Daycare: What would you do??
I am facing a dilemma and just want some feedback from people I don't know! We send my DD to a supposedly nice NAEYC accredited daycare that has webcams. We love her lead teacher, but aren't too thrilled about the assistant teacher. We have had two issues with her daycare, both when the lead teacher has not been there. The first incident, some of you might remember. DD was left on the floor unattended with a bunch walkers in the room and I watched one repeatedly run a push toy into her. The second incident was on Monday where they left DD in the swing for the majority of the 6 hours she was there. She slept for one of those hours (in the swing) and was awake the rest of the time. She hates her swing at home so I can only imagine she was very bored and upset that day. That afternoon, she was very withdrawn and passive and didn't "chat" with me and DH and made very minimal eye contact. I was a bawling mess that day and complained to the owner and director. The situation was handled and they rearranged the room to allow for safe floor time for her and removed the swing from the room. The bad teacher has been holding DD allll day. It went from one extreme to the other.
Yesterday I toured a Montessori Infant House. It is $200 more per month and there are no cameras. It is a house with 12 infants and 4 teachers. There are no swings or bouncy seats. The kids are either held or on the floor playing. It seems like a good place.
My dilemma: Do I put DD through a big transition like this and take her from the teacher she actually likes or do we stay at this place and just hope this better behavior continues and watch her like a hawk?
TIA for your help! I know this was a lengthy post.
Re: Daycare: What would you do??
Do it now before she gets even more attached. I would think at this age it wouldn't be too traumatic.
Also, are you totally against swings and bouncy seats? I think they can be useful and as long as they're not in them the entire day, I don't see an issue.
We had some issues in the infant room at our current daycare when DD#1 was younger. The addressed the issues and much like you, we loved the head teacher in there but did not care for the other teacher. We are still at that daycare and DD #2 is currently in the infant room - with the same teachers and I still have the same feelings about the other teacher.
If they addressed your concerns, I'd probably stay put. You are going to find something you don't like about any daycare your child is in. Next time, it could be a lot worse than you child being in a swing for the majority of the day.
I don't mind swings or bouncy seats - we have them at home. I don't think she needs to be in one all day though. I understand she can't be held all day, but keeping her in the same swing all day and not interacting at all is not good child care. At least move her around even if you can't interact with her. Put her in a bouncy seat or give her tummy time or put her in the Bumbo seat. Something other than leaving her in a swing in the corner of the room and forgetting about her. I pay them to take care of her and help her grow and treat her as the individual that she is - not toss her aside like some annoying object.
I don't mind swings or bouncy seats - we have them at home. I don't think she needs to be in one all day though. I understand she can't be held all day, but keeping her in the same swing all day and not interacting at all is not good child care. At least move her around even if you can't interact with her. Put her in a bouncy seat or give her tummy time or put her in the Bumbo seat. Something other than leaving her in a swing in the corner of the room and forgetting about her. I pay them to take care of her and help her grow and treat her as the individual that she is - not toss her aside like some annoying object.
FYI - the anger is not directed at you. I just got fired up as I was thinking about everything again.
I think it's time to switch. Besides, you went back to work so that someone else could watch her. You can't be glued to a webcam all day or you will drive yourself crazy! And if you don't trust them, it's time to move on. I'm sorry you're going through that, I'd be stressed out too.
Married 10.11.08
Baby LJ 05.21.10
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This is the part that gets me. What I learned from having DD1 in daycare is to go with your gut. If your child starts to withdraw, get the heck out of there.
I agree 100%. I just didn't know if you were against them in general because the new place you looked at didn't have them and you seemed to like that aspect.
For the record, the thought of my little baby in a swing ALL DAY being ignored makes me want to puke with sadness, so I'd be just as upset as you are.
I'd stay where you are. At least there is a teacher she likes plus webcams. The other daycare is bound to have some other issues but since there are no web cams you will not even know but might spend all day thinking about it.
What's the child/attendant ratio where your LO is now? The new school has three infants to every one teacher - so you have to consider how that's going to effect how much one on one time your child is going to get. And with no swings or bouncers, what will they do with your LO when they are focusing on the other two kids?
I definitely think there are more considerations to be made before making a decision to switch your child. If you can work things out where you LO is, then there's not really any reason to switch. But, you have to ask yourself whether the new school will be able to meet all of the expectations you're setting for the current school if you choose to switch.