Doctor visits after a daycare accident. Children by nature are curious, they love to explore their surroundings and investigate new interesting findings. When not supervised by an adult, these adventures can lead a child to danger very quickly. That’s why it’s so important to have qualified daycare employees that care about their jobs and the children. Too many children get hurt at Texas daycares because they were neglected by teachers. 

The main thing you’ll want to do when you find out your child has been injured while at daycare is seek medical attention immediately. 

Even if there is nothing visible, you want to take them to the hospital for diagnostic testing, such as X-Rays and MRIs, and follow up with their pediatrician. Whether you are informed of an injury by the daycare center, or you discover it on your own at home later, your first step should always be a visit to the emergency room. Having the injury assessed and treated is important, not only for your child’s health and healing but for an injury claim you may later make. 

The medical records will document the timing and seriousness of the injury, which will play a fundamental role in any future settlement. Also, you will want to keep a record of all treatment expenses. 

Why Do I Need To Take My Child To The Emergency Room After A Daycare Injury? 

The reason why you should take your child to the emergency room is that children can’t truly express the pain they are in. A lot of times the children that get injured at daycare haven’t learned how to talk yet and if they can talk, they aren’t the best at forming detailed sentences explaining the pain they are in.

Some of the injuries babies and children in daycare commonly suffer from include the following:

  • Bumps and bruises: Children sustain these minor injuries all the time. However, there can be serious underlying injuries, such as head injuries and internal organ damage. Simply tripping on an exposed cord can lead to a nasty bump on the head. However, if your child is regularly coming home with bruises, you should pay the daycare center a visit to make sure play areas are neat and that children’s behavior is being controlled by a supervisor. If you suspect your child has been abused by a caregiver, go to a doctor for an evaluation of the injury.   
     
  • Broken bones and dislocated joints: An infant rolling off a changing table or an older child being thrown off a negligently maintained swing set can result in a dislocation or broken bone. These incidents are usually the result of a lack of supervision or proper maintenance of the property. In the worst-case scenario, a child may have been forcefully grabbed by a caregiver or slammed to the ground, leading to a dislocated shoulder or broken arm.
     
  • Head trauma: If a child in daycare suffers a blow to the head, the parent should be called immediately. If the child is unconscious, the daycare provider should also call 911. Head injuries often don’t result in outward symptoms, meaning a caregiver may try to hide the fact that a child hit his head. This negligent act should be investigated, and the caregiver should be held responsible.
     
  • Burns and shocks: Burns will leave an obvious physical injury, and will need to be seen by a doctor immediately to start treatment on the injury. The way children get burn injuries is by teachers being careless and putting items such as hot plates or bottle warmers in a child's reach causing them to injure their fragile skin. Other negligence cases we have seen are where daycares didn’t take the correct precautions in covering hot glass windows and when a child touched the glass their hands got severely burned. Electrical outlets that are not safety-proofed can also shock a child who inserts a toy or utensil. A daycare center could be negligent of failing to provide a safe environment and failing to supervise children in a burn or shock incident.
     
  • Infections: Kids get sick—especially kids in schools or daycares. However, when your child is infected by a bacteria or virus common in unhygienic settings, you may have a case for negligence or child endangerment. Food poisoning, roundworm, gastroenteritis, and beaver fever can all be prevented by proper cleaning and food handling.
     
  • Playground Injuries: Playground injuries can easily result in broken bones and brain injuries. Kids don’t fully understand when a bone snaps or breaks. They may just refer to it as a “boo-boo” and only a doctor will be the only one to see the severity of the injury. When daycare facilities are understaffed they aren’t able to properly supervise every child in the playground which will lead to teachers not knowing when or how an injury occurred. One example we have seen is where a teacher does not notice that young kids are playing with a jump rope on a slide. This resulted in a child being strangled by the jump rope by the slide. Because the teacher wasn’t paying attention, the child now has to live the rest of their life with a serious injury.  You should be concerned if they don’t know what caused your child to get injured.
     
  • Heatstroke:  This is the most common injury daycare centers try to cover up and underplay how big the problem is causing parents to let their guard down. Dangerous Texas weather can easily cause a child to have a heat stroke. Heatstroke can lead to significant organ and brain damage. Whether the kid was left outside or in a vehicle, the internal injuries can be long-lasting. All daycare teachers in Texas should have an understanding of the signs and symptoms of heatstroke.  

​​After you’ve left the hospital, you might want to go to a specialist. A pediatrician can only do so much if you know that your child’s injuries are serious - it won’t hurt to visit a specialist to ensure your child is receiving the best course of treatment for their injuries. 

Be An Advocate For Your Child - Be Aware Of The “Cover-Up” Tactic Daycares Use

Most children that get injured while at daycare can’t speak for themselves, you need to be an advocate for your child. Make sure that nothing gets left untreated and that you don’t leave the hospital or doctor’s room until you feel confident that everything has been checked. 

We expect daycare facilities to be honest when it comes to the injuries that happened to a child, unfortunately, this is not always the case. Many times the daycare teacher will downplay the severity of an injury to protect themselves or the facility. We hear from parents that the daycare did not tell them the truth about what happened until we completed our investigation. This is what we call a cover-up

The very least a parent deserves is to know what happened to their child. We also expect the daycare facility to hold themselves accountable for what happened to your child, not hide from the truth for their own benefit. 

You hate to think of your child’s daycare as a dangerous place, but if the evidence suggests that your child is not well supervised or the facility is not clean and safe, you owe it to your child and others in the community to take action.

What Can The Button Law Firm Do To Help With Your Family's Daycare Negligence Abuse And Negligence Case? 

Call the Texas Daycare Injury attorney at The Button Law Firm to learn more about these types of child injury cases. If you have just found out that your child has been injured at daycare, please don’t hesitate to call us at 214-699-4409. We are here to help you, we have dealt with many daycare negligence cases and we have seen it all. Even if it’s not a case, we will make sure to help you through the correct steps to take next to make sure you get justice as well as making sure no other child ever has to go through a similar scenario. 

Russell Button
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Dallas, Houston, and Midland Texas trial and personal injury lawyer dedicated to securing justice for clients.