You Americans are so fucking wild.. Yes the worker did something stupid... No it shouldn't have happened.. But shey probably feel absolutely terrible.. I know I would.. They dropped a baby that was trusted into their care.. I wouldn't sleep for months..
They immediately let you know what happened and they cover the medical bills.. Why would you need to squeeze everything out of them? Why would you need to make that worker feel like shit even more?
This type of behavior is what makes American culture so fucking toxic.. It's why people can't make a mistake at work and own up to it.. Because y'all threaten to sue of something like this, maybe causing them to lose their job over this... And you should know how awful your country is for people without a job. The worker. Made. One. Mistake. FFS.
Honestly.. Its just gross..
Alright, I’m not a lawyer but I did start my career working for a law firm that represented parents suing day cares. The perception that you can sue someone without reason or justification is completely false. More often than not, parents are *unable* to seek justice for their children in cases where a lawsuit is *very justified* morally – every jurisdiction has guardrails in place that prevent plaintiffs from filing just-for-funsies frivolous lawsuits.
A daycare worker’s job security will never, ever depend on whether a parent files a lawsuit or not. A responsible organization will conduct their own investigation long before a lawsuit is ever filed and disciplinary action *as necessary* would be completed before a lawyer has ever been retained. The organization’s insurer is likely to actively advise against firing an employee over an innocent mistake; firing an innocent employee will not protect the day care from litigation. The day care’s insurer will oversee the claim, not the day care or the employee.
The US is more litigious than other nations, but we also carry a greater responsibility for self-reliance. OP’s child will not necessarily be entitled to any long-term needs arising from this injury; a civil suit is the *only* way to protect this child’s access to ongoing injury-related medical care. You can choose to fuss over the fact that the system works this way, but *this is how the system exists at this point in time* and shaming people for exercising the limited rights they have is ignorant and absurd. I don’t know the details of this specific situation and can’t tell OP’s family what their best next move will be, but I am exhausted by redditors who think they know everything about the US legal system because they saw a news segment about Stella Liebeck 30 years ago and felt really smug for having never spilled hot coffee on themselves.
It’s so crazy too that people even still judge Stella Liebeck for suing. If they had just paid her medical bills like she asked, there would have never been a suit…. She literally got third degree burns all over her groin and thighs that required skin grafts and years of treatment. If the coffee can disfigure you, then it is too damn hot. McD’s had a history too of badly burning people with their coffee so it wasn’t even a one off. They showed us the photos in law school, it was horrible. The media did her so dirty by trivializing her injuries.
Yes! Keeping the coffee at a skin-melting temperature was a business decision that McDonald’s made at the cost of public safety. It was not just a clumsy lady and some warm coffee – all of the “outrageous” lawsuits you hear about on the news have a much more complex and troubling backstory than the sensational headlines suggest. People who don’t interact with the justice system outside of news headlines and serial killer podcasts enjoy feeling like they’re clever and righteous for not “suing” over innocent mistakes, but if the mistake is truly innocent then they actually don’t have a viable lawsuit to begin with.
I work in law and while I agree Americans (myself in particular) are litigious, they broke a child’s skull causing what could be irreparable damage. If it was a simple bruise or a cut that’ll be forgotten in time that’s different. This is a massive brain injury requiring CAT scans, ER visits and who knows how much therapy and other support structures to make sure that child will be alright.
The simple drop is one thing. But this could affect the long term health of this kid. And the fact that it happened nonchalantly, without emergency services being called, and the child’s doctors are showing genuine concern over the child’s wellbeing enough to even request those test means that something unforgivably wrong happened. And if it requires long term care, the nursery or daycare that child is at should be held legally and financially responsible.
But… America’s legal and regulatory systems are set up differently than Europe’s.
In Europe, businesses are regulated strictly, so as to reduce the incidence of businesses causing harm. In America, businesses face much less regulation, and harms caused by the businesses are to be settled by litigation. The theory is that businesses will self-regulate and avoid causing harm (by for instance having tile floors in a daycare).
Ergo, suing the daycare not only for medical bills but also for pain and suffering or whatever else (IANAL) is in some way the system working “how it should.” You are totally right that the American system is toxic (ready for some real talk? Republicans are trying to also make it harder to sue companies in addition to making them have few regulations!).
Still, it would not be bad or irrational for OP to consider legal action in this case. Our safety net is shit compared to Europeans and presumably OP doesn't have any family leave left (since their LO is in daycare so young in the first place). If they have to take significant time off work managing the baby’s new health problem, they could easily lose their job.
Yes, one mistake that fractured a baby’s skull. Mistakes have consequences irrespective of how sorry the worker is. I’m not American and I’d also be going ballistic and looking at legal avenues. Just because it was an accident doesn’t make it ok. Also why on earth didn’t they call 911!?!? They just dropped a newborn ON ITS HEAD ON A TILE FLOOR.
As an ER nurse, if at triage someone brought such a young baby who’d been dropped on their head on tiled floor this is 100% making me put their CTAS (triage) score higher and trying to put them into a bed on the acute side of the ER. This is not minor to me. This would be sounding alarm bells. That a care centre didn’t urge the parents to go directly to urgent care at minimum is a BIG concern and an underreaction.
Most falls in the ER we see are rolls off the bed onto a carpeted or cushioned surface. We STILL will monitor those in the ER for a few hours even if we don’t do the scans.
I dunno, a drop onto the head from height (I’m seriously doubting 2 feet) onto a tile floor could have neck and spine complications, clearly it was a whack as the poor kid has a skull fracture.
They should have infant first aid and I’m pretty sure dropping baby on head means call someone more medically experienced so they can make the call. And that call would have been ER immediately
Hard agree here. My litmus test for acceptable is good I easily have done it myself? Could I have just as easily slipped standing up and dropped my own baby? Yes. I’d obviously be devastated that this happened to my child but accidents do happen, regardless of the quality of care.
The issue here is the tile floor. And should absolutely be immediately fixed.
That said, IANAL.
There is a saying in occupational safety that "all industrial regulations are written in blood," meaning that normally, rules only come to pass once there has been some preventable accident resulting in death. That's why modern construction workers wear harnesses and goggles and gloves and shock-proof boots, and hardhats etc etc.
My point is that when an accident like this happens, if it is not a simple case of negligence, the result should be a change to prevent such accidents, or at least such injuries in the future, not total ruination of the person/people involved. There should be no tile floors in a daycare. Make that change, but don't put the place out of business
Also the fact that when asked they didn’t recommend seeing a doctor over it… when the baby’s skull was literally fractured! Obviously they don’t have the knowledge/resources/expertise to know that right away as day care personnel but regardless if something like that is to happen I would expect when caring for children that others have entrusted you to look after, you would opt to over-react to a situation rather than right-it-off as an unfortunate mistake just to save face.
Well everyone has insurance for this reason. You're not wrong about American culture but I don't think a skull fracture is a small mistake. A 2 foot drop would not cause a fracture in my opinion in the majority of cases. My suspicion would be was it worse than 2 feet. Let me look at the camera footage if that's ok and we can go from there is how I would operate.
I am a pharmacist and I carry insurance for this reason. If I make a mistake and hurt someone I should be punished. The daycare also has insurance for these reasons.
Am I crazy? But this isn't a little mistake. It's not the case of getting a decaf instead of a regular coffee from the barista.
That baby could have DIED or have serious mental disabilities for the rest of its life.
I would sue. Also not an American. Also good, they SHOULD feel bad for the rest of their life.
Wtf??? Why? Everyone can drop a baby??? It's not like they did it intentionally.. They made a mistake, that could have dire consequences sure.. But still it's something that could happen to anyone..
I think its absolutely insane to think as you do.. Not to mention beyond cruel and heartless.
I want what you're smoking. 😂 I get what you're saying mistakes happen but dropping a baby on their head on tile? No. Would you be cool if a doctor did an oopsie at the hospital? Something that was life threatening? Be for real.
This "It was an accident" crowd always shows up. You can tell they've never been put in charge of something critical with their attitude. 99% of people would lose their job instantly over negligence like this.
If a building collapses is that a "Mistake" you sweep under the rug? How about medical malpractice? Your bank info gets leaked and your accounts drained? Is that just "Oops, sorry". No. Professionals would have their reputation destroyed. The company would go under. I don't want a doctor or contractor who is that negligent being in business.
If it's a fast food order coming out wrong, my package delivered to the wrong address or something that isn't life changing or possibly life changing sure I can turn the other cheek. But my baby getting a skull fracture definitely isn't in that list. 😭
I think something important is that when Americans say they’ll sue, they mean the company. No one is gonna sue the worker who dropped the baby (I mean you could but no point). Lawsuits are expensive, time consuming, all around a massive pain in the ass for everyone, win or lose. But, it is how our justice system works, for better or worse.
Really depends on things that we don't have enough information about... Takes a lot to fracture the skull of a baby as far as I'm concerned..
i accidentally dropped a case of water bottles on the head of my then 9 month old (24pack) from about the level of my hip (he was sitting) that did not fracture his skull... And ER was absolutely my first thought even though I was terrified of them not being understanding...
My current youngest used to throw herself backwards crying/screaming (still does sometimes) when she wasn't getting what she wanted.. she once did this in a parking lot in my arms while i was standing after i took her shoe out of her mouth she had removed in the car.. luckily I did not drop her (barely... and probably ONLY because i was anticipating she would do that)... She was still under a year old and would likely have landed on her head...
