As the parent of a toddler or preschooler, you know all too well the mess that can come from a young child being in the bathroom. You know the frustration of cleaning up a clogged toilet after a toy is flushed or water on the floor after a good splashing session in the sink.
However, you also know that having young children in the bathroom can cause much more than a mess. Many bathroom dangers can lead to serious or fatal injuries. While your child is at daycare, you trust daycare staff to protect your child from these dangers.
Daycare Bathroom Safety Risks
For adults, bathrooms are generally not risky places. However, for children, there are many bathroom dangers. These dangers include:
- Falls. When left alone, many children like to climb. An unattended child who climbs on top of the toilet or sink may fall and suffer a broken bone, head injury, internal injury, or another injury. Additionally, if wet floors are not promptly dried, a child could slip and fall and suffer similar injuries.
- Electrical shocks. Bathrooms, particularly in home-based daycares, often have electrical outlets near the sinks. All outlets should be covered with child safety covers to prevent burns and electrical shocks.
- Drownings. A young child can drown in just a few inches of water. Even if there is not a bathtub or shower in the daycare bathroom, there is enough water in the toilet and sink to create a drowning risk.
- Poisonings. The cleaners used to maintain a sanitary bathroom contain potentially toxic chemicals. If bathroom cleaners are stored in the bathroom, then they should be in a locked space that is inaccessible to children to prevent children from tasting or ingesting the poisons.
It is the daycare’s responsibility to take reasonable measures to prevent these bathroom accident injuries while teaching children to use the toilet safely and independently.
Is the Daycare Liable for Bathroom Injuries?
Many young kids lack the self-control and maturity to be left alone in the bathroom. Accordingly, it is essential for Texas daycares to:
- Supervise children in the bathroom. Children’s privacy should be respected. However, a qualified childcare provider should be in or near the bathroom to make sure that children are safe. Additionally, groups of children should not be in a bathroom unattended.
- Have safe bathroom facilities. For example, it is essential to have toilets and sinks that children can safely reach and to ensure that there is a way to unlock a bathroom door from the outside if a child can lock the bathroom door from the inside.
Bathroom accidents are easily foreseeable. Therefore, daycares should take reasonable steps to prevent these accidents from happening and to keep young kids safe from bathroom injuries.
Take Steps to Protect Your Child’s Bathroom Injury Recovery Today
After any daycare injury, there are a few steps that you can take to protect your child’s rights.
- Get a medical exam. Take your child to the doctor or hospital for a diagnosis and treatment plan.
- Review the daycare incident report. If done correctly, the incident report will include relevant information about how your child got hurt. If an incident report is not provided, then you should ask the daycare to provide it to you.
- Contact a Texas daycare injury lawyer. Our attorneys will find out if your child was hurt due to inadequate staffing, untrained staff, unsafe facilities, or another form of daycare negligence, and we will fight to get your child the full and fair recovery that your child deserves.
You sent your child to daycare because your child is too young to care for himself. The daycare accepted the responsibility to keep your child safe when the daycare agreed to enroll your child in its program. If that did not happen, and your child was hurt in a bathroom-related accident, please contact us today to schedule an initial consultation about your child’s rights and potential recovery.
