Yes, I believe that this is considered an abusive act. It is going to be terrible if the children have any immediate needs to attend to and continue on with their crying. This could pose emotional harm to children especially at this sensitive age. The parent should be responsible for the children knowing that they helpless at this stage. Accidents can happen anytime and could pose serious injuries to children if not taken care of anytime soon after. The child could also lose trust from her caregivers and this affect children as they grow older. This thread is a year or so later, so I hope the issues were resolved. :]