Cases of children under the age of two being investigated over concerns of neglect and abuse have risen ten per cent in two years, according to a new study.
New research shows the cases of more than 5,600 babies and toddlers are being looked into.
In the past two years the number of under two-year-olds referred is said to have increased from 5,070 to 5,651.
The study by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) showed that two-thirds of the children were living with parents addicted to drugs or alcohol and three-quarters of their parents had a history of offending.
The backgrounds of 50 babies referred from different parts of the country were analysed. The SCRA report found that many of the parents were unemployed and more than half of the children's parents had mental health problems.
It also found 20% had a parent who had been sent to prison and 10% of their fathers had been charged with sexual offences.
The research was commissioned by the SCRA because of growing concerns at the number of under-twos being referred.
Labour leader Iain Gray said: "These figures show that we urgently need to re-examine child protection across Scotland. The scale of this problem is undeniable.
"Every one of these children are children at risk. But we know for every child where action is taken there are many more that are not identified.
"Social workers do a great job in working with problem families but the system needs to be re-examined."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "These figures from SCRA, which confirms what we have already seen from recently published national statistics on child protection, suggest more people are reporting their concerns, enabling support to be put in place more quickly, more effectively and more collaboratively.
"Scotland has the most robust child protection inspection regime in the UK, allowing problems to be identified and urgent action taken, which has given us the most in-depth picture ever of how services are performing on the ground."
