanswered for a Whitehorse family after their 11-month-old son came home from daycare with a burned hand.

Martin Lehner said in an interview Monday afternoon he's been informed that the incident, which saw his son come home with a burn, is being investigated by the territory's Child Care Services Unit.

It was about a week ago that Lehner was playing on the floor with his son Ethan, who had been at daycare that day, when he noticed what appeared to be a burn on the corner of his hand.

Each time he'd pick something up in that hand, the child would cry.

His wife had picked up Ethan at the daycare he had been going to in the Marwell industrial area for only about a month.

There had been no mention to her of any incident through the day, nor did the parents get any phone calls about it.

"Nobody said anything,” Lehner told the Star.

While the burn didn't appear bad enough to require a trip to the hospital, they decided to consult a pharmacist at a local Shopper's Drug Mart. The injury was confirmed as being consistent with a burn.

Outside of giving a pain reliever like Advil or Tylenol and putting a cold compress on it, there wasn't much the parents could do for their son except to wait for the injury to heal.

The following day, Lehner's wife phoned the daycare and spoke with the owner.

The owner wasn't initially aware of the situation. After she spoke with the staff who oversee the infant group Ethan was in, it was learned he had touched a cover that was around a heater on the floor.

The parents didn't receive answers about why they weren't informed about it either by phone during the day or when he was picked up, what care was administered or what first aid training staff at the daycare have.

When Lehner went to the daycare, wanting to discuss the incident face-to-face with the owner and staff, he was told by three different staff they weren't able to talk about it. He was told he'd have to talk to the owner, who wasn't there at the time.

On his way out, he was told by staff not to tell anyone about the injury to his son.

After some reflection, Lehner eventually opted to let others know what had happened, posting a photo of his son's burn on Facebook and relaying the events.

"People should know,” he said.

He opted not to name the daycare in his post, noting that he was taking from the comment not to tell anyone about the incident that there could be an issue of libel.

It didn't take long before comments from other parents were pouring in, recommending daycares around town and offering advice on how to deal with it – including taking the matter to the Child Care Services Unit.

In fact, someone working in the unit contacted Lehner after seeing his post and explained the process for an investigation to happen.

He noted he's since learned that for such injuries as the burn, the daycare is required to file an accident report detailing what had happened.

"It's actually legislated,” he said, noting with the investigation underway, he's satisfied with the action being taken thus far.

While he realizes that accidents can and will happen at a daycare, he questions why a heater was in such easy reach of infants and why there was no effort made to contact him nor his wife after the burn, nor to inform them of the situation when Ethan was picked up at the end of the day. The family still doesn't know what care was administered following the burn.

Lehner noted they've also since heard of another case at the daycare where a child had touched the same heater.

After that case, the protective material was placed around the heater, and it was the protective material which still heats up from the heater that Ethan had touched.

For other parents looking at potential daycares for their kids, he suggested listening to what other parents have to say about various facilities.

He also advises checking out inspection reports, making random visits and getting to know the daycare and the processes followed.

He and his wife have since found another daycare for Ethan, one a co-worker has been sending their child to for close to a year.

"We weren't comfortable putting him back in the daycare he was at,” Lehner said.

Short of the staffer being fired, they weren't going to send him back to the daycare, he added.

He understands that the owner may not be aware of everything that goes on when she's not there. However, upon learning of this, there should have been action taken against the staffer responsible for infant care, he believes.

Neither the daycare nor the territory's Department of Health and Social Services has responded to calls from the Star seeking their comments.