Hello! New and need advice!

[Anna]

Hi!!

I just recently started a daycare January of this year. I am currently living in Hawaii with my active duty Army husband. I absolutely love it so far. The kids are great and they keep me very busy.

HOWEVER

I had the most terrible day ever and I can't stop feeling badly about it. Everyday I take the kids to the park just down the street. The equipment is made for two year olds and the park is completely enclosed. Today I had a new little girl who just turned two start. It was her first day and we took our usual trip to the park. She was doing fine on the equipment and was very apprehensive which I find to be better than a child being daring. She was standing on a little landing about three feet off the ground and the next thing I know she fell off and landed on the ground with her arms out in front of her. Well long story short she ended up breaking her arm!! I now cannot sleep because my mind is flooded with guilt. This is the last thing I ever wanted to happen to a child in my care especially on her first day! Her mom is very understanding and has told me not to feel bad but I just can't help it. I have children here 6a-6p and I know not being able to sleep is going to make tomorrow a hard day but every time I close my eyes I just keep thinking of how guilty I feel..

any advice?

[boysx5]

It was an accident something that could have happened anywhere. I know I'm the same way about feeling bad because we take pride in our job of watching and looking out for the best interest of the children. I hope today is a better day and that you were able to get some sleep

[nannyde]

My rule of thumb for deck height for the children is about a foot for each year would be the max. I wouldn't have allowed a new two year old on a three foot surface but live and learn.

Remember when you first get them that you really don't know their physical capabilities until you put them to the test. Putting them to the test means really watching the way they walk, go around obstacles, ability to climb, visual perception and ability to crawl for long distances.

When you pick them up are the able to hold the majority of their weight or are they "floppers" who require you to bear the majority of their weight? Are they clinging to your hip with their legs or are they flailing backwards away from you requiring you to balance and bear their weight.

It's important to ask parents when the child started fully walking. Usually add a month or two to that because parents have a tendency to state their kid did things earlier than they really did. If she was a late walker she could only have six months or so of experience.

Watch the distance between their feet when standing. They should stand at the same distance of the width of their shoulders with their arms downward. If the child is flexing their elbows with arms out and has a wide stance or wide gait they are still working on having more of a blanced adult like walk.

Crawling is a very good tool to build their strength. My kids NEVER stop crawling. We use crawling thru the house as an activity because it is a ton of work for them to do it and it makes them strong and co-ordinated. It's useful in fire drills and baby olympics which we have here in the winter and summer!!!!! If you don't have them keep crawling when they are done crawling they will loose the ability. Use the stairs as an extra exercise but you must spot them both ways regardless of age.

The average two year old is about 34 inches high. This puts that little one at nearly six foot from the height of her head while standing on the equipment to the ground. That's too much IME. Especially for one that is new to you and your lack of time to assess her abilities.

Don't beat yourself up over this. You may have made some mistakes by not listening to her fussing about doing it. You may have had her up a bit too high but all you can do is live and learn on this one.

I posted a link about a child who was left unattended on a slide at 18 months that has a fall zone of about 7-8 foot. This was EXTREMELY dangerous for a child who shouldn't have been on the equipment in the first place. As long as you know the equipment is rated for age 2-5 and you were following that I would say the worst that will most likely happen is that you might have to pay the bills. I don't know how your State handles these things.

Is there a sign saying age range for 2 year olds and up or are you assuming that? I find it a little odd that they would have two year olds in an age range where the deck was three foot up.

Oh... one more thing.. with budget cuts the Parks and Rec can easily get behind in checking the SURFACING and repairing and replacing. Check the surfacing of any place you go and make sure it meets safety standards and hasn't been tampered with. I've seen sanded areas get really bare really quickly in my little park by my house. Sometimes we go over with a rake and even it out a bit in the fall zone. Nice activity for the bratleighs to do and makes me feel a little more assured.

[Lilbutterflie]

Don't worry... things like this happen! Kids are going to hurt themselves, whether they are in your care or not. The best you can do is try to keep them as safe as possible, but accidents happen. It's normal to feel guilty b/c it happened when you were watching her. But don't let it get you down.

