Daycare Accidents In New York

Parents often have to use daycare services to care for their children. In doing so, they trust that the center will provide responsible care and ensure that the child is not harmed. Unfortunately, some childcare centers fall short of expectations, and childcare negligence is a leading cause of injury and even death to young children.

As parents, we accept that our children will get hurt or injured at some point. Skinned knees and elbows, bruises, and sprained ankles are the norms throughout childhood. When injuries occur at a loved one’s or friend’s house, we are more likely to ignore them than when they happen in a daycare setting. This is because when a loved one or close friend is watching our children, we usually know that a watchful eye was looking after them.

Having a child injured in a daycare setting, the accident can be a huge shock for parents. Of course, the priority in such situations is always to provide adequate medical care to deal with the child’s injuries. However, families who find themselves in such a situation due to childcare neglect must take all possible legal steps to file complaints against the service provider. A competent and qualified New York daycare injury attorney can help such parents establish daycare liability and recover compensation for the child’s injuries.

Potential Injuries In New York Daycare Centers

Although New York City daycare centers have employees whose primary responsibility is to take care of children, it is still possible for a child to be left unattended for a short time. In addition, some employees may not take their responsibilities very seriously and neglect their duties or fail to provide adequate supervision. Under such circumstances, children can injure themselves on the playground, fall, or ingest toxins. In addition, an employee’s negligence in a New York day care center can cause serious injury to the child at daycare.

If the daycare supervisor leaves the room, children will take the opportunity to climb to a higher surface, which could cause a fall. If a child tries to use toys without a supervisor, they could accidentally swallow a small piece or injure another nearby child. When a daycare worker steps aside for a moment, a baby on the changing table can fall. In other words, the ineptitude of a daycare worker is often the cause of the injuries suffered by children in daycare.

New York Child Care Accident Law

Under New York law, a daycare provider has a certain standard of care they must meet. Many do not meet this standard.

When caregivers in a daycare provide substandard care, it usually leads to child injury or even death. Unsafe premises, deficient play areas, defective equipment, substandard maintenance of the daycare, committing acts of violence or abuse against a child or even exposing children to dangerous people or violence on the premises are all examples of neglect by daycares.

Samples of Daycare Negligence Case?

Samples of some scenarios where daycare staff are responsible for a child’s injuries would be a child ingesting Windex; a child choking on a small object, a child get’s hurt with a fight or playing with another child; not a enough staff for how many children present.

You may have a valid New York daycare accident case if your child is subject to the following:

• Child comes home with a fractured or broken bone.
• Child comes home with a scar.
• Child is burned.
• Child is sexually assaulted.
• Child is hit or some form or corporal punishment.
• The child is not given food or water on time.
• The staff did not administer the medication correctly: The medicine was in excess or issued wrongly or inappropriately.
• Child was denied access to the bathroom.
• Child’s diaper was not changed all day.
• Authorized to leave the premises without supervision.
• Staying with older children without supervision
• Held in a building that does not meet local building regulations
• Put yourself in a dangerous situation

Determining if you have an accident case can be a complex process. Therefore, it is vital to seek the guidance of an experienced New York City childcare injury attorney who can help you decide whether to pursue a civil suit or claim to obtain the justice you deserve for your child’s accident.

Common Childhood Injuries in Childcare Neglect Cases

Common childhood injuries occur in daycare centers and daycare centers. Some of the most common include:

1. Scratches and bruises: Minor injuries like scratches and bruises are usually nothing to worry about. However, children are not as alert or coordinated as adults, which can cause minor injuries due to falls and horse games.
2. Bite marks: Some children bite and if this is a repeated occurrence, there could be a negligence claim or if it leaves a permanent scar a negligence claim could be made.
3. Sprains and twisted ankles: It is easy for excited children to trip over their feet and twist an ankle or knee or twist an elbow or wrist while trying to manipulate a toy.
4. Hit and fight: Children are still learning to control their emotions and find non-physical ways to resolve differences. As a result sometimes children punch or kick, without an adult present to squash this before it occurs, you could have a negligence claim.
5. Broken bones: It is very rare where they could be a non-negligent reason for a child to come home with a broken bone on the daycares watch.

Some other common injuries children sustain as a result of a child care provider’s negligence include the following:

• Brain damage
• Spinal injury
• Scarring and disfigurement of the child.
• Defective Product Injuries
• Choking or fractures caused by poorly designed toys
• Child abuse
• Child sexual abuse
• Playground or amusement park injury
• Dog bite
• Premises Responsibility
• Crib injury or crib death due to negligent caregivers
• Drowning
• Hurt in a car, automobile, or school accident
• Wrongful death

Daycare Accident’s Can Cause Life-Long Injuries

Medical attention is needed for the physical injuries sustained when a child is injured in a daycare. In addition, some accidents or acts of abuse or bullying can cause severe emotional scarring that the child takes years of counseling and therapy to overcome.

Suppose the daycare injury has resulted in a physical deformity or disability. In that case, it can pose a quality-of-life challenge for the affected child and the entire family. For example, serious injuries that lead to hospitalization or the need for lifelong care or rehabilitation affect the family’s finances. In addition, the disability or deformity caused by the injury can force the family to change their home to benefit the child’s health.

An experienced New York City Childcare Injury Attorney can help you seek compensation from the responsible parties whom caused your child to get injured.

Who Is Liable For My Child Injuries In A Daycare Center?

When parents drop off their children at a daycare center, they trust that all employees will care for their baby as promised. However, the inattentiveness of any member of the daycare staff (a babysitter, a teacher, a supervisor, or a daycare worker) can cause an injury. In some cases, daycare centers use products or services that are considered unsafe. However, if these are not properly manufactured, installed, or maintained, the entities in question may also be held liable for your child’s injuries.

Daycare owners often try to shift the blame for an injury to the child’s actions to escape responsibility (very disgraceful). This is an attempt to not report it to their insurance in hopes their premiums don’t go up.

As a parent you should pursue a legal claim against the daycare as your child have suffered an injury and should be compensated for that injury. An experienced and knowledgeable New York children’s accident attorney can help you pursue your legal claims to obtain the justice you are entitled to.

When An Injury Is A Cause For Alarm

Parents never want to ignore an injury if there is a possibility that their child will be neglected or mistreated. However, these injuries could happen again to your child or another young child at the daycare. Symptoms that your child is experiencing child care abuse or neglect include:

• Repeated injuries that have no explanation
• Bruises in shapes or patterns or covering a large area
• Fear of the child going to daycare or to see a particular provider/worker
• Come home extremely hungry or thirsty
• Lose weight

Before an injury occurs, talk to your child about their days, so they gets used to sharing information with you. By talking regularly about their day, you will not only gain a better understanding of how the center works, but you will also be able to recognize unusual situations when they occur. Listen to your child’s story and always report to the daycare staff if your child comes home injured so they can determine what happened.

Conclusion

Suppose your child was injured. You are entitled to seek justice for what was taken from your child (in the form of injury and quality of life) and your family (medical expenses and the parents’ lost wages).

If the child’s injury is serious, it may require full medical treatment in the future and a large commitment of time by family members to care for the child. Also, if you decide to take your child (or children) out of daycare and move them to another, you will incur additional costs and you will also want to be reimbursed. Daycare centers must have insurance. Therefore, we believe that the family should not be left to pay the consequences of the negligent actions of the nursery.

Our firm always offers a free telephone consultation.