I have an in home child care service. Five weeks ago one boy who is about 17 months old tackled another boy who is 12 months and just began walking. The 12month old fell and hit his face and received a scrape and nasty bruise on his right cheek.this was the third child the 17 month old had tackled that day but the only one who sustained an injury.First aid was administered and I was very upset and sternly said "No No No**** you may not knock down the other children. Look, you really hurt ****." And I showed him the "ouchie" and repeated that he had really hurt ****.of course there was a discussion with both parents at the end of the day. I was prepared to work with the aggressor to improve this behavior,but he did not tackle again. There was a small push here and there to other children over the next few weeks but nothing serious. I would say 96% of the time no aggression or physicality at all.

Then two days ago the 17 month old pushed one girls head into the carpet once. I immediately took his arm told him "no, you may not push ****. That hurts her. About an hour later he did it again to the same girl. I took his arm again and told him NO and put him in a time out.Unfortunately it seems developmentaly he does not comprehend the purpose and is not bothered by it at all so I again told him You may not hurt the other children and shadowed him the rest of the day. Until the end of the day, hours later, he was standing and playing very nicely with the 12month old he had injured 5 weeks before. They were playing with toys on a low window ledge/window seat on my bow window.I was sitting on the floor with another cnild about 5feet away. The 17month old shoved the back of the other boys head down and his face hit the edge of the window seat. Once again the 12 month old boy got a nasty bruise on his other cheek. (The first bruise heeled and the scrape is gone, but left a small mark that I think will fade with time.) Of course the same action was taken as the first time first aid ect.

The mother of the offending child is very concerned and ready to work on this with me and knowing this child since he was about 3months old I am very optimistic.Of course for the other parents it is very upsetting to have your baby's face bruised TWICE in about a one month period. I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing. The parents of the injured child want some kind of gaurranty that their child wont be injured again and would be more comfortable if I expelled the other child.I also suspect they now think I am incompetent. I have been caring for their child since he was 8 weeks old and he is always soooo happy to come here. He is always hugging me spontaniously so I kind of know he loves me and his parents say the same all the time,but now this has soured their feelings toward me( the parents, The boy still loves me) I don' t feel good about expelling the other boy for behavior that is actually very common for children his age.

Even though they injury looks bad, the action that caused it is in my opinion not extreme enough to cause me to throw this child out. The father actually said if it was him that had this" problem "he would get rid of the "problem". He also said he would hate it if it happened a third time he would have to get a " third party " involved. I am pretty sure he means a lawyer. I don' t think there is a childcare center in the world that would give a parent a guarranty that their child would never sustain an injury again.Even if I did expell the other boy. He could slip and fall ,lose his balance,be knocked down by a different child ect.I would appreciate any input. Thank you.

Reply