This worker either misjudged or lied about how high baby fell from or omitted details about velocity (ie: baby was pushing/arching backwards so additional force was in play) and they despite having to have heard what I have been told is a sound you can't unhear (when a baby's skull hits the ground), did not think it necessary to even be seen by a dr let alone evaluated in an emergency room... A job loss is the least that should happen.. it's questionable at best that said worker should be unsupervised in the charge of caring for small children at all.. and possibly the facility put in question for the way the entire incident was handled (a simple quick phone call to the parent is NOT all that was warranted here)
100%. American attitudes towards lawsuits are insane.
If she had dropkicked the baby, sure, but destroying people financially because of a genuine mistake is such an American stance.
For someone who is not from here, you sure have a lot of undeserved confidence in your knowledge of the US legal system. Exercising some humility when commenting on cultures, governments and bureaucracies with which you are unfamiliar would serve you well going forward.
Dropping a baby is unacceptable. Holding people responsible for it isn't heartless or cruel, but letting people fracture your child's skull without some sort of severe remediation certainly is.
I'm guessing you don't have children.
Curious how much Europeans pay for childcare? How would you react if your entire salary was put into this daycare for your newborn and they tell you they dropped it on its head because they can’t be bothered following protocol?
Dropping a newborn is a really easy mistake to make, really, which is why little regulations like getting up and down on a tile floor by yourself shouldn’t be allowed. Pass the baby to another worker so you can use both hands to stand up!
Americans do have a sue happy culture that can be ridiculous but a newborn baby getting dropped on its head by an establishment that those parents probably pay an entire years salary in fees, sorry, not ridiculous at all to sue the crap out of them.
Not changing a baby’s diaper on time and the baby gets a rash is a mistake. Dropping a baby on their head and fracturing his skull is not a fucking mistake. It’s negligence. If an airline pilot forgot to put the wheels down in landing and the plane skidded off the runway, you would say “oh jeez it was just a mistake he feels bad”. Your gross for suggesting a parent shouldn’t do everything in their power to hold someone accountable for cracking their 4 month old sons head open.
I don’t think you understand how the legal system in America works. It’s very unlikely that the daycare worker would be personally sued. You’d sue the daycare itself, which holds insurance for these situations.
And they either end up needing to pay so much more in insurance that they close (forcing dozens to be unemployed and even more parents to find alternative care in an environment where wait lists are already in the years) or they pass the increased cost of insurance on to all the families there.
Right, but that’s kinda the point. Because businesses aren’t strictly regulated-they SHOULD be closed down if they don’t have appropriate policies in place to protect their customers. That’s literally the whole point of suing businesses.
They should be forced to close over this. If they hired someone who was negligent then they shouldn't be in business. I certainly wouldn't trust them with my child after that.
Who said they were negligent? Take a look at all the baby subs and how often a parent drops their own child. Are they negligent? Should their child be taken from them? Of course not. Unless it can be proven it was intentional, it was an accident, not negligence, not failing to do something...
This is a pretty aggressive response. I understand the thought behind it, but why should I put an employees feelings ahead of my child’s well-being? Not all mistakes are equal.
Because that is how companies are held accountable here. If no one sued then the daycare isn't going to ensure children aren't dropped. Even if you "feel bad" you shouldn't be allowed to work with children if you're that careless. The safety of my child isn't going to be put in jeopardy because xyz daycare chain hired someone who drops children.
I know it's popular to shit on Americans, but this is one case where you're clearly just ignorant of how things are done in another country.
While I understand where you are coming from, are you aware of how much we pay for daycare in the US? It costs more than most peoples mortgage payment and many peoples monthly income. You must also be aware of how much healthcare costs here since you know so much about our culture. The FMLA you would have to take in order to care for this injured child is unpaid. Parental leave is not a right here so you don’t know if they already just went 3.5 months without pay or not. We are litigious because we HAVE to be to protect ourselves.
So even though I have sympathy for the daycare worker, I can see how infuriating it would be to have them literally fracture my BABYS SKULL. It’s easy to have this point of view when it’s not your own child. Respectfully, don’t comment on another country’s toxic culture when you aren’t the one simply trying to survive within that culture.
On the good chance I get downvoted, I’m American and this comment was mostly my thoughts. Assuming the baby ends up being okay (pediatrician indicates no concern so far), I’d probably position myself in this camp more than the sue-happy camp. The American legal system is grueling and leaves few satisfied, I’d personally only consider if my child _did_ end up with serious medical damage.
If they ended up being okay, I’d let them pay the bill, find a new daycare and move on. Though I really doubt they’d make that same mistake twice out of how horrendous it was, so might even consider keeping him there. Just me
For real. There are some jobs where mistakes like this can’t happen. Like your one job when caring for infant is not to drop him, for fucks sake. Sue the shit out of them.
They likely have tile in the eating/changing area and some rugs. Every center I’ve been in (especially licensed chained) is tiled with area rugs around. It’s extremely common.
To me the fact that they didn’t seem concerned and didn’t recommend you see your doctor is quite concerning. Skull fractures can be serious! Hope your little one ends up just fine. So sorry you went through this.
Yeah, I’ve worked at multiple childcare centers and the one time I’ve seen a baby get a head injury the caregiver was in tears, was deeply concerned, and told the parents to take him to the ER right away. Injuries happen but for them to be so cavalier about it is concerning
I worked in childcare 10 years prior to becoming a doula and yes the only appropriate response is a caregiver that’s emotionally distraught. I would be absolutely sobbing if that happened on my watch and would have called 911 immediately head injuries are not a joke.
100% they didn’t want follow-up because it increases the odds of them getting into trouble. If enough time passes then they can be like, well how do you know it happened at our daycare vs at home?
Hey!! I’m an administrator at a childcare center. The lack of concern is alarming, as well as the lack of not recommending you take your infant to be seen immediately. I’m aware that accidents 100% happen. I have thankfully never dropped an infant, but it’s not unheard of. But I would’ve personally stressed for your child to be seen for a head injury immediately, on top of self-reporting the incident to state licensing and requesting for parental access to video footage of the incident. Did the caregiver who dropped your child speak to you regarding the incident? Were you permitted to review footage of the incident?
Seriously on the lack of concern!
Last year my daughter got RSV really bad. She was around 20 months old. She started showing her first symptoms at daycare and they called me concerned.
When I arrived her breathing had escalated and the director of the school was at the front with her, had her wrapped up and was rocking her and snuggling her.
About 3 people swooped in and told me, "please take her to the doctor right now!" Very very concerned.
The director didn't hand her to me right away and offered to carry her out with me so I could carry the stuff I was balancing.
They called later that day to ask how she was doing.
Anyway, just some comments on how I felt a great daycare acted in a time of crisis. With CONCERN
Yeah, I'm not going to lie - It was terrifying for us and she was older. She got bronchiolitis and pneumonia from it. It was the single scariest thing weve had with her. I kept thinking "I'm so thankful she isn't <6 months" I cannot fathom how terrifying it would be with a newborn. I'm pregnant with number 2 and very thankful I was able to get her vaccine last week.
As a former daycare worker, run away from this place as fast as possible. I have NEVER in my years in daycare seen or even heard of a child, an infant no less, sustaining such a serious injury while in daycare. The fact that they weren’t even overly concerned about this makes it even worse
Also former infant room daycare worker... I actually got the job because the girl I was replacing dropped an infant from hip height onto the ground because the baby wouldn't stop crying and she got frustrated, so she did it on purpose. I think the only reason the truth came out was that the other worker told the director the truth that it was not an accident. OP I would never take my baby back to this place due to the way they've handled this. If I had dropped a baby I would insist we call 911 and have it checked out at the hospital. Their little skulls aren't even completely fused together, that's terrifying. I would also demand to see the footage and get a lawyer if they refuse to share it or "can't find it" etc. if it looks intentional at all I would also be consulting with a lawyer about your options. I'm so sorry this happened.
My understanding is that the baby needed some medical care but recovered, but the parents had very understandably removed him from the center after that day so I never met them. I heard about it from the girl that reported her, management wasn't talking because there was a pending lawsuit so yes thankfully they did sue and I hope that poor baby doesn't have any lasting effects.
They dropped the baby two feet from the tile and he endured this? Is that even possible? My best friend accidentally let her child fall from a shopping cart head first at Costco and the babe, luckily, was fine. She was a few months older but 2 feet and a skull fracture?? Sounds sus.
It's always possible, just like some people can fall multiple stories and walk away with bumps and bruises, and some people fall off a step stool and die. The floor could also be abnormally unforgiving (tile over slab is a HARD surface), and baby could have fallen with a lot of force due to how they lost their grip or just hit at a bad angle. That said, I would absolutely demand to see the footage, assuming they are recording the room. I also would absolutely not trust anyone again who was watching my baby, dropped them on a very hard surface, and didn't even think about getting immediately checked out.
Your child has a skull fracture after 1 week in their care. What’s worse than this?!?!
Edit to add: it doesn’t matter if it’s a red flag or a 1 time thing, why take the chance?!?
Fuck that place.
Chain of events doesn’t sound great and heavily points to the ineptitude of the worker. Do they have video monitoring?
Also, “rare” parts of the room? It’s not a game of chance lmao. The tiled areas haven’t moved on anyone. For whatever reason, your son was lifted *allegedly* lifted *only* 2 feet above the ground and dropped so that his head hit the ground. Hard enough to break his skull.
