Bruises?

How do you tell the difference between normal rambunctious little boy bruises and abusive bruises? If you have any links it's much appreciated.

Location, maybe? Bruises on the shin are pretty typical for a toddler/young child. Abusive bruises may be more hidden (torso, back, etc).

Location, shape.
DD has them all over her knees and shins, she falls a lottttttttt..
If I found a bunch on her side that would make me worried.

Shape is a good indicator. My friends nephew (he was two) went to the ER with a broken leg nd they found two hand print shaped bruises on his leg. His step dad had twisted his leg till it broke :/

Hard to tell most of the time I would imagine. I think the biggest clue would be ones that are obviously from hands/fingers. My DD1 has gotten so many cuts and bruises that to me look like people would definantly look at me funny. She just very rambunctious, she even got a simple mosquito bite right under her eye once that she kept rubbing and scratching, and I swear it looked like somebody punched her in the face.   We didn't take her anywhere until it went away. I know if I saw somebody else's kid with an eye like that, I would automatically assume abuse.
But other bruises, like ones on the legs, I wouldn't think twice about. That's the most common place for kids to naturally get them. And bruises on the neck would be extremely suspicious. It would be hard for a kid to get a bruise on their neck by themselves, but I guess it's possible.

Various stages of healing, like different colors and location/shape..

Quoting Momma Loves Her Boys:" Shape is a good indicator. My friends nephew (he was two) went to the ER with a broken leg nd they found two hand print shaped bruises on his leg. His step dad had twisted his leg till it broke :/"

     

Ok thanks ladies, a friend has concerns for a toddler that she watches at her day care. My 2 year old always has bruises over his legs, arms, and back, and I never thought twice about his bruises, DD had a black eye from colliding with DS while jumping on the bed right before we had a huge family party, I had to do a lot of explaining then