Incidents at nursery - how frequent is normal?

[MGMidget]

My ten month old attends a day care nursery two days a week. Since she has become more mobile the number of 'incidents' at nursery has increased. At least 50% of the time that I pick her up I'm informed of something having happened! Bumps to the head are the most common problem. There's also been a range of miscellaneous 'one offs' such as being fed the wrong food, being scratched in the face by another baby etc. So far I've taken this all in my stride and accepted that these things are going to happen in a group care environment. However, I wondered about the frequency of this, especially the bumps to the head. Is this the norm? I appreciate my DD is at risky age when she's pulling up to standing but am wondering a little if they might be a little lax on supervision and babyproofing. E.g. in one case she fell down a step apparently and in another her head hit a sharp corner when she fell. Any views?

Hi, yes normal I'm afraid! And the bumps to the head will likely increase further once she's running around.

My DD was forever banging her head, falling over, was bitten a few times, hit others a few times and her legs were permanently bruised from banging into things.

It does all calm down once they get to primary school

How many of the incidents actually leave a bruise or mark? Could they just be over cautious in telling you every little thing when it isn't really anything iyswim, especially with head bumps, imagine they thought it was nothing and didn't say but something was wrong! The corner and the step sound perfectly plausible to me at that age, especially if she's very wobbly.
But, always trust your instincts too, if your not entirely comfortable then ask to speak someone there who may be able to reassure you.

As for the lax bit- perhaps, but little ones fall all the time so it's impossible I think to completely baby proof.

If you are concerned, have a chat with the room leader or manager .

I don't think that necessarily should be normal. DD has disabilities and fell more often than most and still has never bumped her head because we watch her carefully. Am.not saying this to be smug just that I would be a bit concerned if there were lots of incidents.

I work with under fives and have spent some time working with babies in a nursery, it sounds fairly normal to me.

Incidents 50% of the time is quite a lot though and I'd second having a chat with the room leader if you are concerned (in the first instance, and then the manager if you are not happy with how it has been handled).

With children under two, the ratio is 1 adult to 3 children and it is impossible to prevent accidents and incidents from happening. Having said that, staff should (obviously) be keeping a particularly close eye on a child that is just beginning to be able to pull themselves to a standing position.

I'd have a chat with the room leader amd see how things go after that.

Being fed the wrong food isn't good though, does your child have a particular dietary requirement/allergy?

Ds has been at nursery since last august and has had two bumped heads and one 'fight' with another child over a toy; he's 3

Gosh I dont think my dds had more than a handful of incidents the whole time they were at nursery (one started at 1, the other at 18 months). Hitting the head on a sharp corner is totally unacceptable - there shouldn't be any sharp corners if the place is child-proofed. I'd be talking to the manager and seriously considering taking my kid out.

We were signing incident forms every couple of days at nursery - they ranged from 'was running around outside, tripped and head butted a tree' to 'did something with a hula hoop and now has a red mark above her eye' - plus the usual pushed/was pushed, complaining of a hurty knee but tells us different stories about how it happened whenever we ask, etc...

I think that unless anything sounds like actual child being left on their own issues, these things do happen - it's just at home we don't have to write it up! DD is extremely pale so shows red marks easily which also gives the impression that she's more hurt than she actually is too. We'd administer TLC whereas they have to let you know what occurred.

My DD started nursery at 7 months and we could definitely tell who was on duty that day by the number of incident reports. It wasn't that one staff member was more lax than others it was that one was more likely to record and report the smallest (normal) incidence. i took the view that if I couldn't see a mark it wasnt really worth reporting. She had just as many bumps and scrapes with me.

We also had a period when it was our child who was the biter!

Once they are on their feet more steadily expect the reports to reduce significantly.

It could be they are being over cautious and recording every tiny insignificant thing. At my nursery we only record anything which leaves a physical mark or bumps to the head or something which requires treatment.

Incidents worth reporting 50% of the time sounds like a lot. Are they being very over-cautious in their reporting e.g. reporting really minor things? We usually only got reports if it was something that had left a physical mark.

Some bumps will be inevitable though, especially given how wobbly on their feet they are when they're learning to walk.

Mine has been in nursery 14 months and I've signed an incident form for a bumped head twice. I've signed for calpol twice too.

Incidents happening 50% of the time sounds far too much!

Thanks for all the comments which help get things into perspective. I'll see how things go for a while and perhaps raise it with the room manager if the frequency of incidents continues. To answer a few questions, no she doesn't have allergies. The 'wrong' food was a menu for an older baby at the time (with lumps) but thankfully was not a problem and the used it as the prompt to move her onto the next stage of baby food since she coped so well! However, I realise that it could have been a problem, especially if she had allergies so hence not ideal.

Secondly, yes, they are reporting things which in their judgement they ought to report but which may not be major. There is usually a physical mark but so far nothing dramatic! I've been warned about concussion on forms I've signed but she's not had any ill-effects afterwards. On the positive side at least they are noticing these things and are able to tell me how they happened so she is being watched. Probably just not as well watched as she would be at home where she doesn't have other babies competing for the attention! I was a little surprised at the 'sharp corner' in the baby/toddler area as it would seem common sense to round it off or protect it with something. That is what I would do at home anyway. Also, I wondered where the 'step' was that she fell down! I've made a mental note to try and look more closely at a few things when I'm in the nursery.

From working with babies in a nursery a few years ago, I always reported to parents any minor bumps or red marks (might have hit rattle off head themselves etc) simply to ensure it wasn't anything more serious that I missed but also to cover myself. Babies starting to pull themselves up were particularly bad as nursery had lino type floor, I had to ask parents to put soft boots or socks on with grips but nonetheless they would leave go or wobble or another baby would try pull themselves up and pull the other down. I wasn't intentionally hurting them or not supervising. However if you have concerns that something isn't right go with your gut feeling.

When my DS was in the 1st toddler room (12m to just shy of 2y) he went through a stage of 1-2 incidents a week. I think they were just super cautious in that room, plus he was in the falling over a lot phase - it was never anything serious.

What was the wrong food one though? If your child has food allergies that sounds like a worry.

Tbh a daily string of bumps, tumbles and (minor) bruises were completely the norm with my two from 10 months to 3+ Ds1 had a cut lip and black eye at 18mo once, after a particularly catastrophic week (but that was after being at home with me and dh so no notes needed).

Obviously, you need to feel confident that your dd is a safe environment but equally you are just at the very start of years of tumbles/grazes/bruises etc

Yeah I think it can be quite normal especially if you have a wobbly new walker. DS2 is at the standing unaided but not taking a step stage. Instead if he thinks you are close enough he will just launch/flop himself in your direction. He's had plenty of bumps at home when there are 3:1 nevermind at nursery where it's 1:3.

As they get older I honestly think it depends on the child. DS1 is now 6 and for a large chunk of reception, we were getting a form once a week warning us he'd had a 'head injury'. As were many other parents. School only tell you about them, but he came home covered with other marks and bruises from the playground and football etc. It became a running joke as to which one of the kids would come out with a form each day

My ds is 10 and still gets plenty of bump notes. I think they are well looked after at school and rough play is discouraged, he complains that the boring lunchtime supervisors have stopped them playing full contact rugby on concrete!. Bump notes show children are being supervised but also that they are allowed to play, if ds stopped getting them I would be thinking he wasn't letting off steam at dinner time anymore.