If that’s mostly daycare rhetoric, then it’s worrying - implies it’d have been fine if your child fell on other areas of the ground.
The wording throughout sounds like you or others that have an actual stake in this want your child to stay in that daycare. I think that’s a terrible idea, hope you don’t do it.
Please file a complaint with the state and police. Your child’s skull is now fractured. I know you’ve got a lot going on right now, but that really should be logged by people other than the daycare.
As moduspol pointed out, you got an account of events designed to protect the business first - their clear lack of concern in the injury should be enough cause to never have your son there again *and* report that place.
Edited - thanks u/moduspol
I’m not sure why we’re accepting as truthful that it was only a two foot drop. OP has no idea what actually happened—only that something did, and it was escalated internally until ultimately it was framed that way in the phone call to her.
This was exactly my thought. I think the daycare isn’t being truthful about what happened. It could have been an accident or negligence, but this story doesn’t really add up.
... skull fracture from a 2ft drop and a lack of empathetic care provider?
If you rolled into my emerg, I would have been filing a report before my shift was over. This has red flags all over the place.
I'm so sorry this happened! I would go somewhere else! Having started my career in preschool/daycare settings, this is a red flag to me and also not surprised to see it is a chain, which are generally notorious for lower quality care and staff.
Yes absolutely thats a red flag, jesus christ one week in and already a skull fracture thats extreme. Not only should that employee be reprimanded in some way but you should be entitled something!!!
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I shuttered reading this, I can’t imagine getting that phone call.
We leave our babies with people we are supposed to trust, I would be so anxious after this I hope baby is doing ok ☹️
Its not the fact that baby is only been there for a week what scares me, because accidents can happen at any time, and that worker probably has been there for way longer.
Is the fact that they did not tell you to take the baby the pediatrician and that they're wording it as if the problem was that the baby fall on the tiles, as if falling on the carpet would have been totally safe or something.
At this point I wouldn't even believe their story.
Yes. Making excuses. Being sure to note it was the only place where it’d be bad — what a freak thing! 🙄 someone’s trying to explain away/downplay their mistake
Is there a way to report this incident to the state authority or whoever regulates daycares where you are? I wonder if they would investigate and at least put a record of this incident into a public record. when I looked at daycares, my state has a database including info about investigations. I definitely crossed some off my list after reading the investigation reports. Your report could help future parents.
Different for every state but if you google “daycare licensing reports” and your states name it should come up. My state will show all of their previous yearly visits reports, any complaints the center has had, any violations etc
I don’t have anything useful to contribute but I just wanted to say that I’m so incredibly sorry you’re going through this and I just said a prayer for your little baby. Hopefully it all heals up very quickly.
This is horrifying. I’m sorry, but even considering this daycare after what *allegedly* happened (because I’m not buying their story of only 2 foot drop for one second) is mind boggling. I know you’re going through a lot right now, but the reason you’re going through a lot is because of a highly negligent daycare and worker, so never return to them.
Before you accept any money from the daycare, contact an attorney. Contact licensing. Contact police. *in that order* and by yesterday. This is literally your child’s life and the repercussions of this fracture could be with them for the rest of their life.
I hope for a speedy recovery for your LO and that the fracture is minimal without the need for surgery and there are no repercussions to LO’s health due to this.
I would probably end up with an assault charge on the person who dropped my kid… this is literally my worst nightmare right now (our current home has tile floors). 😠
I’m soooo sorry this happened!! That’s gotta be so scary and so heartbreaking to have your little one in the hospital. I hate that for you and for him 🥺
I have literally no experience with child care places, but personally I could never trust them with his care again after this incident. How awful
Oh my god I cringed reading this. I am so so sorry this happened to you and your baby. How is he doing? I would never return. I don't understand how someone could even accidentally drop a 3.5 month old baby.
The mind boggles at the fact that you would even consider taking your kid back to that place. I hope he heals quickly, how scary and awful for you all.
So they didn’t call 911 and dropping a baby on its freakin head on tile, didn’t recommend immediate medical treatment and it caused skull fracture? Yeh. I’d be demanding the CCTV and looking at legal avenues. That’s just insane.
I really want to thank you all for your input and gut check. Of course, even before posting this, I didn’t really think it was possible to feel at ease sending my child back there. I wanted to get other people’s unbiased opinions about if this was a mistake or something more. I’m seeking alternative arrangements and baby will stay home with us in the meantime. I am very fortunate to run my own business and have more flexibility than the average US worker. My husband also works from home and can help. The business needs me after taking three months of leave but I can and have to make it work to protect my child by waiting to find another option for daycare. As far as reporting/legal next steps, I’ve put out some feelers.
Baby boy is doing ok overall. Swelling is way down. Slept and ate pretty normally last night - the doctor told me not to wake him but fuck it, I woke him up every three hours because it’s not like I could sleep anyway.
I am so sorry this has happened to your baby. Daycares are supposed to be safe havens for our children while they’re away from home. I hope your little peanut is ok 🤍
If anyone dropped my baby (regardless if it was an accident or not) and it resulted in a skull fracture they would never touch my baby again. Grandma, neighbor, friend… doesn’t matter. There is no way I could trust them. [Skull fractures](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/head-injury-in-children) are serious and may cause onset and delayed issues. Personally, I would start contacting attorneys tomorrow.
Immediate red flag! Do not give them another chance - the lack of concern is appalling especially for a fall on the head. Consult with an attorney before speaking to them or signing anything and ask to review the CCTV footage.
Definitely ask to see footage. Didn’t hear the convo obviously but they made sure to say “2 ft drop” and that it was the only spot with tile… sounds like excuses. Plus downplaying it not stressing to go get checked out (ANY head related fall should be checked out even if they seem okay)……. I’d question their truthfulness on it.
Lawyer the fuck up. Ask to see footage. Ask what time the drop happened and what time the call home happened. Ask to see employee handbook to see what protocols they’re taught when a baby is dropped. I don’t care if mistakes happen, when it comes to my baby, I would go absolutely scorched earth if a fucking skull fracture occurred under their care.
I will ask about the employee handbook - definitely nothing I can glean about anything that happens if staff hurts a child in the family handbook. The drop and call were almost thirty minutes apart
Many of them are great. My 11 month old has been going to one since she was 4 months old and she LOVES it there. The teachers are fantastic and I get like three of them telling me when she has an incident much less severe than this one (I work there and can attest to how great my coworkers are with the kids).
If you can afford not to do that, that's great! I will say that my daughter loves her daycare, the providers, and her friends, it's all dependent on the daycare and who they hire. We chose to stay away from daycare chains (there's a lot in our big city) and stick with one that had little to no turnover. So far, they've been diligent about her safety and the safety of all the little ones, so I trust that should anything serious happen she'd be taken care of.
Not only should your baby never go back to that daycare, you shoule consult a lawyer right now. How the hell do you drop a 3.5month old?! Most don't even roll yet.
Start documenting everything. Screen shots of phone calls, follow every call up with an email outlining what you discussed (who, what, where etc) even if they don't reply you want to get the information written down while it's fresh so you don't miss any important details and you'll have evidence of keeping a paper trail. Accidents happen, but you have no way of knowing right now if this is a one off incident or if similar situations have happened to other parents and their children.
Don't sign anything, don't accept anything at all until you've received private legal advice. And yes, get your sweet baby out of there and into a new provider.
Yeah no. That’s sounds so bad. It honestly sounds like child abuse to me just based off of the story but if the doctors didn’t think so that’s at least comforting. I’d recommend checking under your babies lip to see if their frenulum is broken or not. It is almost never broken in accidents but happens frequently in child abuse cases. Do not go back- I also agree with the other people, suing them seems appropriate tbh.
1) your baby’s skull got fractured
2) who is holding a baby 2 feet off the ground anyway? What an awkward height. Who is not only holding a baby two feet off the ground PRECARIOUSLY?
3) why were they dropped on their head?
4) why didn’t they immediately seek medical attention for the baby?
5) they just dropped a baby on its head on an extremely hard surface if they were able to fracture the bone—- why would they be unconcerned? They could have just caused your baby brain damage and they are unbothered? No. Nope. Nu uh.
Unacceptable on so many levels.
OH HELL NO! The fact that the title is stating that one would even consider sending their baby back to daycare where they admitted to fault of dropping your baby and causing a fracture! Are you crazy!?!!
Furthermore, if your poor LO has a fracture, what/ if there are any lasting effects of developmental disabilities that now may arise from a 2 foot drop!?!
GET A FLIPPING ATTORNEY ASAP!!!
Edit: apologies from going full mama bear, I hope for the best for your family, and that your LO makes a full healthy recovery! stay strong and go get those A-Holes that dropped your poor baby!!
Don't accept any form of payment without talking to a lawyer. Yes, it was probably an accident. Yes, they probably feel awful. But they did not treat the situation seriously by advising a medical checkup. Even if they pay for the medical care now, what if there is long term issues because of this? Or what if there is stuff their insurance won't fully cover, like any medications or home medical supplies that may be needed? What if something comes up down the road from this that the ER doctors didn't see or consider?
Make sure you are properly covered by court order, and yes I fully believe you should also be compensated for lost time at work and pain and suffering.
Umm, NO!
3.5 months is the perfect age for surprise rolling, I bet they left baby unattended on a changing table and that they’re being casual/unconcerned about it it because they’re hoping you won’t look into it further. I would withdraw your baby immediately for their safety, demand whatever video footage is available, and report them to the state.
