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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

DS broke arm at nursery - am I taking this too lightly ?

31 replies

Pam270774 · 04/04/2012 17:38

My 4 yr old has been attending a council nursery for the past 2 yrs and I've never had any concerns or worries. Apart from him being a bit clingy and reluctant to go in some mornings there has never been a problem and the nursery staff are all brilliant.

However (!) yesterday afternoon I received a phonecall from the nursery manager about half an hour before he is normally picked up. She said he had been involved in an accident and had hurt his arm and was very distressed. When I asked exactly what had happened she said "Mary (not real name) fell on top of him". I couldn't think of a child in his room called Mary and then realised that she meant one of the nursery nurses who is a rather large lady ! We got him home, gave him some ibuprofen and he went to bed without too much bother and seemed to be moving the arm ok. However he was sore this morning and a bit upset so I took him to A&E where they took and Xray and confirmed that he has broken it and will be in a cast for 4 weeks. I spoke to the woman involved this morning before I took him to hospital and she was very upset and apologetic and she called me later once she'd learned that his arm is in a cast and was even more upset. Whilst I'm angry it happened I know this was an accident and actually felt sorry for her as she was so visibly upset. My wee boy is neither up nor down with the whole thing...However my partner is far from happy and one of his friends even asked him why we aren't considering suing the council ! We had a few cross words at dinner time about this as he seems to think that I'm being too laid back about the whole thing....

OP posts:

Methe · 04/04/2012 17:41

Kids have accidents, that's life. I think you are being very sensible about it and your boyfriend and his friend are being nothing short of ridiculous.

Rubirosa · 04/04/2012 17:41

Do you think the council were negligent in some way?

Accidents happen.

Gigondas · 04/04/2012 17:42

Sorry to hear about ds and glad that he seems ok as possible .

Have the nursery offered a full explanation of how this happened? Surely there is accident procedure etc to follow. It does sound a bit of an odd thing to happen - and I don't for a minute suspect it was anything other than deliberate.

I am with you that I am not sure that suing is way forward but I would want to be sure that I understood what happened and what it anything could be done to stop future accidents as it is so odd. You expect falling over themselves , not assistants doing it.

JarethTheGoblinKing · 04/04/2012 17:42

Aww poor sausage.. sounds like it was a genuine accident, did they say how it actually happened? I'm not sure how suing the council would help anything

Gigondas · 04/04/2012 17:42

Didn't mean to say deliberate - meant accident.

SunflowersSmile · 04/04/2012 17:44

They will have filled in a copious accident form I imagine. Did she trip?
Unless a totally unavoidable accident I think I am with you on this one. The nursery nurse must be mortified. Hope ds recovers quickly as possible.

LesAnimaux · 04/04/2012 17:45

Accidents happen. It sounds as though this was unfortunately unavoidable. Unless there was a reason for Mary falling over (a trip hazard other than normal toys on the floor) then I think suing the council would be silly.

AdornMeWithSparkle · 04/04/2012 17:45

I agree with you, accidents happen and, unless you suspect negligence, which it doesn't sound like you do, I would not even think about suing.

My DH would probably be the same as yours - very angry and thinking someone should pay - trying to find a concrete way of making things better, I guess, but just not helpful or necessary.

Glad your DS seems mostly ok and hope the cast doesn't bother him too much.

MotherPanda · 04/04/2012 17:45

Gosh - your poor little boy. whilst your right in thinking that accidents happen, nurseries have health and safety policies and training to make sure that the risks of accidents happening are reduced - and it sounds like 'Mary' let her guard down, can you imagine just falling on top of your son?

Questions need to be asked, definitely to make sure these things are risk assessed and make sure that Mary doesn't go toppling over onto other nursery children at will.

What happened? what was the nurserys' response - was a first aider called? Have they filled out an incident form?

MrsCampbellBlack · 04/04/2012 17:45

We've had a few children break limbs at school - one in reception because he tripped over in the playground and landed on his arm.

If it was an accident why would you sue?

I've tripped over my children before so could easily see it happening . . . But you should have been given an accident form and could clarify exactly how it happened.

Hope your DS is ok today.

wishiwasonholiday · 04/04/2012 17:48

As long as they're following the correct procedure (don't broken bones have to be reported to ofsted and riddor?) and it was a genuine accident I think you're being very sensible about it as accidents do happen.

Rubirosa · 04/04/2012 17:48

MotherPanda - do you really think nurseries should risk assess adults being around/walking near children in case they fall? What policies and training would prevent people falling over?

Indith · 04/04/2012 17:49

I would want to know how she fell but really, accidents happen, grown women fall over sometimes. She could have tripped over a toy, gone over on her ankle, anything. A friend of mine's dh fell over while carrying their dd and she broke her leg, accidents happen and sometimes they are nobody's fault.

Original poster

Pam270774 · 04/04/2012 17:50

From what I understood they were moving some seating from the story corner and my wee boy was rolling around on the floor playing. She moved to avoid dropping the seat on him, but lost her footing somehow and fell on him. I haven't signed the usual accident form yet as I was at hospital all day with him today but will ask them about it tomorrow. Obvious suggestion is to wait until the kids aren't in the room before they start moving stuff around !

