To worry about the sticks in the nursery garden?

[SunnyG0507]

Found DS had an obvious scratch on his face when picking up him in the afternoon from the nursery. No one noticed it until I asked what happened to his face. The answer was " he did not cry". Then one said it was probably happened when he played the sticks in the nursery garden in the morning. I didn't ask more at that time but then feel more and more concerned when thinking about this back to home. DS is not yet 2 years old and sometimes fall down when trying to run fast. I'm not sure why he was playing the sticks in the nursery garden ( is it normal?) and I think it seems to have potential risks for kids around this age. He got his face hurt today without being noticed. What about if he fall down when holding a stick which may hurt his eyes! I'm thinking about to ask the nursery staff to pay more attention and perhaps avoid him playing the sticks until he is older or unless there is a staff keeping a very close eye on him. But AIBU to ask for this? Is it some normal activity for the under 3s to play with the sticks in the nursery garden? I think the sticks are those falling from trees in this season rather than some ones prepared for the kids to learn about or play with.

Kids get scratches from all sorts of things. Has he never got a scratch when with you that you can’t immediately explain?

I think YABU sorry.

Yabu. If it wasn’t sticks it would be something else. Ds split his head open colliding with a featureless internal wall at nursery when he was 3.

Yabu

Kids play with sticks and get scratches

I'm a bit surprised if he had an obvious scratch on his face which they deduced he had done in the morning that nobody had notice it until you pointed it out at collection time in the afternoon.
Was no-one sitting with him at lunch, or story, or singing, or playing with him at any point for the rest of the day ?
I wouldn't be concerned about a scratch per se, but I would be concerned about no-one looking at his face for several hours.

You're being a bit precious sorry. My 18 month old loves collecting sticks for our dog (the dog couldn't care less 🙄)

I think my main concern is not that he played with the sticks, but he played with the sticks and got hurt without any staff's awareness. Just don't want him to get hurt in the face, especially avoid the risks to hurt eyes. If he got any scratch on his hands or knees, etc., I wouldn't worry at all.

Does anyone know at what age they STOP playing with sticks?
My 8 year old still brings them home on a regular basis.

Sometimes I find a scratch on myself I can't remember getting, as do my kids. Maybe it didn't hurt so he didn't cry and so they didn't notice?

I'm with Backforgood. The scratch initself wouldn't bother me. However its the fact that not one member of staff noticed it

I suppose it depends on what actually happened.

If the nursery were actually letting such small children play with sticks and wave them around near each other’s faces I would not be happy. I still have to remind my older children to take care with sticks they find in the woods as they can be careless and could accidentally hurt each other.

If it was the case that one baby briefly picked up a twig and hit your child’s face but a carer put a stop to it then it woudn’t be such a big deal.

I agree potential danger to the eyes etc. But mine have both cardied them around lots.

So much depends on the child how clunsy they are etc.
Both mine have put stones in there mouths so likely wouldnt have survived nursery with the supervisIon levels they have as young toddlers. But most kids are fine.

Kids also tend to wave sticks at each other so may not be got from that point of view either

Thank you all for your opinions! I probably over concerned a bit here, but would still like to have a wee chat with the nursery staff tomorrow - just to understand better what happened if possible and to remind a bit to avoid the risks to hurt his eyes.

I don’t really know what you mean by ‘no one noticed it’ - how many staff did you ask about it? And they all said they hadn’t noticed?

I would have thought it’s far more likely he was scratched by another child’s long nails than a stick, especially as from your account it’s either a) really faint so no one genuinely noticed (or thought it was an almost healed scratch) or b) it didn’t actually happen hours ago.

I mean, he’s not even two yet, how likely is it that not one adult glanced in his direction between morning and afternoon? Presumably he isn’t out of nappies yet or still needs toiletting help, and they all have lunch together don’t they?

Unfortunately you don’t get to choose where kids hurt themselves, my son tripped and cut his head on the corner of a toy train. Should I have asked the mom to pick everything off the floor you’re being a little precious thinking you can control where they injure themselves. However sticks are a silly thing to play with and just asking for tears.

I think the nursery staff know their jobs and risks to children

Don't remind the staff about potential risks regarding children getting hurt; they are professionals and could find it insulting. Educational settings are so risk-assessment-led there's no way they haven't thought about the potential risks in the environment. However, the benefits of children playing outside amongst the trees far outweighs the potential injuries that could occur. I suggest you read up about Forest Schools and the benefits of unstructured outdoor play; there's lots of research that may calm your fears about your child playing with sticks.

