A Vancouver mom who left her five-month-old son in a child minding service at Steve Nash Fitness World in Burnaby was surprised to find him left alone with a four-year-old boy.

Carolina Torres says when she finished working out on Thursday afternoon and found the two children alone, the four year old was rocking her son A.J. to sleep, and there was no adult to be seen.

“I was shocked and devastated to find out he was alone and watched by a four-year-old,” Torres told CTV News on Saturday.

“The worker did return in a few minutes but I hesitate to think what could have happened in those minutes.”

Steve Nash Fitness World told CTV News that it was the first time the company had ever had an incident like this. The company fired the worker involved on Saturday morning, saying she didn’t follow company policies.

“It was an error in judgment but we have a zero-tolerance policy,” said Colleen Kirk, a PR representative working with the gym.

The worker had been with the gym on Lougheed Highway about a year and a half and had not had any other problems, Kirk said. She added that company management would also review the company’s child minding policy.

While many child care facilities in the province face tough government regulation, child minding is unregulated in B.C. as long as the child is not left for more than two hours and the parent is in the building.

Regulated day cares must report when a child is left alone to submit to a provincial inspection. There are about 3,000 of those facilities in B.C., and reports indicate about 50 children a year are lost each year.

“Children being left alone – if it does happen it has serious consequences,” said Sharon Gregson, the director of children and family development services of Collingwood Neighbourhood House.

And leaving children with other children a different age can also be dangerous, Gregson said.

“A four year old wanting to help but dropping the baby on its head. That could have cataclysmic consequences,” she said.

Fitness World says on its website its “Kidzone” staff have CPR and first aid training and pass a criminal record check.

The company offers child minding between four and eight hours a day.

Torres is a nurse on maternity leave.

She said she was working out on Thursday and had left the child with a female staff member.

When she had finished working out, she returned to find no one there and the four year old in the room told her that the staff member had “gone away,” Torres recalled.

Torres complained to the manager, who apologized and offered her free child minding, but Torres said she didn’t get the sense that her concerns about child safety were being taken seriously.

The staff member had actually gone to the front desk, which is about 30 feet away, Kirk said.

The staff member could see the door to the room where the children are kept but she could no longer see the children.

Kirk said the worker was only gone for a short time, but that still broke the rules.

“As a mom and a member, I leave my daughter here all the time, and we need to make sure the parents feel secure,” she said.

Torres said she thought firing the worker was “a bit extreme,” adding that she would rather see the worker trained, and the gym take her complaint on Thursday more seriously.