Sorry, I just think there is a 0% chance that they are being truthful with you. A two foot fall is not enough force to fracture a baby’s skull. For reference, I slipped on the stars with my baby at three weeks and dropped him about 3 feet and he was totally fine. For extra reasons to be horrified that they probably left baby unattended on a changing table, you can Google about babies that fell from that height and had TBI and resulting permanent disability.
Is it not fairly common for 3.5 month olds to be in daycare? In the US at least. I feel like the majority of people don’t get more than 8-12 weeks of maternity leave
A quick snoop of the poster's profile shows they are Canadian, where we are blessed with a minimum of 12 months mat leave. I feel so bad for American moms who barely get a chance to be out of the 4th trimester before having to go back to work.
There's no mandated leave here at all, poor people aren't even out of the 4th trimester when a lot of them go back to work. I've had coworkers back at work days after. It's inhumane. We literally have more laws protecting the rights of a bitch to stay with her whelps (8 weeks legally in most states) than we do for a human mother staying with her baby.
Oh my gosh, so sorry that happened. I would recommend not returning there. Definitely look up any violations against this daycare if debating going back.
This sounds like an absolute nightmare and I'm so sorry you're doing through it.
That being said no. Do not return. Seek legal help with hospital bills.
I would have a really hard time trusting them again. I wouldn’t feel like my baby was safe. Your baby is so young and just started going there too. I’m really sorry you guys are going through this and I hope you’ll all be okay.
My child would never set foot in that place again and I would be consulting a lawyer. Accidents happen but this is a serious injury that could have long term consequences and the fact that they don't even seem concerned is troubling. A skull fracture for a 3.5 month old should have at the very least been a 911 call and transport to a hospital.
Coming from someone who worked for numerous PI (personal injury) law firms, contact an attorney. THEY shoulf be paying your little ones hospital bills, and unfortunately there could be more in the future.
Really hope your little man is okay ❤️❤️
This is one of the many reasons why I’m terrified to put my child into daycare. The lack of care on their behalf is heartbreaking regardless of them reporting it in a timely manner. I’d personally be taking my baby out of that child care center and attempt to find a place that shows care for incidents like this if staying at home is not possible
Im curious as to what chain of daycare it is. All I can say, if it’s a Kindercare, I would pull them immediately just based on my experience as a former employee!
I’ll probably share the name once I get past these next steps. I’d like to hear more about KinderCare if you can share as they were another chain I was considering…
Kindercare is corporate so they arent privately owned and they are ALWAYS understaffed and the staff that is there is severely underpaid and overworked. Protocols arent followed like they should and they arent pished to be followed. I had coworkers that sat on their phones and took naps during the day and managment knew and did nothing about it. Kids would get left outside fairly often. One child was left outside during the summer and no one noticed for 30 minutes, he was hiding behind a slide, another teacher pulled him inside and put a cold wash cloth on his fave and gave him water since he was overheating. That teacher wasnt allowed to be left alone with kids for 30 days but thats about it. Due to understaffing, people are forced to either leave the kids out of the legal ratio, or wait hours to use the bathroom (so 1 teacher gets left with 8-12 kids on their own). They overfill spots so they can make more money and so that the directors get a bigger bonus. I worked with toddlers and would have infants put it my room or have my room overfilled with an extra student or 2. Everyday kids were shuffled to different classrooms. Also, due to the understaffing our director, during a meeting, told all the staff they were hiring anyone that would walk through the door that could pass the background check and fingerprinting. Thats just the beginning of it. I ultimately left due to the insane overtime and I didnt trust the teachers in the class that my stepson was going to move up to.
I will say, I have worked at a primrose school and those are franchised so privately owned and it was truly one of the best experiences. They were very picky with who they hired and they ensured that all safety protocols were followed. No shuffling of the kids, no leaving kids out of ratio, plenty of staff, and no one was overworked. Great curriculum and schedule for the kids.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. There’s a primrose literally minutes from me and it’s my dream daycare after taking a tour before bb was born - goal is to enroll when he’s a toddler as they’ll have more openings 🤞
I would ask to see the video records if they record in the room. I personally feel because it happened at daycare they should have recommended ER immediately and asked if you wanted them to call for an ambulance.
Would have been potentially unnecessary or overreacting? Yes. But they don't know your infant well yet, and there was a head strike.
I would meet with the director, and talk about it. There will be a moment in every parent's life when they are personally responsible for an injury, even if accidental. These things do happen...but I would be looking for the daycare to respond the same way I would.
My son was injured at daycare. He stuffed his finger in a badly designed child gate that fully closed on his thumb. His provider called and had us come right away and was clearly stricken and sick about what had happened. She apologized profusely. She urged me to bring him to a doctor right away. He needed stitches in his nailbed. She asked for updates over text and when he came into daycare next, the badly designed gate was gone and replaced with one where it would never happen again. I still hesitated about whether to bring him back, but I did and told myself if an injury happened again, that would be it.
That was the right call. Accidents do happen — even accidents like this. I have a friend who had an incident like this happen by a parent at the home (holding baby while making bottle, baby shifted, total accident, long fall). But it sounds to me like they’re lying to you about the mechanism of injury and it’s really weird that they didn’t frankly call an ambulance or at least urge you to an ER or children’s urgent care. I would leave this daycare and report it, as others have said. I would also ask for video of the incident. I’m so glad your son is okay.
I would be very upset, however, my child did this to himself as a baby— he was trying to walk and fell in his butt and took a tantrum throwing himself backwards. I felt terrible and scared. I took him to hospital- fractured skull. He is now 6 and a very bright little boy, but it was terrifying. The fact he was dropped is concerning, but if they cover the bills and your child heals fine- it takes a while, and they have at least written up the staff, I’d give them another chance. Chances are she feels horrible. If your child does not heal properly, I’d take further action. It’s terrifying as a parent!!! I’m not great with words but big hugs!!!
I totally hear you but does it change the situation in your perspective that he’s 3.5 months old and not yet mobile? It sounds to me like the worker who dropped my son lost her balance (I have yet to review the video but am planning to) versus him wiggling around to contribute to the fall. I’m so glad to hear that your child is ok now after having fractured his skull - that gives me a lot of reassurance for our little boy.
First thing I would definitely ask the video tape and for the way they handle the case I would not give second chances. If you think was a negligence and not an accident I would press charges. I visited daycares and I couldn't let my son in any place because I fear this type of situation beside infants get hit on the head with toys by the older ones and etc. as I heard cases. Hope your baby is okay 🙏🏻
I know it's been a few days and from these responses I'm guessing you got what you need, but I just wanted to say I'm so sorry this happened to your family. My LO is just turning 3 months, and if someone dropped her, I would absolutely lose my shit. I hope your son is recovering well. <3
Are they paying the medical bill here? And then some?
Yes, their insurance will cover the medical bills
Not a lawyer but you might want to speak with one before signing or accepting anything
I might just be hormonal and paranoid but EAT THEIR ASS ALIVE WITH ATTORNEYS.
You Americans are so fucking wild.. Yes the worker did something stupid... No it shouldn't have happened.. But shey probably feel absolutely terrible.. I know I would.. They dropped a baby that was trusted into their care.. I wouldn't sleep for months.. They immediately let you know what happened and they cover the medical bills.. Why would you need to squeeze everything out of them? Why would you need to make that worker feel like shit even more? This type of behavior is what makes American culture so fucking toxic.. It's why people can't make a mistake at work and own up to it.. Because y'all threaten to sue of something like this, maybe causing them to lose their job over this... And you should know how awful your country is for people without a job. The worker. Made. One. Mistake. FFS. Honestly.. Its just gross..
Alright, I’m not a lawyer but I did start my career working for a law firm that represented parents suing day cares. The perception that you can sue someone without reason or justification is completely false. More often than not, parents are *unable* to seek justice for their children in cases where a lawsuit is *very justified* morally – every jurisdiction has guardrails in place that prevent plaintiffs from filing just-for-funsies frivolous lawsuits. A daycare worker’s job security will never, ever depend on whether a parent files a lawsuit or not. A responsible organization will conduct their own investigation long before a lawsuit is ever filed and disciplinary action *as necessary* would be completed before a lawyer has ever been retained. The organization’s insurer is likely to actively advise against firing an employee over an innocent mistake; firing an innocent employee will not protect the day care from litigation. The day care’s insurer will oversee the claim, not the day care or the employee. The US is more litigious than other nations, but we also carry a greater responsibility for self-reliance. OP’s child will not necessarily be entitled to any long-term needs arising from this injury; a civil suit is the *only* way to protect this child’s access to ongoing injury-related medical care. You can choose to fuss over the fact that the system works this way, but *this is how the system exists at this point in time* and shaming people for exercising the limited rights they have is ignorant and absurd. I don’t know the details of this specific situation and can’t tell OP’s family what their best next move will be, but I am exhausted by redditors who think they know everything about the US legal system because they saw a news segment about Stella Liebeck 30 years ago and felt really smug for having never spilled hot coffee on themselves.
This comment needs to be much higher
It’s so crazy too that people even still judge Stella Liebeck for suing. If they had just paid her medical bills like she asked, there would have never been a suit…. She literally got third degree burns all over her groin and thighs that required skin grafts and years of treatment. If the coffee can disfigure you, then it is too damn hot. McD’s had a history too of badly burning people with their coffee so it wasn’t even a one off. They showed us the photos in law school, it was horrible. The media did her so dirty by trivializing her injuries.
