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A Baytown daycare center turned a blind eye when a 2-year-old boy in its care was being mistreated, allowing him to be repeatedly subjected to forceful and aggressive handling by a caregiver. Starting in January 2025, the toddler’s mother noticed fingernail marks, scratches, and scabs under her son’s arms after he came home from the daycare center. However, the center’s director dismissed his mother’s concerns each time she reported them.
The mother even started dressing her toddler in long-sleeve shirts to see if the marks would stop. Two months later, she discovered the same types of injuries in his underarm. She went to the Baytown daycare center and kept pushing for answers, determined to learn what happened to her little boy. This time, video surveillance footage confirmed what the toddler’s family feared: a frustrated caregiver had repeatedly yanked, lifted, and mishandled the toddler instead of keeping him safe.
Once the truth was uncovered, the toddler’s family contacted our experienced Texas daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm. We fought to secure a life-changing result for the boy and his family, holding the negligent center accountable for its unsafe practices.
How Did the Baytown Daycare Center Break Childcare Laws in This Case?
The toddler’s mother trusted this daycare, but the daycare in Baytown failed her and her child. In Texas, daycare centers are required to follow childcare laws, also known as the minimum standards, to keep children safe. These standards outline best practices, including appropriate discipline methods that caregivers must use. For example, any form of physical yanking, pulling, or aggressively grabbing a child is not acceptable. If children are misbehaving or uncooperative, the minimum standards require caregivers to calmly redirect the children. In instances where a timeout is used, children can be placed for one minute each year of their age.
The minimum standards require caregivers to complete ongoing training, including understanding developmental milestones for children. In the surveillance footage, the toddler in this case could be seen expressing normal, age-appropriate playfulness and curiosity. He playfully moved his foot through some spilled milk on the floor at the daycare center. Instead of redirecting him with patience, the caregiver responded with inappropriate and harmful discipline tactics that left marks on his body. Surveillance cameras at the daycare center even captured the caregiver abruptly yanking the little boy by his left arm and handling him aggressively. One of the caregivers grabbed him so hard that she left nail marks and broke his skin through the jacket he was wearing—all actions that violate the minimum standards.
Daycare directors are required to closely monitor caregivers throughout the day and ensure all children in each classroom are safe and that caregivers are complying with the minimum standards. That clearly did not happen in this case, even after the toddler’s mother alerted the director to the marks on her child’s body in January 2025. Because of this additional safety failure at the Baytown daycare center, the toddler was subjected to inappropriate discipline tactics and suffered injuries for two more months.
This toddler’s injuries were easily preventable had the daycare center complied with the minimum standards.
How Did The Button Law Firm Get Justice for the Toddler and His Family in This Case?
The toddler suffered significant physical and emotional harm. The injuries under his arms were so painful that everyday activities like bathing became difficult. Even months later, he remained sensitive to touch in that area and would cry when lifted under his arms or when raising them.
The repeated mistreatment also affected his development. He regressed from being fully potty trained to needing pull-up diapers again. He began having difficulty sleeping on his own and sought constant comfort from a parent at night. His separation anxiety became so intense that he was unable to be in a room without a parent nearby.
His pediatrician documented physical findings, including areas of discoloration under both arms and a scar beneath his chin, and also noted concerning changes in his behavior. The doctor recommended that counseling be considered as he gets older and provided a referral for play therapy.
The trauma also changed his day-to-day behavior in ways that were deeply concerning. What had once been happy, easy daycare drop-offs became moments of visible fear and distress.
Thankfully, the toddler and his family had our team on their side. We held the daycare center accountable for its negligence, inappropriate handling, and use of force. Our team secured a life-changing result that provided for the child’s medical care, long-term therapy, and other damages, helping the family begin to move forward.
Contact The Button Law Firm If Your Child Was Injured at a Daycare Center
If your child was physically or emotionally injured at a daycare center in Texas, contact our experienced daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm. With offices in Dallas, Houston, and Midland, we are ready to listen, fight for your family, and help your family move forward. Our lawyers at The Button Law Firm are recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Call us at 214-699-4409, email us at intake@buttonlawfirm.com, or fill out a contact form for a free case evaluation.
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