Common Types Of Daycare Injuries

Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or guardian, you never want your child to get hurt, but the fact is that minor scrapes and bruises are part of the way kids develop. Keeping them safe from serious harm is the priority. However, this is harder to do when job obligations force you to leave your child in the care of a daycare. A call from a childcare provider informing you of an injury can be disturbing. You may even be concerned about abuse. Knowing the most common types of daycare injuries gives you context and helps you determine the difference between normal injuries and suspicious incidents. 

Is It Normal For Kids To Get Hurt At Daycare?

Generally, yes, it is normal for kids to get hurt while at daycare. As children explore and learn about the world around them, their developing motor skills and limited judgment often lead them to various minor injuries. 

Tripping, jumping off a swing, or even just getting backed into by an unaware adult can all lead to bruising, cuts, or even broken bones. Many injuries that occur at a daycare are not a cause for concern. Nonetheless, whenever your child is hurt, you should speak to both the child (if they are old enough to speak) and the employees at the daycare to understand what happened. You can then work together to make a plan to keep your child safe in the future. 

7 Types of Normal Daycare Injuries

If you get a call from the daycare or pick up your child and find they have been injured, it’s essential to know the difference between a typical daycare injury and an abnormal one. One of the key aspects of normal daycare injuries is that they are random. A small bite mark, a scraped knee, or a burned tongue are all injuries that routinely occur in childcare settings. 

1. Playground Accidents

Playgrounds may just be one of the most common places for children to be injured at a daycare. Monkey bars, slides, and ladders all elevate children, leaving them susceptible to falls, sprains, and broken bones. Childcare professionals should provide constant supervision of children on a playground and should prevent smaller children from going too high on any equipment. 

2. Fight-Related Injuries

Do you know what to do if another child hits your child at daycare? Even small children can get into fistfights. Usually, these fights only leave minor cuts and bruises. If your child has been hurt as a result of a fight, it’s important to ask both your child and the caregivers at the daycare how the incident occurred. It’s the responsibility of daycare workers to prevent children from hurting each other. Some kids will display more physical aggression than others. These fighters may need to be kept apart from the other children while they cool down. If the daycare is willing, you and they can determine the best way to reduce the chance of fights going forward.

3. Slips and Falls

Falls are the number one cause of injury to children. The CDC states that around 8,000 children are treated in emergency rooms for fall-related injuries daily in the United States. In a daycare setting, these falls can occur due to slippery floors, tripping over objects, or unprotected high places. A caregiver might place a child on a high table or chair and then become distracted, leading to an unprotected fall. Falls, tripping, and slips can lead to serious injuries. Daycares are responsible for ensuring that children are kept safe from falling by following proper procedures and ensuring that children are never allowed into areas with dangerous and unprotected heights. 

4. Allergic Reactions

Many children have allergic reactions. It’s often in childcare settings that these allergic reactions are first discovered. Some allergies, such as those to peanuts, can cause extremely harmful illnesses, injuries, and even death. In most cases, children sharing meals in a daycare is a common occurrence. Allowing the children to share each other’s food is convenient. However, precautions should be taken to protect any children from being exposed to allergens that could harm them. 

5. Choking

Children have a habit of using all the five senses to learn about the world around them. That means touching, smelling, hearing, seeing, and tasting objects in their environment. Kids will put anything they can get a hold of in their mouth. This can lead to choking-related injuries. There have even been extremely disturbing instances where children have died after swallowing pushpins. Once more, daycares must do all they can to prevent children from having access to things they might choke on. This comes down to having appropriate toys for appropriate age levels. Toddlers and very small children should not be allowed to play with building toys or sets with small parts. 

6. Poisoning

Children not only taste objects, but they may also taste chemicals. This can occur when children lick surfaces that have been recently cleaned. If left alone, they may also attempt to drink liquids such as sanitizers or soaps. Children have vulnerable, developing immune systems and can become extremely sick when exposed to these kinds of toxic substances. Medication left out can be another source of poisoning. Every day, over 300 children are taken to an emergency department for poisoning. Daycares that leave medication or other substances easily accessible to small children are likely guilty of negligent abuse and should be held responsible. 

7. Burns

Another common injury children experience in daycares is burning. This is usually from drinking an overly hot beverage or touching a hot surface like an electric stove. These injuries are fairly easy to prevent. Children should not have access to any cooking areas in a daycare, and caution should always be taken not to give children liquid that is not yet safe to drink. Nonetheless, these kinds of burn-related injuries do occur in childcare facilities. 

What Is Daycare Negligence?

Some injuries are pure accidents that are difficult to foresee or prevent reasonably. However, other injuries are a direct result of negligence on the part of the daycare. Below, we highlight some of the most common examples of daycare negligence. 

• Staff members fail to adequately supervise children, thereby allowing an injury to occur
• Daycare facility fails to provide adequate food
• Staff fails to protect a child from a known food allergy, and a reaction occurs
• Childcare providers leave out small toys or objects that present an obvious choking hazard
• Daycare ownership fails to ensure a safe environment for childcare (exposed wiring, loose roofing shingles, damaged handrails). 
• Staff are improperly trained and thus fail to act correctly after a serious injury (failing to provide CPR or other first aid)

These are just some of the many different ways a daycare provider can act negligently in a way that causes harm to the children in their care. Although less common, it is also possible for children to be intentionally physically abused by daycare staff. If you suspect child abuse, you should call 911 immediately to file a police report and report the facility to MiLEAP, who can then do a full investigation. 

What To Do If Your Child Was Injured At Daycare

Firstly, speak to your child (if they are old enough to talk) and try to understand how the injury occurred. Then, reach out to the daycare to see if they are responsive and willing to work things out. Serious daycare injuries can cost you financially and emotionally. You may be entitled to compensation. If so, contact us – the Mike Morse Law Firm. We are the largest personal injury law firm in Michigan, and we will fight to bring you justice and fair compensation.