How common are "accidents" in nursery?

[NurseryWorries74]

My little girl is 11 months old and goes to nursery 2 days per week. We did a lot of research and were really happy with the nursery we chose. The staff seem absolutely lovely and I have to say she's happy every morning when I drop her off.

She's been there for 6 weeks now, but for the last 3 weeks I've had a phone call every week to say she's had an accident. Each time they've said not to worry, it was just "a little tumble" but because she's hit her head they have to let me know.

She's had no marks or bumps each time and seems absolutely fine. Are they just being extremely cautious and is this normal? Or should I be worried?

I know she's going to fall as she's currently learning to stand by herself, but at home I normally sit on the floor with her and don't let her fall. I don't want to over react but 3 accidents in 3 weeks where they've felt the need to phone me seems a lot?

YANBU - It seems excessive
YABU - It's nothing to worry about, they are just covering their backs

Thank you!

It's fine. Most babies learning to stand will fall a few times each day. The staff is not 1:1 so they have little chance of catching her. There are no injuries, they have to be cautious and let parents know when it's babies heads.

I work in a nursery part time

They are just covering thelr backs

We have to ring for head bumps

My DDs record was 3 incident reports in the same day. She was always active and adventurous and walked very early. It’s part of being a toddler. I wouldn’t worry. She’s 15 now and absolutely perfect if a little accident prone still

3 head bumps in 3 weeks? It seems a bit excessive to me - I'd be having a conversation about whether there's any link. Accidents are normal of course.

Ps I had two toddlers go through nursery, both accident prone.

Sounds like they’re just being diligent and cautious and covering themselves. It’s good!

Mine took ‘a little tumble’ into a table at nursery when he was a new walker. Because he was still under one and a big bump came up they had a policy that they had to ring for an ambulance. I got there and they cancelled it and I took him to be checked myself but oh my god the stress of that, running out of work, absolutely frantically throwing myself into a taxi wondering what sort of horrific injury he would have to find him happily gurgling away with a little bump on his forehead 🤦🏻‍♀️ I think they just freaked out.

They’re 3:1 not 1:1 like you are. They probably have a policy whereby any head bumps get a parent call even if not severe. Shes a cruising baby, accidents will happen

Depends on the child but sounds fine. My first rarely had anything, my second comes home with something new almost every day. A mixture of clumsiness and just his general ferocious nature.

You need to let her fall so she learns her limits and capabilities, it's an important step in their development. I'm not saying let her crack her head off a coffee table but don't catch her every time. Perfectly normal at this age, it will happen a lot, plus they aren't 1:1 in nursery.

Really common. But from my own experiences, it never gets easier for you to hear it!

Same at school
every head bump has to have a call to home
back covering should the child fall ill

We used to joke with the nursery staff DD should have her own personal accident book she was in it so often. Some children are just bumpier than others.

My toddlers had accidents virtually every day in and out of childcare so I'd say very common.

I agree with PPs that it's probably fine, especially as she's not coming home with bumps/bruises, they sound like very mild "injuries" that they're just being over cautious with.

If she was coming back with big bumps on her head all the time then maybe it would be different.

Thank you so much for the replies, you've all made me feel so much better!

It's just that feeling of dread every time the nursery number comes up on my phone, but it really helps to know this is normal and to be expected.

Very normal ime. They just have to document everything but I'd only worry if there's marks/bruises. I think maybe at home, make sure she isn't on a hard floor but don't always catch her.

Very normal, they have to cover their back so will report everything. I wouldn't worry unless she has marks or bruises. (They wouldn't be letting you know she was injured if they had done it- if that soothes you)

She's learning to walk - of course she will fall. Same as when she learns to ride a bike or roller-skates - she will have scraped knees and elbows for months on end.
Nursery have to cover their tracks in case any PITA parents try it on.

My ds aged 5yo once got two head bump letters in one day. I can't remember the second one but the first said:

"LittleThursday was hugging his friend when they overbalanced and landed on the floor, and he hit his head on the table on the way down."
His indignation when I laughed 🤣

And actually he normally wasn't the worst on bumped head notes. I'll swear dd2 had a competition going to see if she could gain the most in a year. She averaged about 2-3 a week. She also made a lot of fuss so I suspect that many of the bumped head stickers she got were from bumps that the other two would never had had noticed because they were so mild.

Of course there's a link. And 11 mo th old child is learning to walk in nursery. Not exactly a big mystery. There's no bump, mark, or bruise. It's perfectly normal.