Oct 29 2008
Does This Look Like a Normal Daycare Injury?
Yesterday I posted about my struggle in finding a babysitter. I received some FANTASTIC feedback. Thanks! I will post about my progress.
Some people may be wondering what I was referring to when I mentioned daycare horror stories. For an example, I am going to share with you a photo of my nephew’s injuries he sustained while at daycare. My brother has given me permission to post this.
I want you to look at this picture and tell me whether this looks like a normal daycare injury that should take place under the supervision of a caregiver. I mean, deep scratches on both sides of his face? And, then I want you to tell me what you would do if you picked your two-year-old child up from daycare and he looked like this and the owner said her son did this to your son. Then, I will tell you what my brother did in this situation.
Now, I know all daycares are not bad. If you’re reading this and you are an owner of a daycare or work at one, I’m sure yours is great. It’s just that I’ve heard enough stories and seen enough to scare me into being very cautious.
I would say that the injury, at the very least, merits further investigation with the proprietors of the day care. I would certainly want to know if I was the father.
On a lighter note…how precious is he? What an adorable child. A heart breaker in the making. LOL
Children fight, and they may even injure each other. IF this was a one time ocurrence, and the sitter took care of the problem, I would probably have the discussion with the sitter and be done with it. IF it was a constant, or frequent occurence, no only would I find another sitter, but I would consider having the state investigate the day care. My son was in day care for 3 yrs, and it was the most horrible times. I am glad I do not have to deal with it anymore. There are a lot of good day cares out there, it is just finding one that is hard.
It worries me that the owner’s child did this. Although children do fight often, with proper adult supervision most of these fights can be broken up before there are any physical marks left. Especially ones to the face.
I used to run a daycare in my home. That injury is NOT something that could happen ‘on accident’ especially if an adult was watching him. I had kids fall down, or walk into walls, or even push another child, but NEVER, EVER have I seen scratches like that. First off, that is not an injury that would happen quickly. That is an injury that took more than a few seconds. Second, that type of injury would have cuased your nephew to scream and cry. It should not take the adult in charge to hear a child cry to realize he is being attacked. Third, if it was another child who did this that was not the child of the caregiver I would insisting the child be removed, but since the child is that of the caregiver I would be looking for a new caregiver. I would probably be notifying the state as well and talking with other parents to see if this is a normal thing.
I am sorry this happened to your nephew.
if he were my son id probably go ballistic and ask where she was when this happened?i know kids can be kids and they scratch each other sometimes but that is way to much….if it were me id try looking for another day care. and i agree with what “lisa” said….
This is why I gave up working. I have four children. Two who are 15 months apart. I couldn’t take the search. I would find someone that was reliable but they didn’t supervise the kids. Or like with my first son, they left him in a swing all day. Didn’t hold him or change for 8 hours. I quit working and stayed home. I had him in 4 daycares before that. It was awful.
I know kids fight. My kids do all the time. I let them wrestle or argue. I draw the line at drawing blood or hitting. If I were the daycare worker I would never let it get to that point.
I would pull my kid out and investigate. I would stay away from home daycares. I would look into a chain daycare like Tutor Time or Kindercare. They have cameras and they are checked by the state. The state also drops in on them without warning. This way they don’t have an opportunity to put on a happy face.
I wish your brother luck. It’s difficult to find someone to care for your kids. It’s like looking for a needle in a hay stack. There are good daycare providers out there. You just have to look for them.
It’s definitely disturbing that the OWNER’s child is who did this. Was she just completely ignoring the children? Did she let her child really just harm her charge while he most likely wailed in pain? That doesn’t look like your run of the mill scratch. How did that even happen? Oh no no no… I’d be reporting that woman all over the place, because that does NOT look like some sort of accidental, “happened in a millisecond” type of injury…. Some people don’t care about the welfare of the children they “take care of” and that’s just a darn shame.
Possible situations like that are why I’ve never bothered to find a formal babysitter, and the really good daycares with exemplary reputations were just so pricey it wouldn’t make sense for me to work. Fortunately, my parents do watch my son so I can work and supplement the hubby’s income (not to mention have my own spending money!) without leaving my son to a stranger. Call me paranoid, but until he’s in nursery school next year, fully potty trained and better able to articulate himself, I just can’t trust him in the hands of a stranger.
I’m so sorry that happened to your nephew, and I wish you and your brother’s family all the luck and happiness in the world.
I used to work at a daycare and I would never put my children in daycare. I was often working by myself with 15 children it was impossible to respond to every child and keep the place clean at the same time.
whoa. i know kids are quick and things happen quickly, but at daycare. where was he. i thought most furniture would be plastic. this looks like he was in a fight and someone scratched his face. can’t say he bumped into something twice. i would be upset and ask how it happened. as long as my child is okay, i would let is slide maybe once…if this happened repeatedly, then something is wrong. the kids are not being watched.
Thank you all for your comments!
I don’t know if anyone’s tracking this discussion, so I’m torn between posting the follow-up to this discussion here as a response or making it the blog post of the day. But, I did promise you that I’d let you know what my brother did in this situation.
He terminated the business relationship immediately! He no longer trusted–and I agreed–that she would provide a safe environment for his son, my nephew. He actually paid the daycare owner for the rest of the week–something I would not have done– and never sent his son back there again.
Do you want to know what she did after that? She claimed to be entitled to a 2-wk notice for termination. I’ll pick this discussion up again on a post. It gets better.
Thanks again for the comments!
I used to work in a daycare, so I know this kind of thing happens. However, I have to wonder if this was a home daycare or a stand alone daycare. Generally, your own child should not be in your classroom or at least not under you as a teacher.
The key to a good daycare is if it is NAEYC accredited. They have specific standards….
~Kelly
http://30somethingandsearching.today.com