Reporting accidents

I need advice. Ryan just told me tonight that he didn't have fun at Montessori today because he fell backwards off the swing and landed on his head.

Granted, kids are going to fall, I get that. But for a 3-year old to fall backward off a swing onto his head, I think I'd want to know about that. Am I being overly neurotic?

Of course I flash immediately to a story that DH's office manager is going through right now. Apparently her 13-year-old daughter went to the park with the YMCA. She was on one of those merry-go-round thingies and flew off, hitting her head hard enough that she saw stars / blacked out for a few seconds. No one said anything because she immediately got up and started running around again. Within a few days she was vomiting, headaches, etc. Her mom eventually pieced everything together. A year later her daughter is now in special ed classes when she used to be in AP.

I'm wondering if I should call the school tomorrow to ask. If nothing else I just want to see what their procedure is for reporting accidents. How would you handle this?

[rainbabies]

def. call. you have a right to know...and if there was a communication breakdown with the school, the admin. should be notified.

[DCJenn]

definitely call- but not tomorrow because no one will be there.

My brother fell backwards off the high dive onto the cement and no one from the pool notified my mom. He was fine but....she's still quaking when she thinks about the 'what if's'

Jenn

[houseelf]

I'd approach it in as nonthreatening a way as possible: Hi, DS told me that he fell off the swing yesterday? Is this the fantastical imagination of a three year old or did this actually happen. This way the teacher is not on the offensive from the get go.

Kelly

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Reporting accidents

I need advice. Ryan just told me tonight that he didn't have fun at Montessori today because he fell backwards off the swing and landed on his head.

Granted, kids are going to fall, I get that. But for a 3-year old to fall backward off a swing onto his head, I think I'd want to know about that. Am I being overly neurotic?

Of course I flash immediately to a story that DH's office manager is going through right now. Apparently her 13-year-old daughter went to the park with the YMCA. She was on one of those merry-go-round thingies and flew off, hitting her head hard enough that she saw stars / blacked out for a few seconds. No one said anything because she immediately got up and started running around again. Within a few days she was vomiting, headaches, etc. Her mom eventually pieced everything together. A year later her daughter is now in special ed classes when she used to be in AP.

I'm wondering if I should call the school tomorrow to ask. If nothing else I just want to see what their procedure is for reporting accidents. How would you handle this?

Take him to the ER, get him checked out--MRI, the whole nine yards, and send the bill to the school.

Just kidding!

But you should DEFINITELY address it. What if he'd really been hurt?!! He might have sustained a real but not easily apparent injury!

[Ravenclaw]

No they definitely should have told you. I agree with everyone else, bring it up in a non-accusatory way and ask them to notify you if anything like that happens in the future. I would probably take him to his doctor too just in case, but I'm not a mom.

[samssugarmomma]

I agree with bringing it up in an non-accustory way.

And also looking up what your state requirements are for how the center/school is supposed to notify the parents. That way you'll know if they are not following the state requirements. For ours, I just did a google search - "Ohio daycare state requirements" to find them.

[Meenah]

Call them and keep a close eye on him.

[MDPhDWife]

I agree about approaching the teacher in a non accusatory tone and see what she says. I would end the conversation with, "thanks for the info, would you mind sending a note home or calling me about any future incidents?"

DD1's school calls and sends notes home all the time about her bonking her head. DD2 choked on a meatball in preschool and had to be given the heimlich manuver by 2 teachers to dislodge it. I was notified by phone immediately afterwards, as was the program director and the state. I was scared to death! To this day DD2 says the eyeball hurt her.

Oh my gosh, that must have been horrible! The eyeball thing is funny, though.

I talked briefly to the school, they knew nothing about the incident but explained they do send letters home, blah blah blah, so I let it go.

Of course the day he fell Ryan took a 5 hour nap when he got home from school ... That could have been bad...
I'm just glad he seems okay now.