OP posts:

IAmBooyhoo · 04/04/2012 17:54

goodness i woul dnever dream of suing for something like thsi. the lady fell. she didn't kick him or swing him by the arm. it was an accident. unless the floor was wet and she hadn't been told or someone else left something in her way then i really dont see what the basis for suing would be? somethings cant be prevented, people trip and fall and sometimes others get hurt. glad your little boy isn't too badl hurt and hope he recovers quickly.

Rubirosa · 04/04/2012 17:56

I expect that will be the outcome now - no one at the nursery will be allowed to pick up a chair when there's a child in the room.

MotherPanda · 04/04/2012 18:00

Obvious suggestion is to wait until the kids aren't in the room before they start moving stuff around

that's the kind of thing i mean when i say risk assess, and i didn't make myself clear - i wasn't suggesting suing(sp?), just making sure the nursery are following procedures and make sure it doesn't happen again.

NatashaBee · 04/04/2012 18:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BertieBotts · 04/04/2012 18:06

"...and make sure that Mary doesn't go toppling over onto other nursery children at will."

... I'm sorry, I know this is a serious thread but I find this quote hilarious. You make her sound like some kind of weeble!

dribbleface · 04/04/2012 21:04

If he broke his arm at nursery they would need to file a RIDDOR report with the council, who will investigate if necessary (you should ask for a copy, they will also be obiged to contact Ofsted). When you say seating, do you mean just a chair (i.e one for adult to sit on to read) or something more substantial, if it was the former then this type of thing happens all day long in nurseries. I would want more info but it sounds like an unfortunate accident.

I hope DS is ok.

eurycantha · 06/04/2012 14:28

I am sorry to hear about your son s arm.I worked in a nursery for many years while children I cared for attended /were at school.I once was hit from the front by a little boy on a tricycle I went down like a sack of potatoes ,With the little boy looking down on me saying "You must take care of yourself Miss Eurycantha"Staff do trip over there are obviously many things that may be hazards.but I was wondering more about the fact that the teacher was moving furniture with your son on the floor We would not move tables and chairs while children were nearby and certainly not very nearby on the floor.I have seen some close shaves when people were moving chairs and tables.
The way that the staff deal with these accidents is also interesting the staff member rang you twice and was obviously upset.I compare this with the other thread where the baby was bitten on the face at his nursery which sounded horrific.I would have sued them for leaving the baby alone and also with a known biter and for what that baby went through .You never leave a room at a nursery with no staff member r it.The staff acted afterwards so unprofessionally.Sorry for bringing in another thread and I hope your son is on the mend now.

Original poster

Pam270774 · 11/04/2012 07:52

Thanks for your feedback. I was asked to read and sign the official accident report to be filed with the council yesterday. They explained in it that the staff member was moving the kids couch which is in front of the smart board and was unaware of my wee boy lying on the ground behind her. The manager, who is always pleasant enough, has been particularly nice to me the last few days - I think they're a bit nervous to be honest. And two separate people, one who works in a nursery and one who works in a primary school have both told me I should be suing. Strange how differently people look at things. He as his check up at the fracture clinic today so we'll see what happpens....

OP posts:

meditrina · 11/04/2012 08:04

My DCs (now much older) had been in two nurseries. The reason which finally tipped me into moving them (despite it being awkward timing for one of them), was the realisation that at Nursery A, if there was an accident I'd immediately suspect poor practice and cover-up. At Nursery B, I was completely confident that an accident would be an accident and I'd trust the staff.

Now the trust at Nursery A had been eroded over time and over a number of incidents and examples of attitude; but it was quite a realisation when it came.

You don't need to sue, but you do need to think about whether you believe them at a gut level.

HappyCamel · 11/04/2012 08:15

Hmm, I think that this was totally avoidable. What if they dropped the couch in him? No way should it have been lifted with kids in the room. There probably should have been two people lifting it anyway. If there really wasn't anywhere else the kids should have been then there should have been someone observing and controlling them.

I wouldn't sign it at this stage and would challenge them again on their procedures. I'd expect a written apology and an explanation of why they thought it was ok at the time and also of their new procedure.

Groovee · 11/04/2012 11:36

Is the couch adult size or is it a child size couch for sitting on at story/song time? Realistically they should have cleared the area's fully. I clear the music corner and jigsaw area, to move the storage to allow us all to sit in the music corner for home time.

I've fallen twice at nursery. First time I have no idea what happened. I tried to stand up from the dough table and ended up under the table with all the children laughing at dozy Mrs Groovee! The second time, I was cutting paper on the guillotine and went to sit down unaware that a child had moved my chair away by accident and ended up flat on my back with the table and guillotine on top of me.

Luckily I've never hurt myself or a child but accidents happen. My friend slipped at the nursery when a child wet themselves and broke her elbow and needed surgery. But it was a sheer accident.

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