Another nursery one. How many accidents is normal?

[TheCatsMeow]

DS is in nursery one day a week. I'm generally happy with them, they seem lovely and he always enjoys going. He is 8 months old and has just started crawling and he walks holding hands.

Now, DS is high needs. I'm under no delusions about that, he is into everything and very curious. But out of the last 5 weeks, he's been in the accident book 4 times.

The first time a child fell on him and scratched his neck. He had a big red mark.

The second time a child scratched his face. Again a big red mark.

The third time, this is the worst one. He had a black eye! Another child had hit him in the face with a toy, and then DS had scratched himself because he rubbed his eyes. It was swollen and looked very painful, poor DS was upset. I started to get suspicious here as this was the third time in three weeks, so I took pictures of it.

The fourth week nothing happened.

This week, I've found out another child has scratched DS on his eye!

AIBU to think they are clearly not supervising the babies properly?! I am really upset. But DS is my only baby and I am an only child, so is this normal kids stuff?

What would you do? I'm going to pick him up in a couple of hours and would like advice.

[maddening]

If you were left alone by the one person who was watching five babies then their ratios are out -I thought at that age it was 1:3?

[ppeatfruit]

Yes I agree MeDownSouth

[MeDownSouth]

Ooh this thread! I have many issues with this nursery and I've never met them!

1. when I worked at a nursery (in the baby room) there was no way non-mobile babies would be in a room with toddlers. They mixed at the Christmas 'party' and started spending time (couple of hours at most) in the toddler room when they were big enough to not get hurt/squished. when we/parents felt they were ready then they moved up
   
2. if I was a parent of one of the other babies I'd be fuming that a random, unqualified person was left to look after my child when I was paying for care! most of our baby room parents didn't know each other so it's equivalent to pulling in fred smith off the street and saying watch my child! I also think ofsted might have something to say here! This is completely different to a friend/family member babysitting and saying otherwise is silly.
   
3. if staff levels are that low they should have agency staff in. I remember one day where we had less children in the baby room and they couldn't get cover for the toddler room so i had to go and help in there, that was for one day, the next day we had agency staff in
   
4. accidents happen and yes we did get bashed and kids squabble and fight over toys while they learn to share but this shouldn't happen on a daily basis to the same child he is too young to be in with those children
   
5. there is no way that baby should be responsible for his own care. I can't type what I think about DS doesn't sit and has only recently properly crawled, meaning because he was lying down, children were falling on him and he couldn't get out of the way as I'm too polite to use those words in public but that is pants.
   
6. I would definitely be having a quiet word with ofsted or the council safeguarding team
   
   I hope you followed up your verbal complaint with something in writing. If not it will likely not be recorded as an issue (if their apparent standards are anything to go by) and if he gets seriously hurt you will have a record of a complaint. I wonder how long it'll be before a child gets badly hurt there?

[cowssheephens]

Have you removed him OP?

[ppeatfruit]

Well IIWM I would have removed him after the first 'accident' esp. if I suspected bad supervision.

[YourHandInMyHand]

• I find it shocking that he has so many injuries from other children
  
• It's clear staffing levels/ratios aren't followed (if someone is ill they get other staff/bank staff in, it's not acceptable
  
• They left 5 babies unsupervised with an adult that's not dbs checked or cleared to supervise in the nursery
  

Their explanation of your BABY being non--mobile being the reason he is being hurt almost every time he's there is shocking, if they have non mobile babies they should have a safe area for them, not just plonked on the floor unsupervised.

I'm an ofsted registered childminder and have also worked in nurseries. I came on to reassure you that little ones often have bumps and scrapes but this place sounds unsatisfactory and dangerous.

[Manyshadesofblack]

My ds was in a nursery from 9 months to 4.5 years old. I often had issues with the nursery but always gave them another chance because ds was happy and settled there. I very much regret never moving him to a better nursery.

[cowssheephens]

Report to OFSTED and move your child, he's not safe there.

[Booboostwo]

I've done similar to what Rosie suggested when DS was younger and DD had friends of different ages over. Crawling and cruising babies need extra protection from toddlers and young children who can run.

[ppeatfruit]

Yes Rosie When i was a CM\nanny I would do that, with my own dcs too.

[laylabelle]

It's hard because while it isn't a good idea to have mobile and non mobile children together there is articles about how children should mix.even in the eyes it says about if there is a seperate under 2 room there should be opportunities to mix with older children and it's becoming more common for ages to mix

However this needs to be monitored properly so the children are safe.hopefully now your concerns have been raised they'll raise the bar a little bit and assure supervision is properly done and staff are more watchful and no blind spots or anything

[AskBasil]

I would be putting in a report to OFSTED, frankly.

And no, where child safety is concerned no-one's under any obligation to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

[TheCatsMeow]

RosieSW

If I just dropped him off at my friends, they wouldn't have done anything special. That's great that you did that, however most people get on with things with the baby. I certainly do!

I'm not satisfied, but I'm prepared to give it a chance, which I think is fair. If it keeps occurring despite this, then he will be moved but I think it makes sense to give them a chance to improve.

[Twig45]

I would be worried about the amount of injuries caused by other children in all the time my three were at private nursery 3 days per week there was only one bite by another child all the others were trips and falls they did

[ppeatfruit]

Yes true Booboos A good nursery has to be be aware of the problems (of very highly active toddlers) like yours is.

[Booboostwo]

I was going to say that some toddlers are more accident prone than others, my DD never had a single injury but my DS has had loads, but the other issues you describe are stunning. I have never see a room full of babies being left unattended, that in itself is unacceptable. Staff shortages will cause all sorts of problems but I also wouldn't like the set up of babies with toddlers. At my DCs nursery there is a room for babies from 3mo to when they start walking, then they go into the toddler room and there is a third room for the 2-3yos. A baby lying on the floor would be at a lot of risk from toddlers running, falling, dropping toys, etc.

[ppeatfruit]

But a nursery is not an informal space like a friend's house. You're paying good money for it and it should be a place to trust with trained carers who know about child development. No one trained ( and or experienced) says that about a baby who's not sitting up!

[TheCatsMeow]

Sounds like blaming your son for not being able to move. Bizarre.

Yes I thought that was weird too. I'm hoping by me speaking to them, they'll be more careful.

LittleNelle to be fair, I'm a parent and she was next door. I'm not condoning it, I think it was careless however I don't think it's as bad as leaving them with someone they've just met. They'd known me for a while.

[jay55]

Sounds like blaming your son for not being able to move. Bizarre.

[LittleNelle]

If your friends would leave him and 4 other babies with some random they'd just met then I wouldn't leave him there either...

[TheCatsMeow]

I don't think he is in "danger", certainly not any more danger than he'd be if I left him with a friend or something informal. The nursery has a good reputation and DS really enjoys going, so I'm prepared to see if the situation improves before jumping in with 2 feet and pulling him out.

[LittleNelle]

I wouldn't give a nursery the benefit of the doubt when they are breaching their Ofsted registration and legal requirements and putting my child in danger, no.