DD being scratched at nursery, what to do??

[Flojo1979]

Hi, my dd has been attendin nursery for a while and I've always been happy with the care she has received. Recently she has come home with a scratch on her face, bleeding line across it etc. Nusery staff have told me she is not being targeted and have simply said there are a few 'scratchers' at the moment and they r trying to observe them and intervene before the event, I appreciate it must be difficult but she does 2 days per wk and has been badly scratched 4 times, once a wk for the past 4 weeks. The 4th being yesterday. I'm not sure whether i should be considering removing her from nursery, demanding the nursery do more, but what? or just accepting that thats the way it is and hopefully it'll stop soon.
Any advice much appreciated!
Posted in 'childcare' also.

Hmm - scratching, biting, pushing are all very common at this age, and though it's really distressing to see your child left with an injury, it doesn't necessarily mean they end up scared by it. Children who do it are not necessarily going to end up bullies either. DS1s best mate used to regularly bite him, and DS2 was a biter, so I know what it feels like.

I would wonder about whether the nursery had good enough staffing levels and enough meaningful activities and an understanding of what was triggering the behaviour so as to try and prevent it (it might be something as simple as children doing it more when they are hungry). And also, I'd want to see the use of time-outs as a disciplinary tool for deliberate scratching. You can't stop it completely, though. I agree with worraliberty that the nursery should also be insisting on short nails (this also prevents worms).

Generally I'm at home, so i could take her out but I sent her to nursery to socialise and i guess part of that is teaching her how to deal with conflicts, altho having said this i am a little concerned that she might go on to copy the scratchers too!! Oh now i do feel like i'm making a mountain out of it!

Also, I totally agree that this sort of behaviour calms down when children get a bit more verbal.

I would find it hard to believe she didn't cry if scratched like that, more like the nursery want to play it down.
As the other poster suggested they are a business they will want you to be fine about the scratching and the scratchers parents to be aware but not upset either.
What to do about it, well complain in writing because if it gets too much you can withdraw her without notice and it'll be there in black and white the reason why your not paying the notice period.