[Unregistered]

So what did you do? Did you have to call mom and have her picked up immediately? Did you call an ambulance? Just curious how you handle this type of situation! Accidents happen, no matter how closely you watch children they are going to get bumps and bruises, it is all part of childhood! I am just like you as well, I would loose sleep over this, but just know that things happen and they will keep happening, you are just there to try and keep the number down! LOL Kids getting hurt is inevitable, it something that happens, keep your head up! : )

[mismatchedsocks]

Im so sorry this happened to this little girl. Poor thing. I think its normal to feel guilty, but accidents do happen. I have 2 year olds and one of them is a gymnast, while the other cant seem to walk on sidewalk without falling. Its a hard age to judge what abilities they have especially when new. Wish we could pad the kids all day... dontcha?!

[kitkat]

Oh Anna, I know EXACTLY how you are feeling! I was the director of an after school/community education program. We were doing a summer program at a local park with school age children (and yes the equipment was age appropriate). I was inside preparing snack and an activity while my 2 staff were outside supervising the kids. No one knows exactly how it happened, but long story short, a little girl fell and broke her wrist. The little girl needed to have surgery to put pins in. Even though I wasn't supervising when it happened, I was devastated that it happened in my program. Mom was very understanding and I checked in with Grandma during the time they were at the hospital that day to see how she was doing. I still remember how sick, anxious, and guilty I felt and that was over 5 years ago!

You need to remind yourself that it was an accident. It could have happened with the dcg's mom taking her to the park, too. If dcg is back today, you might want to skip the park today because she'll probably remember what happened and could have a melt down. Maybe try the park again later in the week. Hang in there!

[Anna]

My rule of thumb for deck height for the children is about a foot for each year would be the max. I wouldn't have allowed a new two year old on a three foot surface but live and learn.

Remember when you first get them that you really don't know their physical capabilities until you put them to the test. Putting them to the test means really watching the way they walk, go around obstacles, ability to climb, visual perception and ability to crawl for long distances.

When you pick them up are the able to hold the majority of their weight or are they "floppers" who require you to bear the majority of their weight? Are they clinging to your hip with their legs or are they flailing backwards away from you requiring you to balance and bear their weight.

It's important to ask parents when the child started fully walking. Usually add a month or two to that because parents have a tendency to state their kid did things earlier than they really did. If she was a late walker she could only have six months or so of experience.

Watch the distance between their feet when standing. They should stand at the same distance of the width of their shoulders with their arms downward. If the child is flexing their elbows with arms out and has a wide stance or wide gait they are still working on having more of a blanced adult like walk.

Crawling is a very good tool to build their strength. My kids NEVER stop crawling. We use crawling thru the house as an activity because it is a ton of work for them to do it and it makes them strong and co-ordinated. It's useful in fire drills and baby olympics which we have here in the winter and summer!!!!! If you don't have them keep crawling when they are done crawling they will loose the ability. Use the stairs as an extra exercise but you must spot them both ways regardless of age.

The average two year old is about 34 inches high. This puts that little one at nearly six foot from the height of her head while standing on the equipment to the ground. That's too much IME. Especially for one that is new to you and your lack of time to assess her abilities.

Don't beat yourself up over this. You may have made some mistakes by not listening to her fussing about doing it. You may have had her up a bit too high but all you can do is live and learn on this one.

I posted a link about a child who was left unattended on a slide at 18 months that has a fall zone of about 7-8 foot. This was EXTREMELY dangerous for a child who shouldn't have been on the equipment in the first place. As long as you know the equipment is rated for age 2-5 and you were following that I would say the worst that will most likely happen is that you might have to pay the bills. I don't know how your State handles these things.

Is there a sign saying age range for 2 year olds and up or are you assuming that? I find it a little odd that they would have two year olds in an age range where the deck was three foot up.

Oh... one more thing.. with budget cuts the Parks and Rec can easily get behind in checking the SURFACING and repairing and replacing. Check the surfacing of any place you go and make sure it meets safety standards and hasn't been tampered with. I've seen sanded areas get really bare really quickly in my little park by my house. Sometimes we go over with a rake and even it out a bit in the fall zone. Nice activity for the bratleighs to do and makes me feel a little more assured.

It says on the equipment. When I got licensed by the Department of Human Services my case worker came out and checked out the park as well and gave me the thumbs up. The ground there is a spongey surface not loose sand or pebbles so no raking is neccesarry. The community is a newer neighborhood and the park is in really nice condition.

