What does your daycare do?

Nala37

We're new at the whole daycare thing, so I'm not sure what is standard/expected with regard to daily reports, missing items, etc.  DS had just started at a daycare before I lost my job earlier this year.  That daycare sent home daily reports of diaper changes, what he ate, and how long he napped.  DS now goes to a different daycare that is down the street from my new job. They don't send home a daily report and the only thing I've ever been told is that he eats and sleeps well, but they regularly send him home with 1/4 to 1/2 of his lunch uneaten, and I was told a few days ago that they wake him up from his nap sometimes.  They also have lost 3 of his sippie cups, though everything is labeled, and have sent several items belonging to other kids home in DS's bag.  Also, DS only goes two days a week for the past 2 months, but I've had to take in several packs of diapers, two packs of wipes, and now they're asking for more wipes and more diaper cream.  It seems excessive the amount of supplies they are going through in the little amount of time he's there. 

Are these normal things that happen?  He seems to love the daycare and I really like how close it is to work, but we're paying a lot for it and some of this stuff bothers me.  I asked about the missing cups and they did locate one of them, but I don't know how much to ask (like about the constant requests for more diaper supplies) before I seem like the difficult mom.  Please tell me if I'm being overly critical or persnickety about this.

heath06

Obviously every place will be different, so I can only go by my one experience, with a home daycare. There are 2 adults and 6 children. Not cheap (but I live in San Francisco), but we love it and so does DD. I don't get daily reports sent home but she has a sign in book (when we drop off and pick up) that lists that type of info and I do check it out - how long she napped, what they ate for morning and afternoon snack, what time her diaper was changed and whether she peed/pooped. On occasion, I've gotten the wrong hat in her bag or something of my daughter's was misplaced, but they are always located. I've lost barrettes but those are little and easily fall out of my kids hair sometimes - 3 sippy cups seems like a lot to lose.

If your child is going 2 days a week, you shouldn't have had to bring it big diaper packs as often as it sounds like you are. If you know generally how many diaper changes she would receive a day, you should be able to estimate. Are you thinking they might be using some of them for other children? Sometimes I feel like I "just" brought some diapers, but my child attends 4 days/week and time does fly.

SunAndRain

dailies were sent home in the infant room, but now that DD is in pre-toddlers we no longer receive them.  they note on the board when she wakes from her nap; all children go down at noon.  I don't know if they wake her from her nap if she sleeps past 230...I don't think they do but if they did I would let it go and assume that DD would make up the sleep overnight.  The school has been very flexible with DD while she transitions from two to one nap per day.  But I get that they have other children and need to stick to some semblance of a schedule too. 

DD gets sent home with 1/2 to 3/4 of her lunch every day.  She gets two snacks which I'm told she eats well and she eats a huge breakfast with us (1 banana and 1 waffle with butter plus milk).  I was concerned at first but no longer am.  When I pick her up in the afternoon she is happily playing; if she were hungry she would be fussy.

The losing and mixing up belonging things would bug me.  Yes, it has happened occasionally but never did they lose one of her bottles and now that I send her with a $12 thermos I'd be miffed if they lost it.  Not sure what you can do about that one other than kindly mention what you've observed and ask if there was a better labeling method that they could suggest so that everything was returned to the correct family.

diapers were changed every 2 hours in the infant room.  Seems excessive to me too, but that is either state regulation or their policy.  It is what it is.  I think this may be similar in pre-tods but I'm not sure.  However, diaper cream doesn't need to be applied in excess.  That said, my daughter came home with diaper rash a few days in a row after moving to pre-tods so I talked to the school and we agreed that they would start applying it regularly.

shannm

You say that you are "paying a lot."  This is pretty relative and I might expect that kind of service at a relatively cheaper daycare in our area but not a mid level quality and up.  

I do think you should get some kind of written record at that age and I don't think you should have gone through more than a little over 100 diapers.

So I wouldn't necessarily go in and try to change what their routine is but I would reevaluate the service that you are getting and compare them to what else is in your area and what kind you want.

Karla CS

We've never had the problem with missing bottles. Our center has a container for each kids stuff, and on occasion I've noticed we only have 3/4 bottles, and I've always easily found it in one of the other kid's bins that also uses the Medela bottes. 

As far as diapers, you should be able to estimate how many your LO is using. Assume that they're changing him every 2 hours, plus anytime they notice a BM, so likely 4-6 times per 8-hour day. At two days a week, going to be about 12 diapers per week. How big of a bag of diapers are you providing? Keep in mind if a kid is out of diapers, they're not going to let that kid go diaper free - if there's another diaper on hand that's close to the right side, they'll borrow from that kid. Ours has come home in multiple sizes/brands of diapers on the times where we ran out and DH forgot to take her more when he did the drop off. At the end of the day, it should come out in the wash, because they probably use hers for other kids on occasion too. But this should be the exception, not the norm.

