Unexplained bruises on toddlers ear

[Bruises111]

Please can someone tell me what they think would cause bruises like this on my toddlers ear? He is too young to speak and I am very concerned!

He has only been in the company of his parents and his nursery since these bruises developed. Nursery have said they know nothing about them, yet there is no way he could have bruised himself to this extent at home without crying and making himself noticed by his parents?!

What are these marks please??!

((This is a new nursery where his whole character has changed since starting - sad, won’t let me out his sight, lack of confidence and nightmares.))

Is that the only place or does he bruise easily?
i would go to the Gp and get it seen - gp will possibly refer to social services - you can say that you have concerns about how he got them to the GP. Is anyone (gran/dad) ‘old fashioned’ in their discipline?

Poor you and your son. I would be very concerned if my baby came home with bruises like that. Could he have knocked himself whilst playing, or another child hit something into his ear or he's been bitten by a child. Nurseries don't always watch them 24/7 just like we can't at home but they should 100% be safe at nursery and if you've got any doubts then you've done the right thing pulling him out.
I would be making an official complaint with the nursery and be asking them to investigate this.

Sorry… when I say the only people he’s seen since the bruising are ‘nursery, mum and dad’ I mean ‘nursery, ME and his dad’ (not my parents!)

Thank you for some interesting responses! They are appreciated!

The second picture looks like a child's bite. Maybe there's a bully in the nursery. I would definitely be asking the nursery to investigate

OP I am not sure you are listening - are you going to take him to the GP?

You are saying your child has unexplained bruising and a sudden change in behaviour. You need to get someone to look at this.

My son pulls on his ears when upset sometimes.
is your son maybe doing that as an emotional response to the change in nursery?
does the nursery have cctv? My son had an unexplained bruise by his eye… staff had no clue. I wasn’t happy so spoke to the manager, cctv was checked and he had fallen onto a building block but didn’t cry.
staff were given warnings as a 2 year old should be more closely supervised.

From the title, I came along to say ds gets covered in unexplained bruises (but he's like me and even the smallest painless knock can cause a big bruise)
The first one does look like a bump to the ear, but like others have said they could be a pinch/bite and having nursery start an investigation, even if it draws a conclusion of not there, is never the wrong thing.

Hope he's back to his happy self soon.

My 1yo daughter had bruising like this after an accident at nursery. According to the accident report, she fell off an overturned box and into the edge of the door. I have no concerns about her or nursery, we've used them for 7 years and they are always quick to update us with any incidents, and quite frankly that sounds exactly like the kind of thing she does. She's perfectly happy and looks forward to nursery. I just thought I'd give you a non scary story about where they could have come from.
I think the difference is your nursery are being on the defensive and sounds like the trust has gone, in which case you are doing the right thing of questioning it with them.

My son has had bruising like that, he caught his ear on a door frame, and the second time ( opposite ear) he misjudged the corner of the coffee table bending down. Neither time he cried, or even really noticed he’d done it, and I only know how he got the bruises was because I saw both incidents.
But unexplained bruising needs a GP appointment ASAP, especially in a non verbal child.

I feel very uncomfortable with people calling very young children bullies.