I don't know if it is actually three feet or not I am just guessing. I don't know the exact measurement.

Maybe I gave the wrong impression here but I don't want any of you to think I wasn't standing by this girl, I just couldn't get to her quick enough. I was reaching for her while she was standing at the top the slide so I could hold on to her while she was coming down but then she must have decided she did not want to go down because she climbed to a lower landing (there is a series of three landings kind of like steps but bigger) which was kitty korner to the slide. I had a bridge blocking me on one side and a slide on the other so as I was making my way around the slide is when she fell. I was on the equipment holding her hand but when she said she wanted to go down the slide I jumped off so I could aid her in coming down the slide from standing on the side of the slide. I would never let a 2 year old new to the group run willy nilly on equipment with me watching from a distance.

Thank you everyone for trying to help me feel better. But I think it may take a bit. We will see what happens today but it sounds like she is going to get a hard cast on and head over this afternoon. She fractured the bone just above her elbow. Poor girl. I am now going to be extra cautious and maybe even a little paranoid with the girls (All my dcks are girls).

[QualiTcare]

oh god that's awful. i had a one year old start on monday and i usually don't use the typical highchairs at all, but i had one on the carport because i dragged it from the basement to have a yard sale.

anyway, we were outside playing in the pool and the older kids wanted me to hook up a sprinkler. so, i put the baby in that highchair on the carport and as i was walking over my daughter yelled, LOOK! this baby had managed to manuever himself out of the highchair and was standing on TOP of it in a matter of seconds! i took off running as fast as i could and right before i got to him - BOOM - head landed on the concrete driveway. my heart stopped. i thought oh, great, i've killed her kid within 2 hours of having him. head injuries scare the crap outta me. luckily, he was okay - no bleeding or anything. i sat with him the whole time he napped - it was horrifying.

i told his mom about it and she acted like it was no big deal - she was like, "yeah, i should've told you he can get out of his chair."

i will never, ever do that again!

you live and learn.

[Anna]

So what did you do? Did you have to call mom and have her picked up immediately? Did you call an ambulance? Just curious how you handle this type of situation! Accidents happen, no matter how closely you watch children they are going to get bumps and bruises, it is all part of childhood! I am just like you as well, I would loose sleep over this, but just know that things happen and they will keep happening, you are just there to try and keep the number down! LOL Kids getting hurt is inevitable, it something that happens, keep your head up! : )

Well when she first fell she was crying real hard and I just cradled her and tried to comfort her. She wasn't using her arm at all so I immediately got worried. I put her and the other two in the stroller and headed home. When I got home she had stopped crying so I examined her. Starting with her fingers and working my way up. I noticed that when I touched her elbow she would cry. When I moved her whole arm upward (checking the shoulder) she didn't seem to be in much pain. At first I thought it was a bruised elbow which can cause LOTS of pain. When I offered her something she wouldn't grab it with her right arm she just left it down by her side. I could tell something was really wrong. I called her mom's cell phone and her work phone but there was no answer. I waited fifteen minutes and her mom called back and picked her up right away. While waiting for her mom the girl laid on the couch and I put on some cartoons for her. She was very calm and collected as long as she wasn't moving. I didn't call the ambulance because the girl landed with her hands out in front of her. She did not hit her head or any other part of her body. You couldn't physically see that the bone was broken and she didn't have any scrapes or bruises. Once they got to the doctor they took an xray and that is how they found out about the fracture.

I feel good about how I handled the situation I just wish I would have been directly in front of her to catch her. I am afraid she is going to be terrified to come over here since that was her first day. And as much as her mom tells me its okay and not to feel bad I am afraid she may have lost some trust for me (not that I would blame her).

[originalkat]

I have had this happen to me as well. However, it was when I worked in a center. A child can break bones even from very short distances. This child in my class was on step 3 of a 5 step slide (the shorter of the two that were on the center playground). She slipped and fell wrong onto the approved fall surface and broke her arm. Accidents happen. I know it takes awhile to get over it. But dont worry. It sounds like you are doing a great job!!!!!!!

[sahm2three]

How horrifying!! I can't imagine! I hope that you can find some peace, but I totally understand how you feel! Accidents happen! Sounds like you handled the aftermath great!