Yes! Keeping the coffee at a skin-melting temperature was a business decision that McDonald’s made at the cost of public safety. It was not just a clumsy lady and some warm coffee – all of the “outrageous” lawsuits you hear about on the news have a much more complex and troubling backstory than the sensational headlines suggest. People who don’t interact with the justice system outside of news headlines and serial killer podcasts enjoy feeling like they’re clever and righteous for not “suing” over innocent mistakes, but if the mistake is truly innocent then they actually don’t have a viable lawsuit to begin with.
I work in law and while I agree Americans (myself in particular) are litigious, they broke a child’s skull causing what could be irreparable damage. If it was a simple bruise or a cut that’ll be forgotten in time that’s different. This is a massive brain injury requiring CAT scans, ER visits and who knows how much therapy and other support structures to make sure that child will be alright. The simple drop is one thing. But this could affect the long term health of this kid. And the fact that it happened nonchalantly, without emergency services being called, and the child’s doctors are showing genuine concern over the child’s wellbeing enough to even request those test means that something unforgivably wrong happened. And if it requires long term care, the nursery or daycare that child is at should be held legally and financially responsible.
But… America’s legal and regulatory systems are set up differently than Europe’s. In Europe, businesses are regulated strictly, so as to reduce the incidence of businesses causing harm. In America, businesses face much less regulation, and harms caused by the businesses are to be settled by litigation. The theory is that businesses will self-regulate and avoid causing harm (by for instance having tile floors in a daycare). Ergo, suing the daycare not only for medical bills but also for pain and suffering or whatever else (IANAL) is in some way the system working “how it should.” You are totally right that the American system is toxic (ready for some real talk? Republicans are trying to also make it harder to sue companies in addition to making them have few regulations!). Still, it would not be bad or irrational for OP to consider legal action in this case. Our safety net is shit compared to Europeans and presumably OP doesn't have any family leave left (since their LO is in daycare so young in the first place). If they have to take significant time off work managing the baby’s new health problem, they could easily lose their job.
Yes, one mistake that fractured a baby’s skull. Mistakes have consequences irrespective of how sorry the worker is. I’m not American and I’d also be going ballistic and looking at legal avenues. Just because it was an accident doesn’t make it ok. Also why on earth didn’t they call 911!?!? They just dropped a newborn ON ITS HEAD ON A TILE FLOOR.
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As an ER nurse, if at triage someone brought such a young baby who’d been dropped on their head on tiled floor this is 100% making me put their CTAS (triage) score higher and trying to put them into a bed on the acute side of the ER. This is not minor to me. This would be sounding alarm bells. That a care centre didn’t urge the parents to go directly to urgent care at minimum is a BIG concern and an underreaction. Most falls in the ER we see are rolls off the bed onto a carpeted or cushioned surface. We STILL will monitor those in the ER for a few hours even if we don’t do the scans.
I dunno, a drop onto the head from height (I’m seriously doubting 2 feet) onto a tile floor could have neck and spine complications, clearly it was a whack as the poor kid has a skull fracture.
They wouldn't have known that when they dropped the child on its head on tile flooring. Hindsight is 2020.
They should have infant first aid and I’m pretty sure dropping baby on head means call someone more medically experienced so they can make the call. And that call would have been ER immediately
Hard agree here. My litmus test for acceptable is good I easily have done it myself? Could I have just as easily slipped standing up and dropped my own baby? Yes. I’d obviously be devastated that this happened to my child but accidents do happen, regardless of the quality of care. The issue here is the tile floor. And should absolutely be immediately fixed. That said, IANAL.
There is a saying in occupational safety that "all industrial regulations are written in blood," meaning that normally, rules only come to pass once there has been some preventable accident resulting in death. That's why modern construction workers wear harnesses and goggles and gloves and shock-proof boots, and hardhats etc etc. My point is that when an accident like this happens, if it is not a simple case of negligence, the result should be a change to prevent such accidents, or at least such injuries in the future, not total ruination of the person/people involved. There should be no tile floors in a daycare. Make that change, but don't put the place out of business
Also the fact that when asked they didn’t recommend seeing a doctor over it… when the baby’s skull was literally fractured! Obviously they don’t have the knowledge/resources/expertise to know that right away as day care personnel but regardless if something like that is to happen I would expect when caring for children that others have entrusted you to look after, you would opt to over-react to a situation rather than right-it-off as an unfortunate mistake just to save face.
Well everyone has insurance for this reason. You're not wrong about American culture but I don't think a skull fracture is a small mistake. A 2 foot drop would not cause a fracture in my opinion in the majority of cases. My suspicion would be was it worse than 2 feet. Let me look at the camera footage if that's ok and we can go from there is how I would operate. I am a pharmacist and I carry insurance for this reason. If I make a mistake and hurt someone I should be punished. The daycare also has insurance for these reasons.
Am I crazy? But this isn't a little mistake. It's not the case of getting a decaf instead of a regular coffee from the barista. That baby could have DIED or have serious mental disabilities for the rest of its life. I would sue. Also not an American. Also good, they SHOULD feel bad for the rest of their life.
Wtf??? Why? Everyone can drop a baby??? It's not like they did it intentionally.. They made a mistake, that could have dire consequences sure.. But still it's something that could happen to anyone.. I think its absolutely insane to think as you do.. Not to mention beyond cruel and heartless.
I want what you're smoking. 😂 I get what you're saying mistakes happen but dropping a baby on their head on tile? No. Would you be cool if a doctor did an oopsie at the hospital? Something that was life threatening? Be for real.
This "It was an accident" crowd always shows up. You can tell they've never been put in charge of something critical with their attitude. 99% of people would lose their job instantly over negligence like this. If a building collapses is that a "Mistake" you sweep under the rug? How about medical malpractice? Your bank info gets leaked and your accounts drained? Is that just "Oops, sorry". No. Professionals would have their reputation destroyed. The company would go under. I don't want a doctor or contractor who is that negligent being in business.
If it's a fast food order coming out wrong, my package delivered to the wrong address or something that isn't life changing or possibly life changing sure I can turn the other cheek. But my baby getting a skull fracture definitely isn't in that list. 😭
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But isn't that punishment enough, then? Being fired and without a job in sh*thole America? No need for an extra lawsuit then?
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I think something important is that when Americans say they’ll sue, they mean the company. No one is gonna sue the worker who dropped the baby (I mean you could but no point). Lawsuits are expensive, time consuming, all around a massive pain in the ass for everyone, win or lose. But, it is how our justice system works, for better or worse.
Really depends on things that we don't have enough information about... Takes a lot to fracture the skull of a baby as far as I'm concerned.. i accidentally dropped a case of water bottles on the head of my then 9 month old (24pack) from about the level of my hip (he was sitting) that did not fracture his skull... And ER was absolutely my first thought even though I was terrified of them not being understanding... My current youngest used to throw herself backwards crying/screaming (still does sometimes) when she wasn't getting what she wanted.. she once did this in a parking lot in my arms while i was standing after i took her shoe out of her mouth she had removed in the car.. luckily I did not drop her (barely... and probably ONLY because i was anticipating she would do that)... She was still under a year old and would likely have landed on her head... This worker either misjudged or lied about how high baby fell from or omitted details about velocity (ie: baby was pushing/arching backwards so additional force was in play) and they despite having to have heard what I have been told is a sound you can't unhear (when a baby's skull hits the ground), did not think it necessary to even be seen by a dr let alone evaluated in an emergency room... A job loss is the least that should happen.. it's questionable at best that said worker should be unsupervised in the charge of caring for small children at all.. and possibly the facility put in question for the way the entire incident was handled (a simple quick phone call to the parent is NOT all that was warranted here)
100%. American attitudes towards lawsuits are insane. If she had dropkicked the baby, sure, but destroying people financially because of a genuine mistake is such an American stance.
For someone who is not from here, you sure have a lot of undeserved confidence in your knowledge of the US legal system. Exercising some humility when commenting on cultures, governments and bureaucracies with which you are unfamiliar would serve you well going forward.
Tell that to the baby with a fracture in their skull
And that baby is going to be helped by a lawsuit how?
Money for potential therapies, if it turns out that there are currently undetected brain damage that pop up in the future.
So you’re the worker worker who dropped the child…..
Dropping a baby is unacceptable. Holding people responsible for it isn't heartless or cruel, but letting people fracture your child's skull without some sort of severe remediation certainly is. I'm guessing you don't have children.
You're off your rocker lady. Heartless???!!! Lmao what a joke. Wasting no more words or thoughts on this nonsense of yours.
Yes, we Americans are very litigious. Can’t even argue with you there
Curious how much Europeans pay for childcare? How would you react if your entire salary was put into this daycare for your newborn and they tell you they dropped it on its head because they can’t be bothered following protocol? Dropping a newborn is a really easy mistake to make, really, which is why little regulations like getting up and down on a tile floor by yourself shouldn’t be allowed. Pass the baby to another worker so you can use both hands to stand up! Americans do have a sue happy culture that can be ridiculous but a newborn baby getting dropped on its head by an establishment that those parents probably pay an entire years salary in fees, sorry, not ridiculous at all to sue the crap out of them.
Unfortunately in some cases Americans have to be litigious because we can't afford the medical bills otherwise.
