Decided to pull DS out of daycare after just 3 months...ugh. Just venting.
I'm so disappointed, but there are too many issues I can't ignore. What a waste of time! It took him SO long to adjust, and when he did his lead teacher (the person he bonded with) left, and then he never really got comfortable again. He would have a good day here or there, but was never really happy. We've had major communication issues with the Director (from simple things, to her not advising when the teacher is leaving, to a kid in the class has a contagious illness), and they are having major staffing issues that she just can't seem to sort out even after weeks!
Last Thursday ws the last straw...there was 5 different teachers in his room throughout the day (3 he had never met before), which is ridiculous! And his daily report said "very cranky"...um, yeah b/c he's thinking "who the hell are these strangers!?" And it was a gorgeous day...the 1st in almost 2 weeks and thet DIDN'T take the kids outside! LAZY!
We've paid for SEP already, so we'll bring him there next month (ugh), while we try to come up with other options going forward. I just don't think I'm going to like any daycare options. Maybe I'll try a nanny...
Has anyone else switched form a daycare to a nanny/babysitter for similar reasons? Was your LO happier?
Re: Decided to pull DS out of daycare after just 3 months...ugh. Just venting.
Don't take this the wrong way, but I think you may be making mountain out of mole hills. 3 months, is not that long of a period to allow for adjustment.
This is jsut my experience with daycare. Staffing is usualy low everywhere. DD has multiple caretakers throughout the day. She has at least one of the same consistently, and yea some of them are strangers to her but you're going to run into that at any daycare. Daycares are not required to tell paretns when a teacher/caretaker is leaving or when one is coming. Its not a hard and fast rule, they hire people base on their qualifications and with you having your child there, you have to trust the people they hire. Sure it can be difficult to trust someone with your kid, but sometimes you jsut plain old have to suck it up and do it. As for other kids having contagious conditions, you should be alterted to that so thats a legit deal, our daycare puts signs on the room door saying " a child in this rom has been diagnosed with pink eye" or whatever. They cannot disclose which child. And as for not going outside, there are nice says here where the kids dont go outside, its not in the cirriculum or there is no time between activities, or there may be restrictions you don't know about ( like temp, weather watches/warnings/UV rays/air quality) that disallow caretakers to take teh kids outside on that day.
I think unless this daycare is jsut plain old horrible, and all the kids are miserable all the time, and the caretakers are just wretched, to give DS a little more time, and be a little more flexible with your expectations from the daycare.
Having a child in daycare is hard. My daughter has been in the same daycare since she was 6 weeks old. Ever since we have put her in there she has constantly had a cold. We get sheets at the end of each day and sometimes there are 3-4 different teachers on the sheet. This doesn't seem to bother my daughter though. She has never had stanger anxiety but we take her to many large family gatherings. She learned to interact with a lot of people that she doesn't see often, and she does not have anxiety. I know how you feel though, I would love to have just one babysitter watch my child, but that option is too expensive for me.
I've had my fair share of daycare issues. I try to only speak up about important ones, like safety and not feeding my infant a poptart.
In DS' first daycare, there were 3 teachers plus floaters. The floaters varied day to day. DS did not seemed to be bothered by this.
Children will come to daycare with a snotty nose and cough. Unless some other child had pink eye or chicken pox, there's not much you can do. What illness did the child have?
Have you been able to help decide why your son is so cranky in daycare? Is he sleeping at daycare? Daycare isn't for everyone. Or maybe that particular daycare isn't for you. I've gotten upset about some petty things, but thankfully simmed down overnight and didn't say anything.
You bet I did speak up about security problems (front door wide open and no teachers in the infant room. Yeah, they heard it from me.), safety issues about the infant swings and nutrition. Sure other little things irritate me, but it is simply not worth it.
McLovin...I think the problem is that we didn't put him in daycare until he turned 1 and it seemed to set off terrible separation anxiety for him. Once he finally bonded with one of the teachers he was happy there...for 2 weeks, and ever since she left he's been mostly unhappy. The new lead teacher is "eh"...not too affectionate or fun...and I think she's lazy. The former teacher did more activities, always got the kids out on nice days, etc.
He does sleep well at daycare, but he doesn't really play or talk much there like he does at home. He is really a fun, happy kid...but there he just seems sad.