With regards to nobody noticing a scratch on the child's face, it's possible the scratch could have looked like it had been done previously, or didn't really show up until later. It's not to say nobody looked at your child for hours.

Please don't remind staff about potential risks, that's so patronising.

I think the risk of playing with sticks would be considered an acceptable level of risk. There are risks to most things. A child could fall running and badly bang their head but I’m sure they’re allowed to chase each other outside. Getting small bumps and scratches is part of how kids learn to take care. I wouldn’t say anything.

Your child is going to have many more cuts, bruises and scratches that you can count over the coming years. You will sometimes be there while he injures himself, or someone else will, but you still won't be able to stop it happening.

Children should be playing with sticks, be outside, be exploring, unfortunately these things carry risk as do normal everyday events.

My two boys used to have injury competitions to see who had the most scratches/bruises/cuts etc, it wasn't unusual for them to have 10+ at any one time. Not only could I have not told you how they did them but most of the time they couldn't either.

Reminding nursery would be patronising at the least. Be thankful that this time he didn't hurt himself and remind him to be careful.

I have no idea what it is with boys and sticks but both of mine loved them. My 13 year old still does. They've had many happy hours of imaginative play just with sticks!

I'm sure that the staff will be aware of the risks of letting very small children poke themselves or others in the eye with a stick. By all means remind them OP but you will forever be "that parent".

The worst injury one of mine got was when he fell over during outdoor play, onto a small sharp stone that cut his forehead open. He has a scar to forever remind him of why you shouldn't pick a cut that the hospital has just glued.

I doubt the nursery staff would have been impressed if I'd reminded them about the need to exclude random small sharp stones from the outdoor play area - although to their credit they did sweep it regularly.

Baroness - my 22 yr old will still pick up a stick if we are out on a forest walk somewhere

YABVVVVU. It is because of the 'no child must ever have a minor accident' attitude that we have dull as dishwater play spaces for children. I am the opposite of you. If my child had finished the nursery years without a scratch, cut or scrape I would have concluded he went to a crap nursery where he had crap and limited experiences.

'Is it normal for two year olds to play with sticks?' makes me weep with how detached we have become from normal childhood play. My children's nursery did not limit children's experiences but taught them how to be safe, or example by teaching them to leave space around their friend's bodies when playing with sticks. You don't keep children safe by avoiding all risk. You keep children safe by incrementally exposing them to risk thereby assisting them to learn how to manage risk.

I agree with redoceanwave Nobody wants a child to be seriously hurt, but a healthy and active childhood will include all manner of small accidents. It's an important learning tool - get hurt, get cuddled/kissed better/a bit of first aid, then carry on.

Children are so adept at finding ways to injure themselves that even if you banned sticks or all outdoor play, they would still do something. DC had numerous trips to A&E, and we owned more plasters and bandages than Boots, but the worst accident was one of them walking into a dining table while out for lunch one day. Eight hours in A&E, and still has the scars to prove it.

The lack of awareness would bother me too, OP.
It's more about that than sticks. Yes, he'll get hurt. Yes, he'll play with sticks. But you just want to know that the nursery staff members are on the ball and aware. If he gets hurt, you want to know that they'll look after his cuts and scrapes, regardless of their size.
I remember DD coming out from nursery with a purple eye (which went black) and nobody had a clue she'd been hurt and nobody knew what happened. Believe it or not, annoyed as I was, she stayed at the nursery and I sent her little brother there as well because overwhelmingly, it was a stellar team and a fabulous nursery. They were amazing with the kids. It still is a great nursery and I recommend it to anyone local to me.
DD's injury was a big oversight on their part and I did call them on it. It was a blatant, steaming black eye though so it couldn't really be overlooked. Over the next few days, as the eye looked worse (black eyes always look bad), it was uncomfortable for staff and for me. It was a big mess-up on their part.
I'd mention it nicely to the nursery team and just say you're a bit concerned that your DC was hurt and nobody noticed. You'd like to feel more reassured that next time, they will take notice.
To be honest, my kids have gotten their worst injuries on MY watch, which is just a dreadful feeling.
May your DC enjoy many happy days at nursery. It all goes by too quickly. I still get a lump in my throat when I walk past the kids' old nursery. Sweet days! Quite a few scrapes!

Is it normal for 2 year olds to play with sticks 🙄 FFS what in earth is the world coming to.
Yes, yes it is. I wish it wasn't because then maybe the boot of my car and hallway wouldn't be full of 'very important' sticks.