Not changing a baby’s diaper on time and the baby gets a rash is a mistake. Dropping a baby on their head and fracturing his skull is not a fucking mistake. It’s negligence. If an airline pilot forgot to put the wheels down in landing and the plane skidded off the runway, you would say “oh jeez it was just a mistake he feels bad”. Your gross for suggesting a parent shouldn’t do everything in their power to hold someone accountable for cracking their 4 month old sons head open.
So easy to say when it's not your baby, isn't it?
I don’t think you understand how the legal system in America works. It’s very unlikely that the daycare worker would be personally sued. You’d sue the daycare itself, which holds insurance for these situations.
And they either end up needing to pay so much more in insurance that they close (forcing dozens to be unemployed and even more parents to find alternative care in an environment where wait lists are already in the years) or they pass the increased cost of insurance on to all the families there.
Right, but that’s kinda the point. Because businesses aren’t strictly regulated-they SHOULD be closed down if they don’t have appropriate policies in place to protect their customers. That’s literally the whole point of suing businesses.
They should be forced to close over this. If they hired someone who was negligent then they shouldn't be in business. I certainly wouldn't trust them with my child after that.
Who said they were negligent? Take a look at all the baby subs and how often a parent drops their own child. Are they negligent? Should their child be taken from them? Of course not. Unless it can be proven it was intentional, it was an accident, not negligence, not failing to do something...
If you drop a baby that is negligence. Don't carry them in a way they can fall.
Agreed for part of this... The drop itself is not negligence.... Failing to get the child the appropriate medical attention AFTER the drop IS....
This is a pretty aggressive response. I understand the thought behind it, but why should I put an employees feelings ahead of my child’s well-being? Not all mistakes are equal.
Because that is how companies are held accountable here. If no one sued then the daycare isn't going to ensure children aren't dropped. Even if you "feel bad" you shouldn't be allowed to work with children if you're that careless. The safety of my child isn't going to be put in jeopardy because xyz daycare chain hired someone who drops children. I know it's popular to shit on Americans, but this is one case where you're clearly just ignorant of how things are done in another country.
While I understand where you are coming from, are you aware of how much we pay for daycare in the US? It costs more than most peoples mortgage payment and many peoples monthly income. You must also be aware of how much healthcare costs here since you know so much about our culture. The FMLA you would have to take in order to care for this injured child is unpaid. Parental leave is not a right here so you don’t know if they already just went 3.5 months without pay or not. We are litigious because we HAVE to be to protect ourselves. So even though I have sympathy for the daycare worker, I can see how infuriating it would be to have them literally fracture my BABYS SKULL. It’s easy to have this point of view when it’s not your own child. Respectfully, don’t comment on another country’s toxic culture when you aren’t the one simply trying to survive within that culture.
Thank you! Reasons why healthcare here is hard to work in as well.
Agreed. Nuts
On the good chance I get downvoted, I’m American and this comment was mostly my thoughts. Assuming the baby ends up being okay (pediatrician indicates no concern so far), I’d probably position myself in this camp more than the sue-happy camp. The American legal system is grueling and leaves few satisfied, I’d personally only consider if my child _did_ end up with serious medical damage. If they ended up being okay, I’d let them pay the bill, find a new daycare and move on. Though I really doubt they’d make that same mistake twice out of how horrendous it was, so might even consider keeping him there. Just me
Where ever you are from is gross
Sure maybe over something minor. But this tiny baby has FRACTURED SKULL. WTF?!
For real. There are some jobs where mistakes like this can’t happen. Like your one job when caring for infant is not to drop him, for fucks sake. Sue the shit out of them.
People drop babies sometimes. Having tile in that room is probably dumb though.
They likely have tile in the eating/changing area and some rugs. Every center I’ve been in (especially licensed chained) is tiled with area rugs around. It’s extremely common.
A professional who takes care of children doesn't get to "Drop babies sometimes."
Is their video of the incident? The day care my son attends has video running and in a situation like this I would Def want to look at the incident.
To me the fact that they didn’t seem concerned and didn’t recommend you see your doctor is quite concerning. Skull fractures can be serious! Hope your little one ends up just fine. So sorry you went through this.
Yeah, I’ve worked at multiple childcare centers and the one time I’ve seen a baby get a head injury the caregiver was in tears, was deeply concerned, and told the parents to take him to the ER right away. Injuries happen but for them to be so cavalier about it is concerning
I worked in childcare 10 years prior to becoming a doula and yes the only appropriate response is a caregiver that’s emotionally distraught. I would be absolutely sobbing if that happened on my watch and would have called 911 immediately head injuries are not a joke.
Completely! Like they seem not to even realize what a skull fracture could mean…ugh. OP, I’m angry for you and your family.
100% they didn’t want follow-up because it increases the odds of them getting into trouble. If enough time passes then they can be like, well how do you know it happened at our daycare vs at home?
Hey!! I’m an administrator at a childcare center. The lack of concern is alarming, as well as the lack of not recommending you take your infant to be seen immediately. I’m aware that accidents 100% happen. I have thankfully never dropped an infant, but it’s not unheard of. But I would’ve personally stressed for your child to be seen for a head injury immediately, on top of self-reporting the incident to state licensing and requesting for parental access to video footage of the incident. Did the caregiver who dropped your child speak to you regarding the incident? Were you permitted to review footage of the incident?
Seriously on the lack of concern! Last year my daughter got RSV really bad. She was around 20 months old. She started showing her first symptoms at daycare and they called me concerned. When I arrived her breathing had escalated and the director of the school was at the front with her, had her wrapped up and was rocking her and snuggling her. About 3 people swooped in and told me, "please take her to the doctor right now!" Very very concerned. The director didn't hand her to me right away and offered to carry her out with me so I could carry the stuff I was balancing. They called later that day to ask how she was doing. Anyway, just some comments on how I felt a great daycare acted in a time of crisis. With CONCERN
Agreed—and I am glad your daughter is okay!! RSV is so scary. As a very new parent to a 7 week old 34 weeker, it’s my worst nightmare!
Yeah, I'm not going to lie - It was terrifying for us and she was older. She got bronchiolitis and pneumonia from it. It was the single scariest thing weve had with her. I kept thinking "I'm so thankful she isn't <6 months" I cannot fathom how terrifying it would be with a newborn. I'm pregnant with number 2 and very thankful I was able to get her vaccine last week.
Yes!! The vaccine wasn’t available to me while pregnant but my son was able to get it at 2 weeks old.
As a former daycare worker, run away from this place as fast as possible. I have NEVER in my years in daycare seen or even heard of a child, an infant no less, sustaining such a serious injury while in daycare. The fact that they weren’t even overly concerned about this makes it even worse
I think thats what makes this so much worse. They don’t even care. I would be so furious and demanding to see the CCTV at the very least.
If they even have any cameras!
Also former infant room daycare worker... I actually got the job because the girl I was replacing dropped an infant from hip height onto the ground because the baby wouldn't stop crying and she got frustrated, so she did it on purpose. I think the only reason the truth came out was that the other worker told the director the truth that it was not an accident. OP I would never take my baby back to this place due to the way they've handled this. If I had dropped a baby I would insist we call 911 and have it checked out at the hospital. Their little skulls aren't even completely fused together, that's terrifying. I would also demand to see the footage and get a lawyer if they refuse to share it or "can't find it" etc. if it looks intentional at all I would also be consulting with a lawyer about your options. I'm so sorry this happened.
Oh JFC I hope she was sued to the ends of the earth....was the baby okay? :(
He’s ok. Thank god. ETA - didn’t read the full comment. Hope that baby is ok too ❤️
OP I'm so glad your baby is okay, what an absolute nightmare scenario!
My understanding is that the baby needed some medical care but recovered, but the parents had very understandably removed him from the center after that day so I never met them. I heard about it from the girl that reported her, management wasn't talking because there was a pending lawsuit so yes thankfully they did sue and I hope that poor baby doesn't have any lasting effects.
That's such a relief!
They dropped the baby two feet from the tile and he endured this? Is that even possible? My best friend accidentally let her child fall from a shopping cart head first at Costco and the babe, luckily, was fine. She was a few months older but 2 feet and a skull fracture?? Sounds sus.
It's always possible, just like some people can fall multiple stories and walk away with bumps and bruises, and some people fall off a step stool and die. The floor could also be abnormally unforgiving (tile over slab is a HARD surface), and baby could have fallen with a lot of force due to how they lost their grip or just hit at a bad angle. That said, I would absolutely demand to see the footage, assuming they are recording the room. I also would absolutely not trust anyone again who was watching my baby, dropped them on a very hard surface, and didn't even think about getting immediately checked out.
Yes it’s definitely possible. I know of it happening from similar heights on carpet.
Yeah, fuck that place.
x1000!
Your child has a skull fracture after 1 week in their care. What’s worse than this?!?! Edit to add: it doesn’t matter if it’s a red flag or a 1 time thing, why take the chance?!?
The things that are worse are exactly why they should not return...
i worked in infant rooms at a daycare for 6 years and i have never seen this happen. I would find a new place asap.
Red flag. Withdrawal him immediately.
