You drop your child off at daycare healthy and happy. You pick them up with bruises, scratches, or worse. The daycare staff gives you a vague explanation about “kids being kids” or claims they don’t know what happened. Your parental instincts tell you something isn’t right. Trust those instincts.
When daycare providers fail to protect your child, you have legal rights that extend far beyond demanding a better explanation.
What Daycares Must Do – By Law
Licensed daycare facilities have specific legal obligations: maintain proper supervision ratios, provide safe environments, conduct background checks on staff, and follow mandatory injury reporting procedures. When your child gets hurt due to inadequate supervision, unsafe conditions, or staff negligence, the daycare has breached their duty of care.
This isn’t about normal childhood accidents; it’s about preventable harm caused by failing to meet basic safety standards.
Warning Signs Something Serious Happened
- Physical indicators: Multiple unexplained injuries, head trauma, broken bones, or burns that staff can’t adequately explain.
- Behavioral changes: Sudden fear of daycare, regression in development, aggressive behavior, or withdrawal from normal activities.
- Staff responses: Defensive answers to questions, inconsistent stories about incidents, reluctance to provide written reports, or attempts to minimize serious injuries.
Protect Your Legal Case
Document everything immediately and thoroughly. Take clear photos of all visible injuries from multiple angles, write down exactly what daycare staff told you happened (including who said what and when), and request written copies of all incident reports. Don’t accept verbal explanations—demand documentation.
If your child describes what happened, record their exact words without asking leading questions or suggesting what might have occurred. Children’s immediate statements about incidents often carry significant legal weight when properly documented.
Get medical attention even for seemingly minor injuries. A doctor’s examination creates an official medical record and can identify trauma that isn’t immediately visible. Some injuries that appear small initially can have lasting developmental or psychological effects requiring ongoing treatment.
Don’t Accept Their First Explanation
Insurance companies representing daycares will claim your child’s injury was a normal accident or suggest you’re overreacting. They profit by paying as little as possible and count on parents accepting quick explanations rather than investigating further.
Your child deserves professional care that prioritizes safety. When daycare providers fail this responsibility, they must be held accountable.
The Law Offices of Tim Misny investigates daycare injury cases and fights for families when childcare providers fail to protect vulnerable children. When negligence hurts your child, I’ll Make Them Pay!® Call my office at (877) 614-9524 so that I can evaluate your case right away.
