Daycare Guide: What Houston Parents Should Know About Playground Injuries at Daycare Centers

What Parents Should Know About Playground Injuries at Daycares in Texas

While playgrounds with slides, swings, and monkey bars spark joy for little ones, more than 200,000 children across the United States visit an emergency room each year because of injuries sustained on a playground, as reported by the National Safety Council. Sadly, children who attend Houston daycare centers are not immune to these injuries.

Our Houston playground accident lawyers at The Button Law Firm are raising awareness of the potential dangers of playscapes and playgrounds at daycare centers throughout Houston, and what to do in the event their child is injured at a daycare center in Atascocita, Bellaire, Clear Lake, Conroe, Cypress, Deer Park, Friendswood, Humble, Jersey Village, Katy, Lake Jackson, League City, Missouri City, Pasadena, Pearland, Richmond, Rosenberg, Spring, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, and Tomball.

Causes of Playground Injuries at Houston Daycare Centers

At recess time, young children who attend Houston daycare centers are focused on having fun and playing with their friends. Their young minds are not developed or mature enough to factor in things like safety and dangerous situations. That’s why Houston parents who place their children in local daycare centers trust that the facility has taken every precaution to provide a safe environment, even on a playground. The good news is that a vast majority of playground injuries are avoidable.

Through our work fighting and advocating for Houston families and children who have experienced a daycare injury, we have seen firsthand how these incidents can be easily prevented. The most common playground injuries at Houston daycare centers are caused by:

Lack of Supervision

All experienced caregivers know the importance of supervising children on a daycare center’s playground. Most playscapes in Houston offer children a variety of structures with a range of heights for climbing, jumping, and swinging. While playscapes can be fun for little ones, without proper supervision or even assistance from a caregiver, falls from the elevations can cause broken bones, bruises, and even traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In fact, the National Safety Council estimates that 20,000 children are treated for these types of serious head injuries after an incident on a playground.

In addition, a lack of supervision can lead to incidents of bullying and subsequent injuries. Our daycare injury lawyers helped one family get justice after a toddler came home with scrapes on the face caused by other children throwing landscaping wood chips on the playground. This injury was 100% preventable had a caregiver properly supervised their actions and intervened.

Unmaintained Playground Equipment

An unmaintained premises (in this case, a playground that is not kept in good condition) can have hazards such as a broken slide with sharp edges, torn ropes, and monkey bars with rusted nails or protruding screws. If left unkept, these dangerous conditions can harm children at Houston daycare centers and result in deep cuts requiring stitches, scrapes that could get infected, or even finger injuries.

That is why Houston daycare centers should address safety issues and regularly inspect their playground areas for hazards that could potentially hurt children.

Age-appropriate Playground Equipment

Playgrounds at Houston daycare centers are not one-size-fits-all for young children. There should be at least two play areas appropriate for different age groups. The reason is simple: equipment meant for older kids can end up harming younger children. Sadly, 68% of fatal playground incidents were caused by strangulation over a seven-year period. These tragic incidents can happen when little ones get their head caught in a rope ladder intended for bigger kids or have a jump rope on or near a slide.

Kids Forgotten on the Playground

Unfortunately, young children can be accidentally left outside on a playground—in extreme hot or cold temperatures—when Houston daycare workers are not properly trained or supervised.

Our Houston daycare lawyers got justice for a family after an 11-month-old boy was left alone on the playground for two hours in 39-degree weather. The boy was diagnosed with bronchitis following the incident, but it could have turned into a more dire situation if no one noticed he was still outside.

As we’ve stated, a majority of injuries that occur on playgrounds at Houston daycare centers are preventable with the proper safety measures in place. If your child was seriously injured because of safety shortcuts on a playground at a Houston-area daycare center, reach out to our Houston daycare lawyers by calling 281-857-6116 or filling out a contact form.

What Houston Parents Should Do After a Child Is Injured on a Playground at Daycare

Here are five steps every parent should follow when a child is hurt on a playground at a Houston-area daycare center:

1. Seek immediate medical attention by taking your child to an emergency room at Houston’s Texas Children’s Hospital or Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, an urgent care center, or your pediatrician’s office. The full extent of the injuries may not be known, especially if the child has a concussion or any broken bones.
2. Request an incident report from the daycare. Houston daycares are required by law to notify parents about incidents and injuries that happen at the facility. It’s important to get a detailed incident report as soon as you can. The incident report may be useful in a potential lawsuit to hold the daycare center accountable for any injuries to your child.
3. Report the incident to Texas Department of Family and Protective Services by calling the Texas Abuse Hotline at 800-252-5400. The state needs to know about all daycare injury incidents, even if your child’s playground incident seems minor. A record of a Houston daycare center’s deficiencies could help protect other children from future injury.
4. Inform yourself and investigate. Talk to the daycare center’s employees and administrators to find out as much information about the incident as possible. Also, speak with other parents of children in your child’s classroom to see if similar incidents have occurred to them at the daycare center.
5. Know your rights. As a parent, you have a right to seek compensation for any medical expenses that helped your child’s recovery or any damages (remedy from the daycare center). Houston-area families have a legal right to file a lawsuit to hold negligent daycare centers and caregivers accountable for their reckless actions. Reach out to our experienced Houston daycare injury lawyers by calling 281-857-6116 or filling out a contact form.

More helpful tips on what Houston parents can do following a child’s playground injury can be found here.

Schedule a Free Consultation with Our Houston Playground Accident Lawyers

Our team of experienced and compassionate Houston daycare injury attorneys at The Button Law Firm is dedicated to advocating for you and your family if your child was seriously hurt on a playground while in the care of a Houston childcare facility. We have successfully helped families get justice after a child was hurt on a daycare’s playground:

1. Parents Not Told The Severity of Their Child’s Injury After His Arm Was Hurt
2. Daycare Held Accountable for Toddler’s Injuries Caused by Safety Failures
3. School Left Toddler On Playground in Near Freezing Temperatures
4. How The Button Law Firm Helped a Family After Their Child’s Finger Injury

With attorneys in Houston, we are ready to listen and fight for families in Atascocita, Bellaire, Clear Lake, Conroe, Cypress, Deer Park, Friendswood, Humble, Jersey Village, Katy, Lake Jackson, League City, Missouri City, Pasadena, Pearland, Richmond, Rosenberg, Spring, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, and Tomball. Our attorneys 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 281-857-6116 or fill out a contact form for a free consultation.