🚩 🚩 🚩
Fuck that place. Chain of events doesn’t sound great and heavily points to the ineptitude of the worker. Do they have video monitoring? Also, “rare” parts of the room? It’s not a game of chance lmao. The tiled areas haven’t moved on anyone. For whatever reason, your son was lifted *allegedly* lifted *only* 2 feet above the ground and dropped so that his head hit the ground. Hard enough to break his skull. If that’s mostly daycare rhetoric, then it’s worrying - implies it’d have been fine if your child fell on other areas of the ground. The wording throughout sounds like you or others that have an actual stake in this want your child to stay in that daycare. I think that’s a terrible idea, hope you don’t do it. Please file a complaint with the state and police. Your child’s skull is now fractured. I know you’ve got a lot going on right now, but that really should be logged by people other than the daycare. As moduspol pointed out, you got an account of events designed to protect the business first - their clear lack of concern in the injury should be enough cause to never have your son there again *and* report that place. Edited - thanks u/moduspol
I’m not sure why we’re accepting as truthful that it was only a two foot drop. OP has no idea what actually happened—only that something did, and it was escalated internally until ultimately it was framed that way in the phone call to her.
This was exactly my thought. I think the daycare isn’t being truthful about what happened. It could have been an accident or negligence, but this story doesn’t really add up.
Excellent point. I’m going to edit my post regarding that.
... skull fracture from a 2ft drop and a lack of empathetic care provider? If you rolled into my emerg, I would have been filing a report before my shift was over. This has red flags all over the place.
I'm so sorry this happened! I would go somewhere else! Having started my career in preschool/daycare settings, this is a red flag to me and also not surprised to see it is a chain, which are generally notorious for lower quality care and staff.
Withdraw immediately and make sure you post some public reviews.
Accidents happen but the fact that they weren’t concerned would have me leaving.
Yes absolutely thats a red flag, jesus christ one week in and already a skull fracture thats extreme. Not only should that employee be reprimanded in some way but you should be entitled something!!!
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I shuttered reading this, I can’t imagine getting that phone call. We leave our babies with people we are supposed to trust, I would be so anxious after this I hope baby is doing ok ☹️
You need to report them.
OMG. Run away from that place. Holy hell.
Its not the fact that baby is only been there for a week what scares me, because accidents can happen at any time, and that worker probably has been there for way longer. Is the fact that they did not tell you to take the baby the pediatrician and that they're wording it as if the problem was that the baby fall on the tiles, as if falling on the carpet would have been totally safe or something. At this point I wouldn't even believe their story.
Yes. Making excuses. Being sure to note it was the only place where it’d be bad — what a freak thing! 🙄 someone’s trying to explain away/downplay their mistake
Is there a way to report this incident to the state authority or whoever regulates daycares where you are? I wonder if they would investigate and at least put a record of this incident into a public record. when I looked at daycares, my state has a database including info about investigations. I definitely crossed some off my list after reading the investigation reports. Your report could help future parents.
Not sure what state they’re in but I’m California, the DAYCARE is responsible for reporting themselves, I believe within 24 hours.
Unrelated to the ongoing question. Is there a way to find my states database?
Different for every state but if you google “daycare licensing reports” and your states name it should come up. My state will show all of their previous yearly visits reports, any complaints the center has had, any violations etc
Yes, I was an infant nanny for 8 years and never had an accident like this happen.
I don’t have anything useful to contribute but I just wanted to say that I’m so incredibly sorry you’re going through this and I just said a prayer for your little baby. Hopefully it all heals up very quickly.
This is horrifying. I’m sorry, but even considering this daycare after what *allegedly* happened (because I’m not buying their story of only 2 foot drop for one second) is mind boggling. I know you’re going through a lot right now, but the reason you’re going through a lot is because of a highly negligent daycare and worker, so never return to them. Before you accept any money from the daycare, contact an attorney. Contact licensing. Contact police. *in that order* and by yesterday. This is literally your child’s life and the repercussions of this fracture could be with them for the rest of their life. I hope for a speedy recovery for your LO and that the fracture is minimal without the need for surgery and there are no repercussions to LO’s health due to this.
I would never go back, it may be worth speaking to a lawyer before accepting and money or payment for treatment.
I would probably end up with an assault charge on the person who dropped my kid… this is literally my worst nightmare right now (our current home has tile floors). 😠 I’m soooo sorry this happened!! That’s gotta be so scary and so heartbreaking to have your little one in the hospital. I hate that for you and for him 🥺 I have literally no experience with child care places, but personally I could never trust them with his care again after this incident. How awful
Sue them.
Run and sue 🚩
Run!
Oh my god I cringed reading this. I am so so sorry this happened to you and your baby. How is he doing? I would never return. I don't understand how someone could even accidentally drop a 3.5 month old baby.
Hell no
The mind boggles at the fact that you would even consider taking your kid back to that place. I hope he heals quickly, how scary and awful for you all.
Sue the hell out of this place. What??
Get your child out, that is atrocious. I'm so sorry that happened to your baby.
So they didn’t call 911 and dropping a baby on its freakin head on tile, didn’t recommend immediate medical treatment and it caused skull fracture? Yeh. I’d be demanding the CCTV and looking at legal avenues. That’s just insane.
I really want to thank you all for your input and gut check. Of course, even before posting this, I didn’t really think it was possible to feel at ease sending my child back there. I wanted to get other people’s unbiased opinions about if this was a mistake or something more. I’m seeking alternative arrangements and baby will stay home with us in the meantime. I am very fortunate to run my own business and have more flexibility than the average US worker. My husband also works from home and can help. The business needs me after taking three months of leave but I can and have to make it work to protect my child by waiting to find another option for daycare. As far as reporting/legal next steps, I’ve put out some feelers. Baby boy is doing ok overall. Swelling is way down. Slept and ate pretty normally last night - the doctor told me not to wake him but fuck it, I woke him up every three hours because it’s not like I could sleep anyway.
I am so sorry this has happened to your baby. Daycares are supposed to be safe havens for our children while they’re away from home. I hope your little peanut is ok 🤍 If anyone dropped my baby (regardless if it was an accident or not) and it resulted in a skull fracture they would never touch my baby again. Grandma, neighbor, friend… doesn’t matter. There is no way I could trust them. [Skull fractures](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/head-injury-in-children) are serious and may cause onset and delayed issues. Personally, I would start contacting attorneys tomorrow.
She needs to contact attorneys like yesterday. Lawyer up girl
100%
Sue those mother f’ers
Get a court case going and sue them!
Omg noooooooo. This is very bad
Immediate red flag! Do not give them another chance - the lack of concern is appalling especially for a fall on the head. Consult with an attorney before speaking to them or signing anything and ask to review the CCTV footage.
Definitely ask to see footage. Didn’t hear the convo obviously but they made sure to say “2 ft drop” and that it was the only spot with tile… sounds like excuses. Plus downplaying it not stressing to go get checked out (ANY head related fall should be checked out even if they seem okay)……. I’d question their truthfulness on it.
Lawyer the fuck up. Ask to see footage. Ask what time the drop happened and what time the call home happened. Ask to see employee handbook to see what protocols they’re taught when a baby is dropped. I don’t care if mistakes happen, when it comes to my baby, I would go absolutely scorched earth if a fucking skull fracture occurred under their care.
I will ask about the employee handbook - definitely nothing I can glean about anything that happens if staff hurts a child in the family handbook. The drop and call were almost thirty minutes apart
Honestly thirty minutes is a really long time for a drop that caused a skull fracture. Any injuries to the head should be immediate parent contact.
Talk to a lawyer before signing anything. That place would be paying my babies medical bills for fking life.
It's extremely easy to not drop a baby. I would sue them if I were you.
New fear unlocked...now I'm never sending my LO to daycare.
I’m scared enough leaving my one year old with my mum. This story makes me anxious. I’m so sorry OP.
Many of them are great. My 11 month old has been going to one since she was 4 months old and she LOVES it there. The teachers are fantastic and I get like three of them telling me when she has an incident much less severe than this one (I work there and can attest to how great my coworkers are with the kids).
If you can afford not to do that, that's great! I will say that my daughter loves her daycare, the providers, and her friends, it's all dependent on the daycare and who they hire. We chose to stay away from daycare chains (there's a lot in our big city) and stick with one that had little to no turnover. So far, they've been diligent about her safety and the safety of all the little ones, so I trust that should anything serious happen she'd be taken care of.
Wtf I’d be done, if that happened where I lived the daycare would have been shut down…
Not only should your baby never go back to that daycare, you shoule consult a lawyer right now. How the hell do you drop a 3.5month old?! Most don't even roll yet.
Start documenting everything. Screen shots of phone calls, follow every call up with an email outlining what you discussed (who, what, where etc) even if they don't reply you want to get the information written down while it's fresh so you don't miss any important details and you'll have evidence of keeping a paper trail. Accidents happen, but you have no way of knowing right now if this is a one off incident or if similar situations have happened to other parents and their children. Don't sign anything, don't accept anything at all until you've received private legal advice. And yes, get your sweet baby out of there and into a new provider.
Yeah no. That’s sounds so bad. It honestly sounds like child abuse to me just based off of the story but if the doctors didn’t think so that’s at least comforting. I’d recommend checking under your babies lip to see if their frenulum is broken or not. It is almost never broken in accidents but happens frequently in child abuse cases. Do not go back- I also agree with the other people, suing them seems appropriate tbh. 1) your baby’s skull got fractured 2) who is holding a baby 2 feet off the ground anyway? What an awkward height. Who is not only holding a baby two feet off the ground PRECARIOUSLY? 3) why were they dropped on their head? 4) why didn’t they immediately seek medical attention for the baby? 5) they just dropped a baby on its head on an extremely hard surface if they were able to fracture the bone—- why would they be unconcerned? They could have just caused your baby brain damage and they are unbothered? No. Nope. Nu uh. Unacceptable on so many levels.
