Injuries at nursery.

[Sleepingstarsmommy]

Just before easter I was called to nursery to take my boy to A&E. He had fallen from a bike and cut his eyebrow open on the corner of a wooden sandpit. Trip to A&E and was glued back together and he will have a scar from it. My husband who had done drop off that morning had stated that he was concerned regarding the staffing level as there was only 1 member of staff to 8 children aged 2 to 3 as the other staff had popped off to do something. He was concerned as they were in the garden which is on 2 levels with steps between the 2 levels with equipment such as bikes on both levels and the steps were not gated off. However the nursery stated there were 3 members of staff present when it happened.

Then yesterday I was called to collect him as he had again cut his face and lip open. They stated he was standing on a crate and lost his balance and cut it on a water catcher?? I didnt stay to investigate exactly what this was as I wanted to get my son home to clean it properly (didnt need hospital this time although his lip is quite a mess and has bled on and off today).

When my dh asked ds whether someone had pushed him he said no. He said he was standing on the see saw singing see saw majory door and fell off which is not what the nursery have said. DH is fuming sayin they shouldnt be allowing him to climb on things and fall.

My dh says we should change nursery. I want to discuss exactly what happened and what ds has said on Monday. At 2 and a half I expect him to have bumps and bruises as he is quite boisterous but dh thinks this is unacceptable and 2 quite nasty facial injuries in a short space of time is proof that they are not supervising him properly.

I feel torn as I can understand dh point as these aren't grazes to the knee. But ds is settled there, has built up a lovely relationship with his key workers and it is rated outstanding by ofsted. He will need to be in private nursery until September 2018 when he will start school nursery.

Should I change nursery?? I looked at several before I chose this one and it was the best out of what I had seen.

I think to some extent you have to accept that children climb and children fall. My dd2 fractured her arm bumping into another child at preschool and falling over, and my dd1 broke her arm falling out of a tree in our own garden whilst I stood ten feet away gardening. These things happen.

Thanks. Thats how I feel but dh is making me feel like a bad mom for accepting that accidents will happen. He has even said that if I dont change the nursery and something else happens then it is my fault.

At 2.5 he should be climbing. His report of standing on the seesaw could be another incident that happened where he wasn't hurt. Staffing ratios are of course important. Would nursery let you go in for a few hours to see how he plays?

2&3 year olds are just managing to risk assess themselves, but while climbing on a box, they won't necessarily look at what's around them in the event they fall off it.

does your DH let him climb on stuff when he's watching him?

I work in a nursery and i can be standing right next to a child and they fall. At that age they sometimes fall over their own feet! I also have a child in a different nursery and I know how horrible it is to hear your child has hurt themselves because you wasn't there. Accidents happen. If something seems wrong or you are worried then speak to the staff. As they should obviously be keeping the children safe. I had a little boy in the other day and we was doing balancing. He fell a few times and on further inspection his shoes were too small so I just helped him a bit more and he didn't fall.

I wouldn't want my child to go to a nursery where they weren't allowed to climb on things or take small risks like that.

I don't know what I'd say or even think if my my dh said to me what yours said to you.

Accidents happen
The children in my nursery climb trees
The ratio applies to the whole nursery so it's perfectly legal to have one member of staff leaving to fetch resources or take a child to the toilet
Although, we try to avoid having staff on their own in the garden if it can be avoided, because children do not to be able to climb and learn to manage their own risks.

• do need to be able to climb