What Should I Do When My 2-Year Old Received a Big Cut at School

Hello T....
Just thought that I would drop you a few lines of advice about childcare situations such as this. I have been a teacher in preschool and daycare settings for almost six years now, I have an 18-month-old son and I have picked him up from his sitter and she did not know what happened either. I said that to say this...I believe that I am one of the best teachers/caregivers that there are and I cannot honestly tell you that I knew how every incident happened because the children are so quick and even though you watch them with "eyes behind your back" you still can't catch it all. I understand what you are facing but please just forgive them, talk with them honestly about how you feel and if it should happen again then I would advise you to take your daughter out and find somewhere that has a lower teacher/child ratio.

Hope this advice helped..God Bless You!

State law over all day care facilities requires that any accident no matter how small must be documented in writing. As my sister has worked ion cay care before her advice is to go to the main office of the church and request that these 3 teachers not be allowed to work togethert any more as they apparently can not work together and watch the children at the same time. Any person who can not watch over 3 small children does not need to be working with children. The state reqires that there be no more then 9 children between the ages of 18-24 months to each teacher. As this was only 1/3 of that number then perhaps these people do not need to work with children at all.

I would definately go and talk to whosever class she was in, or the principal, this is important, you need to find out how and what she got cut with. It is important, it wont hurt to try, just do it out of concern not anger, cuz i have two boys, and i understand, any thing can happen with children. someone could be picking on her and kids do accidentally get hurt alot, but just in case you should check.

Hello my name is S.. You should always want to know what is happening with your child. An accident report should have been made just as a precaution. Remember YOU are your childs advocate. Also you pay these people to care for your baby. Also check the licensing web site for your area and see what they have been sited for in the past. Please keep me informed good luck.

You have every right to be angry, sure accidents happen but there to make sure your daughter is taken care of and not harmed.

I personally would probably remove my child if that situation occurred especially if they didn't have a clue what had happened.
Hope this help and good luck

Hi T. -

I read your request, then I read all the replies - and I agree with most of them, but one element that is missing that I think is really important for you to pursue before reporting them, switching schools, etc., is to find out what the procedure at the school is.

Do they have written accident reports? Are they only for if minor medical attention was required? Your concern should be if the procedures were followed, not the scratch itself, even thought that's hard to accept.

At my daycare, they fill out written accident reports - the director must sign them, the parent must sign them,and usually they call the parent to tell them about the injury, too, so you are not surprised when you show up - and if another child was involved, that parent also gets a report. Even if they don't see what happens, if the injury is "big" enough - they will fill one out and be honest about not seeing it. For minor scratches, I do not get a report - if I notice it and ask, they will tell me when they noticed it, and what they suspect happened.

So with that in mind, I urge you to talk to the school and find out about normal procedures - then also you should evaluate how you really feel - is it the scratch? Is it them not seeing it happen? Is it the casual way they discussed it? Do you feel they were hiding something/felt guilty, or were they just nervous to be questioned by a parent. Were they too dismissive about the injury? What is the upsetting part?

Decide what you think is the acceptable/appropriate response to accidents (report, call, etc.) and then ask the school to adhere to that from here on out - even if it's outside of normal procedures, they should be willing to accommodate you.

Good luck - S.

You're right about calming down. But you definitely need to find out what happend. I have four girls and I understand how disconcerning this can be. One thing I'm wondering is if this is a "cut" or a scratch. Because a scratch could happen without anyone knowing what happend but a "cut" would bleed and need care. I would decide if it looks like something that was bleeding and neglected or just a bad scratch that could have happend with a fingernail or toy from another child. I would give the teachers a chance to explain what happend before I made a decision to take her out.

Hi Tianale,

I understand your frustration, I mean.. this is your little princess you are talking about! =)

However.. I will give my $.02 from being on both sides as a mother in your shoes having had my son (my first born) in daycare and then working in a Montessori School with 25 3 yr olds (with only 2 of us!) and now having my own in home daycare. Accidents happen SOOO fast and sometimes they are not witnessed AS they happen but the teachers ususally know about what happened. 2 yr olds are at a very "clumsy" stage and a stage where they do NOT like to share and don't know how to take out that frustration. It is VERY common for 2 yr olds to act out their aggression on eachother. I have two right now that I have had since infancy and always got along fine and now all of a sudden they are constantly pulling eachothers hair, scratching (yes.. I sent one home yesterday with scratches all over her face from the other one..I was sitting RIGHT THERE.. but it just takes a second to cause a scratch!) and biting! AHHH... It doesn't matter if I am sitting right next to them or if I walked 2 feet from them changing a diaper.. it can happen in a blink of an eye! I would just talk to the teachers and explain that you understand accidents happen you were just curious if they knew or saw what happened. If they don't try not to get TOO upest because it wil occationally happen when they have their back turned or something...Maybe they were attending to another child for just a second or wiping a nose.. IF it is something that happens OFTEN, like every day and they can not explain any of them.. then YES.. I would definatly talk to them. But if this is the first time they didn't know what hapenned TRY to remember that things like that do happen to even the BEST teacher!