Some of this stuff could be easily explainable - you just need to ask. Just be certain that when you ask you're not implying anything or accusing, just trying to get a better idea of how things are done and how to work within that system better. 

EMOmamma

They sound a little unorganized for a center. Between my 2 kids I think we've only "lost" one or two things ever.
At ours we still get a sheet for my 2.5yo - it really only matters now b/c of potty training. The food thing wouldn't bother me too much as long as they're giving him enough time and chances to eat. Some kids eat a lot at DC b/c of the peer pressure and others eat less b/c they're distracted.

If the supplies are really a problem then just bring what he needs for those 2 days each week.

LoCarb

Our DC stops daily sheets at 3.5 yo, unless requested by the parent.  On the rare occasion, clothing has gone missing but really that's on the parents. If another child has an accident and they do not have a change of clothes they may 'borrow' from another child. It's up to the parent to return the items. My LO has had multiple accidents in a day and not enough clothes. Every time we borrow, I wash and return immediately.  Borrowing a diaper when a child has ran out is acceptable, however, going through diapers, wipes and cream often is ridiculous.  I would ask (just like you did the sippy cups) how much your LO is using in a day and comment it is excessive. Are other parents bringing in materials as often as you?  Request a daily sheet. If they do not have one, provide a template.

cecilyandgautam

I don't get a written report but I get a verbal read out. Can they give you a sense of how many diapers your kid goes through in a day? It's probably not more than 4/5, right? Next time they seem to breeze through the diapers, maybe say "Oh, but he's only been here for 4 full days since I last brought a pack in, so you should still have at least 30 diapers left, right?" You should only have to say that once for them to stop using up your supplies on other kids. 

ss+el

DS went to a PT-only center as an infant. They probably had at least 2 dozen babies for the same room, though usually only about 8-10 at a time. (w/proper # of providers) Some parents left stuff there in a bin, some didn't (I took our supplies daily), so that's a lot of stuff for the center to manage and we didn't lose a single thing the whole time he went. They quit automatically doing sheets at 18mos, though I occasionally saw one hanging for a kid in the older room when DS went back to the center as a toddler for a year, so apparently still did them on request.

What kind of labels do you have on the sippies? We used inchbug labels on DS' bottles. The colored band made his bottles stand out so even if they might throw his bottle in with another kid's, it would be more noticeable that they weren't quite the same. Of course, if they really are super inattentive, you could end up losing pricey labels along with the sippies.

court115

Everyone in our center receives a daily sheet. My nephews are 3 and 4 at the same school as my DS and they still receive them. They change as the kids get older but it'll list diaper changes, feeding schedules, napping schedules and a cute little note about what they did that day.

As far as losing things, I wouldn't be okay with that. Our center has never lost anything of DS's. He did come home once with someone else's bib in his bag but I just brought it back the next day.

I would definitely question the diaper/wipes thing. That does seem excessive given the time that he goes.

Nala37

I really appreciate everyone's input!  I've been going back and forth about saying something to the DC about the concerns I'm having; I did ask them about missing cups and they located one, but then in the last week they've lost his pacifiers both days.  Granted, we are trying to break him from pacifiers, but I'm still annoyed by it.  I label all of his sippies on the lid, side of the cup, and sometimes the bottom as well.  However, while the daycare is making a mistake sending his cups home with someone else (which is what I'm assuming happens because we've gotten other kids' stuff), why does the parent not return it?  My son doesn't share a name with any other child at the school, so it should be obvious to the parent that they have someone else's stuff.

If they're changing DS every two hours, then the math for the diapers is roughly correct, but my son is almost 2, he doesn't need to be changed that often (most of the time).  And maybe they are using the wipes for his hands and face as well, which would make sense.  I was thinking about it on the way home today when I was mad about the pacifier, and even though I may still say something about their losing things (if it continues), DS is always so happy at DC.  He doesn't mind when I drop him off and has been in a great mood every time I pick him up.  In the end, I can probably live with the annoyances knowing that DS is happy there and close by.

bionic4me

It doesn't hurt to ask the daycare about their policies on diapers, wipes, personal items, and your other concerns.

Right out of high school, I worked at a daycare which didn't have a policy on how these items were handled and everything was disorganized. Parents were always complaining about these same issues.

I expected the same problems when taking DD to daycare. Instead our daycare has clear policies on these issues and we haven't lost a thing... well a couple of bibs that were found within hours after accidentally being misplaced with the daycare's laundry.