To wonder why Im filling in so many bloody accident forms??

[vanillaskinnylatte]

My little boy is 16mths old and has been at nursery full time since Jan.

He is VERY boisterous.

I fill in accident forms at least once a week. Last week I filled in three. Obviously this pisses me right off and I wonder what the fu*k these people are doing.

He's had maybe 2 bad bangs to the head there - and I mean that he has had a large visible bump when I have collected him. Other times its small bumps on face/head or red marks from falls and trips.

Now I know he will hurt himself and its part of growing up. We cant protect them all the time.But seeing as Im paying a considerable amount of money, I kind of expect this not to happen quite so often!

And its the nonchalant attitude about it as well. The staff are good and he loves them, but when he hurts himself and I have to sign the bloody form, they dont seem that bothered. They moan and say "he's too fast" or "he doesnt sit still for a second" etc. They say that when he bangs his head on the floor he laughs and its all so funny! They say what a strong boy he is for not crying. I tell them he may not cry but its not good for him to be banging his head. They say nothing and close rank.

They dont seem to take it seriously at all! And quite often they havent really seen whats happened. Theyve only heard him cry and then reacted to his injury. ALSO, they tell me he's banged his head etc and show me the bump/bruise...but then later that night I see other marks. So they clearly havent really seen the accident as it has happened. This worries me.

Is this kind of thing normal?? Do all babies this age have so many knocks at nursery?

AIBU to speak to the manager tomorrow. I have lots of photographs to show her!

He loves the nursery but Im starting to think he needs to be going elsewhere...

Well, if he is VERY boisterous then it is kind of understandable. The staff have three babies/toddlers to look after per person and also have to do nappy changes and clear up.

Is there any pattern to the accidents he is having? Time of day, or area of the room or garden?

he is the youngest one there. Other children are 2+.

He was in a specific baby room and was meant to be there until 18mths, but he was moved to the toddler room at 12mths because at that time he was suddenly the only baby in the baby room. Obv they couldnt justify the staff being in the baby room for just him. I think they forget that he is younger & they maybe dont watch him as closely.

I know he's absolutely mental, doesnt stop running around and climbs on everything - but now I find myself actually going to work and worrying about him.

Theres no pattern - sometimes its a fall in the garden, falling off a chair he's been climbing or trying to get up on, windowsill (from jumping up to look out)...etc etc.

Ds2 has always been boisterous and I would not have been surprised to get that many accident reports when he was that age. In fact he is 4 now, he visited his school for 4.5 hours and came out with a plaster on each knee and a cold compress on is finger, which he had tied up in te label on his lunch bag so tightly try had had to cut the label off to release the finger! What is your ds lie at home? Does he get bumps and things t home?

at that age my DS was always getting bumps etc at home. imo it is normal. at weekends how is he?

Yabu

They have to inform you about an accident, they have to say what was done, they have to give you a form to sign, so they know that you know. One of my boys is pretty placid and I've had to sign many a form for him. Most of the stuff I've had to sign forms for are the kind of accidents I wouldn't notice much at home. Yeah, another bump on the head, another graze.

It may have a use one day. Son comes home with bulk standard bump on head, then they start behaving oddly hours later. At least you can say at xxx hours this happened, they did this..... It must be better than turning up at A&E and saying we have no idea.

thanks lazy
i suppose his personality makes him more prone to it then! I feel a tiny bit better to hear that you experienced the same kind of frequency. Obv couldnt have been that much fun for you at the time though!

He does fall at home sometimes but to be honest Im quite careful. I tend to follow him wherever he goes and I hover so Im kind of ready to catch him if need be.

I might mention my concerns to them in a nice way by saying how boisterous he is, can they try and keep a closer eye if poss. Maybe thats the best way to approach it so I dont get their backs up.

Not sure I can handle 4+ years of this though!!

Yes I know the point of the forms peenut and obv I want to know whats happened exactly for the purposes of being able to inform the GP or hospital if he were to start acting strangely etc.

It just shocks me how many I am signing is all. But perhaps IABU if this is considered the norm. Guess I just have to suck it up and wait for him to grow out of his clumsy phase!

Dunno, I've had to fill in so many of the things. As I said i get them frequently for one of my sons who is very placid, he's also about to enter year 3 of primary school. Yup, lots and lots and lots

That's what I woz saying, I get a lot with my placid son.

Don't laugh but has he new shoes/moved to crocs or sandals because of the hot weather?

IME tinies can be prone to trips over when adjusting to new footwear

Just a thought

It's always worth asking the nursery, do they think he's unusually accident prone. Do they they think he's just boisterous. or any other considerations? I think you can lot by the way they're willing to talk to you.

Sorry. Not typing on a keyboard.

I have a 16 month old DD who is active and climbs a lot of things. She also bumps her head a fair bit, and doesn't always cry when she does so. Most of the bumps are fairly minor, every so often she raises a lump or a cut. Her shins also have permanent small bruises.

I try to stop her climbing on furniture, but she is very fast. Most of the bumps are from just running around and falling over, or careering into things (and laughing) anyway.

Her favourite game is putting her comforter thing over her head (sometimes she can see out the bottom, sometimes not) and running around until she bumps into something, then laughing.

If she was at nursery full time, I could imagine I'd have to be signing off a lot of accident forms too.

So, it doesn't seem particularly a lot to me. I have an older DD who was much the same too.

I would try not to worry too much, as long as the accidents are not serious. Remember, they can't follow him round and hover over him one to one like you can, and you can't really expect them to. If you want that level of care, you'd really have to get a nanny.