I hope your little ones scratch heals fast! Maderma for children works great for scars! I had a little one (18 months) trip outside and busted her chin and the maderma has been working great with her scratch!

My pediatrician once told me when I joked about my son having so many scrtches and bruises on his legs from playing outside that he worries more about children who DON'T have any "battle wounds" because that means they are not experimenting and playing outside!

I hope this helps a bit!

Here is the website for the laws and regulations regarding daycares in Texas. This, and any incident of injury should be reported to you in writing, and while accidents happen, the teachers should have some idea of how they happened.

http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/Child_Care_Standar...

If you go to "Search for daycares" you can find your daycare facility and information is posted about what kinds of violations have been found or reported recently (within the last two years, I think)

I would definitely ask questions, lots of questions, until you are satisfied. If they can't answer the questions,or you feel they are not being honest, I would be looking for a new childcare facility.
I would also suggest that you request that you be called when these things happen, so you can make the decision whether you want to take her to a doctor, or come put ointment on it, etc. With any cut, the teachers should have at least given it a thorough cleansing, just to keep it clean and reduce the risk of infection.

As a mom, it is very easy to get angry/upset about these things, but they do happen. And I think it is harder on us MOMS than it is on the kids. So go with your gut--if you think your daycare is a good place and this was just one bad moment, you are probably right. If your Mama Instinct makes you feel a little uncomfortable--start looking for new places.

Good luck!

First of all let me say that I am so sorry about your daughter's injury. I know how upsetting it can be for your child to be hurt.

You should definitely remove your child from that school as soon as possible. Kids will be kids and things happen, but that sounds like a serious injury to a very small child and it is unacceptable for no one to know what happened. I would also report them to the state so they can investigate. It sounds like they have some serious process issues. You don't want other children to be put in harm's way. Good luck and God bless.

By all means, go to the school and ask whoever is in charge of the teachers what happened and why you can't get an explanation about what happened. Then, if you don't get a satisfactory answer file a complaint with Child Care Protective Services.

You should have been given an explanation and the cut should have been cleaned and taken care of appropriately.

Of course, you probably won't want to take your little girl back there, since the children obviously don't have proper supervision.

It may have come from the other child's fingernails or a toy. But there is no excuse for you not receiving a report about it.

Is the school licensed by the state? If so, you are to recieve an incident report even if no one observed the injury. Even with a great ratio sometimes the teachers don't see everything that happens. Is your child verbal enough to tell you what happened? I would address your concern with the lead teacher and if you are not happy with her reponse then go to the director.
I hope this helps you.
K. Porcheddu
Director of Little Ones at Living Word Preschool

I would not let it go, go to the director and ask about it, call the state licensing office, you can find them in the yellow pages, just search for "childcare Licensing" and tell them what happened. Ask to see the toy they say they were fighting over and see if has sharp edges, dirty, can she get an infection? And why was the "fight" not stopped? What were the teachers doing at the time this happened? If they do not supply you with answers, i would put her in another center. Childrens Courtyard has cameras where you can watch her from home or work and they have the mothers day out program, it might be a little more but it is worth it, i have had my children there for 4 years.

Hope this helps and Good Luck, Don't back down...

Wow, T.,
I think you have every right to question the care your baby girl is receiving! Especially since the caregivers didn't have (what I would consider) a good enough idea of how such a cut landed on your baby's cheek... I'm sure she had to have been upset by the occurance, and the fact that they cannot recall an exact instance when she obtained the cut, but are only guessing it happened when she was "fighting" with another baby, to me brings to mind the question of are they paying close enough attention to the children... I think you have every right to be upset by it. Probably blaming people or storming into the directors office and chewing someone out wouldn't be terribly productive, but I do think that you have every right to discuss it with the caregivers in charge. You deserve the peace of mind of feeling that your baby is receiving the adaquate amount of care, and this will only come by staying in close contact with the people that care for your baby when you cannot. And if your instincts tell you something is just not right, then I'd follow them. And if you don't feel complete trust in the caregivers, then I would certainly look for care elsewhere. It's always better to be wrong erring on the side of caution. You derserve to sleep peacefully at night, so do what you feel like you should, even if it means confrontation.
I hope I didn't sound too "preachy"! And I hope this helps. I think you should do what will give you peace of mind and what seems like the best for your baby. Always trust your God-given mothering instincts.