My 2 year old son keeps getting home with deep scratches from day care! What can I do?

Oh wow. That is WAY too many incident reports!! What are these teachers doing the while time. They certainly are not watching what is going on the whole time, or they would be able to stop most of these actions right before they happen.

I would talk to the teacher... ask if it is the same student that is scratching your son. If it is, ask her what discipline techniques they are using on this child, and what preventative actions they are taking to help that student not use violent actions.

I would also find out what time of day this is happening. Free play in the class, outdoor/gym play, or what. And have the teacher keep a special eye on your son during those times.

I sure hope things get figured out soon! If not, I would consider removing your child from this school.

Call state daycare licensing since the supervisor does nothing.

Your child needs to be properly supervised. Some states have terrible chid to staff ratios, and its hard to provide good care. But the class obviously has some behavior issues common in toddler rooms. The staff should know the aggressive kids and watch out and try to redirect and change the misbehaviors in the classroom.

Another option is to randomly drop in the classroom around 10-11 AM and see what is REALLY going on in the classroom after all the parents are gone. How many kids are in class? Are the teachers actively teaching? Working with the kids? Are there enough toys / equipment for the room and number of kids? Many centers that look good at the first visit can be totally different during the day.

Here is a link for California

http://ccld.ca.gov/PG408.htm

4 incident reports in 9 days definitely is a lot. But I used to work in a daycare with 1 to 2 year olds mostly and there were a few times I had to write up around that many reports in a short amount of time for one child (mostly it was for biting or scratching other kids). Unfortunately in a classroom full of little kids, especially ones as young as 1 and 2 years old this kind of things happens a lot, and no matter how much the teachers and assistants try to stop it from happening it will still happen as little kids are fast when it comes to hurting each other.

Did you find out if it’s the same kid doing it? I know they can’t legally tell you who is doing it, but we were allowed to tell the parents if it was the same child all the time. And if it was we would do everything we could to keep that child away from the one they were hurting (if it’s only one child they are targeting, which sometimes is the case and sometimes isn’t).

I know it can be very frustrating and I wouldn’t want my child to be getting hurt nearly every day at daycare, but when you put a lot of little kids in one room it does tend to make it hard to control them all, all the time.

I would try to set up a meeting with the teacher and who every else supervises your child, as well as the director so that you can see if you guys can come up with a solution to this problem, so that your son doesn’t keep getting hurt and so you can know that your son will be as safe as possible while you go to work.

Hope this helps and good luck!!!

EDIT: I don't think your son is getting bullied as the child who is doing this is probably around the same age as your son and at that age they don't usually hurt to be mean, they do it because another child took their toy or they thought that another child was going to take their toy. Most of these incidents that happen with biting and scratching usually involve fighting over a toy (little kids can be very possessive over toys, especially when there are lots of other kids around who could take those toys)

Having worked in childcare centers, I can tell you they are doing everything right by giving incident reports. I would suggest you speak with the teacher in the classroom and see what might be happening. The supervisor/manager of the center is likely not in the class when it happens. They cannot legally tell you who is doing the scratching, but they can remove the offending child from the class or something similar to it.

The person in charge should be able to discuss your options with you. However, it is unlikely anything will change. 11 reports in such a short period of time is a bit much, however its not uncommon for newer children to get hurt more often in daycare settings because they are not used to sharing with other kids or being around other kids. I would sit down and discuss options with the center director/supervisor and see what he or she can do for you. The police can't do anything unless you can prove child neglect.

Your first step should be to sit down and discuss your options, whether that's moving your child to a different room or whatever. If things do not change after this first meeting then you should look into alternative care options.

Police

Didn't the incident reports explain the scratches to your satisfaction? How did they happen? Are the explanations clear and understandable? Ask questions, go in and observe for a while, see what's going on for yourself. By the way, injuries don't automatically indicate 'bullying'.

I am guessing that this might be the playground equipment of the fencing so go in, check it out and find the source of the scratching and get them to handle it.

A two year son became the victim of bullying, you should talk with the police or related legal departments thus the superviser failed to do his/her duty.

Pull him out and get another day care centre and report on them.

Lord!!! Take it up with the police!