Daycare Injuries: Feeling the Heat

When we pick our children up from daycare, we usually ask them how their days went, and we smile to hear stories of songs, games, and other activities. There is something incredibly reassuring about having our children tell us how much fun they are having, and we assume that if they don’t tell us anything bad, then nothing bad is going on. But sometimes, this is a false reassurance.

So many things can go wrong when we trust another person with our child. It’s bad enough when a daycare provider doesn’t share with us a dangerous situation, but it’s even worse when we ask specifically and are lied to. A case out of Connecticut illustrates just how narrowly a tragedy can be averted without the parent even knowing.

Just last month, a Virginia woman left her three-month-old daughter at an East Granby daycare. When she picked the child up, she noted her daughter felt warm, but the staff told her they suspected the girl was just teething. The woman believed them because she had no reason not to.

It was only because a police report had been filed that this young mother learned what had really happened–that her daughter had been left in a hot car for nearly half an hour while the staff picked up other children. When the police called the woman to follow up on the report, she was horrified and terrified at what might have been.

Not using daycare isn’t an option for a lot of parents, so they must trust their intuition, especially with children who are too young to speak. When selecting a daycare, please be sure you:

• Don’t settle for easy answers if you feel something is wrong
• Try to find a daycare that allows online monitoring
• Seek out daycares that don’t require children to accompany staff to pick up other children
• Share anything you learn with other parents to help keep all children safe

If your child has been injured in a daycare environment, you must do everything you can to hold those responsible accountable. People like those who run the Connecticut daycare can maintain their license for years and years if parents don’t do the right thing. Sometimes it can be hard to know just what to do. If you need help pursuing the proper course of action, don’t hesitate to contact a lawyer who can guide you down the right path.