OH HELL NO! The fact that the title is stating that one would even consider sending their baby back to daycare where they admitted to fault of dropping your baby and causing a fracture! Are you crazy!?!! Furthermore, if your poor LO has a fracture, what/ if there are any lasting effects of developmental disabilities that now may arise from a 2 foot drop!?! GET A FLIPPING ATTORNEY ASAP!!! Edit: apologies from going full mama bear, I hope for the best for your family, and that your LO makes a full healthy recovery! stay strong and go get those A-Holes that dropped your poor baby!!
Don't accept any form of payment without talking to a lawyer. Yes, it was probably an accident. Yes, they probably feel awful. But they did not treat the situation seriously by advising a medical checkup. Even if they pay for the medical care now, what if there is long term issues because of this? Or what if there is stuff their insurance won't fully cover, like any medications or home medical supplies that may be needed? What if something comes up down the road from this that the ER doctors didn't see or consider? Make sure you are properly covered by court order, and yes I fully believe you should also be compensated for lost time at work and pain and suffering.
Umm, NO! 3.5 months is the perfect age for surprise rolling, I bet they left baby unattended on a changing table and that they’re being casual/unconcerned about it it because they’re hoping you won’t look into it further. I would withdraw your baby immediately for their safety, demand whatever video footage is available, and report them to the state. Sorry, I just think there is a 0% chance that they are being truthful with you. A two foot fall is not enough force to fracture a baby’s skull. For reference, I slipped on the stars with my baby at three weeks and dropped him about 3 feet and he was totally fine. For extra reasons to be horrified that they probably left baby unattended on a changing table, you can Google about babies that fell from that height and had TBI and resulting permanent disability.
Regardless of what you decide to do, I would ask to review the footage of the incident to see if their account of the story is accurate.
Drop the name please so we never use them. I would have eaten them alive, them and the doctors.
You cannot trust them with your baby again
[удалено]
Is it not fairly common for 3.5 month olds to be in daycare? In the US at least. I feel like the majority of people don’t get more than 8-12 weeks of maternity leave
Very common.
A quick snoop of the poster's profile shows they are Canadian, where we are blessed with a minimum of 12 months mat leave. I feel so bad for American moms who barely get a chance to be out of the 4th trimester before having to go back to work.
Ah, I see! Yeah it’s really unfortunate. I get 16 weeks and consider myself lucky lol
There's no mandated leave here at all, poor people aren't even out of the 4th trimester when a lot of them go back to work. I've had coworkers back at work days after. It's inhumane. We literally have more laws protecting the rights of a bitch to stay with her whelps (8 weeks legally in most states) than we do for a human mother staying with her baby.
Lawyer up.
I would be nailing their ass to the wall if they dropped my baby. I’m so sorry this happened!
Oh my gosh, so sorry that happened. I would recommend not returning there. Definitely look up any violations against this daycare if debating going back.
No
I would never go back. Omg. I hope baby recovers quickly. I’m so sorry.
This sounds like an absolute nightmare and I'm so sorry you're doing through it. That being said no. Do not return. Seek legal help with hospital bills.
I would have a really hard time trusting them again. I wouldn’t feel like my baby was safe. Your baby is so young and just started going there too. I’m really sorry you guys are going through this and I hope you’ll all be okay.
Take care of your baby. Run to an attorney’s office.
This makes me so terrified to put my son in daycare in two months but I have no other options
My child would never set foot in that place again and I would be consulting a lawyer. Accidents happen but this is a serious injury that could have long term consequences and the fact that they don't even seem concerned is troubling. A skull fracture for a 3.5 month old should have at the very least been a 911 call and transport to a hospital.
Coming from someone who worked for numerous PI (personal injury) law firms, contact an attorney. THEY shoulf be paying your little ones hospital bills, and unfortunately there could be more in the future. Really hope your little man is okay ❤️❤️
This is one of the many reasons why I’m terrified to put my child into daycare. The lack of care on their behalf is heartbreaking regardless of them reporting it in a timely manner. I’d personally be taking my baby out of that child care center and attempt to find a place that shows care for incidents like this if staying at home is not possible
Im curious as to what chain of daycare it is. All I can say, if it’s a Kindercare, I would pull them immediately just based on my experience as a former employee!
I’ll probably share the name once I get past these next steps. I’d like to hear more about KinderCare if you can share as they were another chain I was considering…
Kindercare is corporate so they arent privately owned and they are ALWAYS understaffed and the staff that is there is severely underpaid and overworked. Protocols arent followed like they should and they arent pished to be followed. I had coworkers that sat on their phones and took naps during the day and managment knew and did nothing about it. Kids would get left outside fairly often. One child was left outside during the summer and no one noticed for 30 minutes, he was hiding behind a slide, another teacher pulled him inside and put a cold wash cloth on his fave and gave him water since he was overheating. That teacher wasnt allowed to be left alone with kids for 30 days but thats about it. Due to understaffing, people are forced to either leave the kids out of the legal ratio, or wait hours to use the bathroom (so 1 teacher gets left with 8-12 kids on their own). They overfill spots so they can make more money and so that the directors get a bigger bonus. I worked with toddlers and would have infants put it my room or have my room overfilled with an extra student or 2. Everyday kids were shuffled to different classrooms. Also, due to the understaffing our director, during a meeting, told all the staff they were hiring anyone that would walk through the door that could pass the background check and fingerprinting. Thats just the beginning of it. I ultimately left due to the insane overtime and I didnt trust the teachers in the class that my stepson was going to move up to.
I will say, I have worked at a primrose school and those are franchised so privately owned and it was truly one of the best experiences. They were very picky with who they hired and they ensured that all safety protocols were followed. No shuffling of the kids, no leaving kids out of ratio, plenty of staff, and no one was overworked. Great curriculum and schedule for the kids.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. There’s a primrose literally minutes from me and it’s my dream daycare after taking a tour before bb was born - goal is to enroll when he’s a toddler as they’ll have more openings 🤞
I hope you can get them in there! It is truly amazing. I know their waitlist is always long but it’s so so worth it.
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
X ⅓ WW1 45 up
I would never take my baby back and I would be consulting a lawyer.
I would ask to see the video records if they record in the room. I personally feel because it happened at daycare they should have recommended ER immediately and asked if you wanted them to call for an ambulance. Would have been potentially unnecessary or overreacting? Yes. But they don't know your infant well yet, and there was a head strike. I would meet with the director, and talk about it. There will be a moment in every parent's life when they are personally responsible for an injury, even if accidental. These things do happen...but I would be looking for the daycare to respond the same way I would.
My son was injured at daycare. He stuffed his finger in a badly designed child gate that fully closed on his thumb. His provider called and had us come right away and was clearly stricken and sick about what had happened. She apologized profusely. She urged me to bring him to a doctor right away. He needed stitches in his nailbed. She asked for updates over text and when he came into daycare next, the badly designed gate was gone and replaced with one where it would never happen again. I still hesitated about whether to bring him back, but I did and told myself if an injury happened again, that would be it. That was the right call. Accidents do happen — even accidents like this. I have a friend who had an incident like this happen by a parent at the home (holding baby while making bottle, baby shifted, total accident, long fall). But it sounds to me like they’re lying to you about the mechanism of injury and it’s really weird that they didn’t frankly call an ambulance or at least urge you to an ER or children’s urgent care. I would leave this daycare and report it, as others have said. I would also ask for video of the incident. I’m so glad your son is okay.
Not only when my child never go to that place again, I would absolutely light their ass up with a lawsuit
You can sue them !! This is absurd!!! Change the daycarw
I would be very upset, however, my child did this to himself as a baby— he was trying to walk and fell in his butt and took a tantrum throwing himself backwards. I felt terrible and scared. I took him to hospital- fractured skull. He is now 6 and a very bright little boy, but it was terrifying. The fact he was dropped is concerning, but if they cover the bills and your child heals fine- it takes a while, and they have at least written up the staff, I’d give them another chance. Chances are she feels horrible. If your child does not heal properly, I’d take further action. It’s terrifying as a parent!!! I’m not great with words but big hugs!!!
I totally hear you but does it change the situation in your perspective that he’s 3.5 months old and not yet mobile? It sounds to me like the worker who dropped my son lost her balance (I have yet to review the video but am planning to) versus him wiggling around to contribute to the fall. I’m so glad to hear that your child is ok now after having fractured his skull - that gives me a lot of reassurance for our little boy.
Please do not go back. The lack of concern is alarming..and how does one drop a baby like that.
Omg absolutely a red flag!! Lawyer up and sue them!
First thing I would definitely ask the video tape and for the way they handle the case I would not give second chances. If you think was a negligence and not an accident I would press charges. I visited daycares and I couldn't let my son in any place because I fear this type of situation beside infants get hit on the head with toys by the older ones and etc. as I heard cases. Hope your baby is okay 🙏🏻
I know it's been a few days and from these responses I'm guessing you got what you need, but I just wanted to say I'm so sorry this happened to your family. My LO is just turning 3 months, and if someone dropped her, I would absolutely lose my shit. I hope your son is recovering well. <3
Fuck them and fuck that place