I'm sure it's just a part of being at that stage and I shouldn't worry too much.

I have to say that I got to the point where I just signed the forms and thought no more about it. One day I mentioned to a friend that I'd signed yet another head bump form and she asked me how DS was now. It was only then that I realised I hadn't even read which DS the form had been for.

As some one very wisely pointed out. Some of these bumps are probably things you might not have noticed at home either. I'm sure he'll get more stable as he grows and you'll be able to breathe a little easier!

How many staff are on duty at any given time and how many children under their care?

Is the staffing guaranteed - do they have a roster of subs - or do they find themselves short handed sometimes?
How does the staff handle breaks and do staffing levels dip at certain times of the day?

If he has a lot of energy what scope is there for him to burn that off safely, maybe outdoors?

Is he climbing and running around indoors because he is bored? What attractive and engaging toys are there to get his attention for some quieter play? What encouragement is there for him to play and focus on something like blocks or a sand table with a partner or staff member providing feedback or company?

Umm tbh he sounds like a normal kid of that age. They get bumped and bashed a lot - it's part of finding their feet. The issues you raise sound pretty normal fare for this age. I think when your at nursery it just highlights it in an abnormal way as they need to cover themselves in a way that if you were at home you wouldn't need to. Hovering over a child all the time at this age so that they never fall will do them and you no good - you because you'll never get a minute to yourself and your nerves will be shot (believe me they get far more daring) and your DS because they will never learn from their actions; if I do this I'll fall over & it'll hurt.
As long as it's only bumps and bashes (even to the head as long as they aren't really serious ones requiring additional treatment) I wouldn't worry it's normal development. If you are getting lots of forms regarding more unusual injuries or very serious injuries such as burns, cuts or serious bites then I would raise an issue with nursery.
Btw kids often look like they been through the wars especially until they nail balance properly, which isn't until they go through school. It's hard on you when they are really little as you have to go by forms as to judge each incident but it won't be long til you get a blow by blow report for your child as to their day, at which point you'll get a much greater level of understanding of just how daft, daredevil and resilient kids are.
Mines 4 btw and has been at nursery full time since he was 7mths old - countless injury forms and the only serious injury he's had that required hospital treatment was when he was with his mum & dad (holiday; rolled out of bed and split his head open on hard floor, required stitches)

Tbh hovering won't help. Unless there's something there he can really hurt himself on (coffee table, uncovered fireplace). Which there shouldn't be, then if you always hover he won't learn his boundaries quickly.

DS has fallen arches, he walks like a duck and looks like he's about to go flying when he runs, but rarely ever falls, and he takes ridiculous risks.

When DS was a baby we had accident forms daily at least. He fell constantly due to the mixture of fallen arches and a boisterous personality. Try not to worry about him too much.

I agree with dozy, can you be a bit more relaxed at home? Has he learnt to take risks as you catch him? If he does something at home and you're there but at nursery they aren't could it be a bit of that?

It is defo worth checking if they feel his balance extra is 'normal' just in case.

I once had to sign two accident forms for one session!

One memorable day I had 4 between my twins - the balance definitely over the years has been DS rather than DD. I'd say it peaked around 18 months too.

Having two the same age did give me insight into how it can be difficult to see exactly what happened and/or intervene before. I can see how not all the bruises might not get recorded.

I'd rather they recorded all this, they have to be very careful and I think that can make it seem more than it is. For all the forms we never had to see a GP while they were at nursery because of an accident.

The issue really isn't that your nursery is too relaxed. The issue is that you aren't relaxed enough at home.

Kids fall and get bumps and bruises. Try to calm down a bit and not follow him so much.

Agree with others that hovering and following him around is not helping him. He needs to explore and learn what he can and can't do, witho reason of course. He will have very little concept of danger if you catch him all the time and I'm sure you don't expect the nursery staff to shadow him constantly but that's actually hat HE expects because it's what he's used to.

Kids fall and hurt themselves that's a normal part of growing up. Following him around all the time won't do anything to help!

My two are constantly running into things and are usually covered with bumps and bruises. They are not out of the ordinary as far as boisterous goes I think, most kids I see are bouncy.

TBH I don't really notice it anymore, but of course for every single incident at daycare there is a form.

I don't try to prevent every day stuff. As long as there are no bones broken or blood gushing I don't sweat it too much.

DS1 is 8 and so far no major injuries DS2 is 2 and similarly unscarred.

It is OK for him to cope a few whacks and bumps and stuff you know, it is just the way it is when they are learning how to control their bodies.

DS is 23 months and has been covered in bruises since he could toddle. It's just how kids are, nursery staff will have a ratio of 3:1 at his age, they can't have one member of staff hovering over him or even watching his every move.

DS hurts himself at home alot too, I'm always near by but He's very quick. The thing is if you are constantly slowing them down, steering them away etc as soon as they will chance they run around like headless chickens. Human nature means we learn from mistakes. If your DS runs into the door and hurts himself he will learn that running into the door is a bad thing after 10 times like my DS

Do you really follow him around all the time at home? That sounds really stressful to me and I don't think you could stop every incident anyway.
It is hard sometimes to see them get hurt but it is an inevitable part of life with children IMO.

From a nursery nurse's point of view, we have to document everything that a parent wouldn't think of documenting. So the littlest of bumps or things get written up not because we're not looking after a child properly but because we have to write every little accident down. So I do think YABU a little bit.

It takes seconds to glance through then sign. At least it's not the other way about... You finding marks or bites which are unexplained.