The kids in his class has hand, foot & mouth, and roseola...both of which he got.
Gypsy - I undertand your point and also questioned myself...wondering if I'm over reacting, but in the end I decided that neither of us are happy, so what is the point of forcing this? 3 months is a LOOOONG time to watch your kid be unhappy. This daycare(or maybe any daycare) just wasn't the right fit...not enough individual attention and inconsistent staff. That is never going to change, so it was just time to move on. ugh. And, I'm sorry, but to not take kids outside on a beautiful day is absurd! Its important for them to get out & run around. I feel crazy if don't leave the house all day...imagine staying in one room with a bunch of other people all day!? Kids need to run off energy. And I've now learned that many daycares around here have "Outside time" specifically on their daily schedule. They only skip that if the weather prohibits it...as in its pouring or freezing outside.
DD has been in daycare since about 2 months old, when she was 10 months we switched to an in home daycare. The lady actually use to work at her daycare place.
We left for several reasons - the major was staffing. They constantly changed who was in her room and didn't let us know. I understand they need to do what they need to do to have the kids looked after -- but I was so sick and tired of picking up DD and not having a clue who was in her room. Also the 2 ladies that were awesome with the little babies were being "phased" out and moved...not a good choice. They also started making preperations to move DD to the toddler room - which I was fine with but had no idea that they were thinking about moving until after I turned in my notice we were leaving...they had planned to move her that week. The director was also not going to allow us to bring in DD part time - while we did pay full time. That was my last straw...
Since we moved DD she has been super happy. When we pull in DCP's driveway she is super excited to see her boys and they all just love her.
I think you just need to go with your gut feeling. It sounds like there a lot of reasons why you are not happy and even if some of them were addressed and you gave it more time you might still not be happy. Finding the perfect daycare is an impossible task in my opinion because it doesnt exist. I feel that nobody will meet all of my expectations so I need to pick what is most important to me and make the most of my time with DD when I can.
We had DD in an in home daycare for the first year. Being a new Mom I had really high expectations and thought that my DD was not getting the most out of that day care. So I switched her to a large center at 1 year. Now I feel like she's not getting enough 1 on 1 time and its hard to keep up with who her teachers are. So here I stand wondering, should I have kept her in the in home daycare? Maybe. Or maybe I still need to find that perfect daycare option for baby #2.
Good luck and go with your gut.
Thanks ladies
I had originally wanted to stay away from home daycares, but it sounds like I should re-consider and check them out again...might be right for right now. Will keep you posted!
I pulled DS out of daycare after less than 3 months. I really never felt comfortable with the place...similar to your story, most days there were more than 4 caregivers throughout the day, and these people varied from day to day and week to week. Our 'favorite' teacher was pregnant and about to go on maternity leave and wouldn't be returning to the infant room since her DS would be in there. He napped erractically during the day. Additionally, the sheet that they sent home was always filled out incorrectly or not completed. I felt like I never had a good idea of what was going on during the day, and he was there nearly 50 hours a week. We made the decision to pull him on a Thursday afternoon and planned on giving our two weeks notice the following Monday.
That Friday afternoon I received a call from the director while I was at work. DS had accidently been given a bottle of breastmilk from another mother! We picked him up that afternoon and he never went back. Fortunately my parents, who are retired, have been able to come stay with us during the week and take care of him. He is doing much, much better. He has settled into regular naps and overall is just a happier baby. I know alot of this can just be attributed to him getting older, but I am so glad we decided to take him out of daycare for the time being. We are planning to start him at a different center when he is 12 months old.
Sorry this got so long....my advice is just to trust your gut. If you're not happy with the care being provided, find another situation that does work for you.
Best of luck!
Hi Hailpu - thanks
and wow...another mom's breastmilk!? - ugh! I'm so glad your DS is happier now and that you are too! Have you already found the new center for when he's 12 mos old?
I decided I would tour some other places these next couple of weeks before writing off daycare altogether. Its so much easier to ask questions and set expectations the 2nd time around...I feel like I'm more in control this time since I know what the potential issues are for us. Its interesting having conversations with the Directors this time. I hope I find a good fit! I know there are lots of benefits to daycare and would like my DS to have some of those experiences.
Good luck to you & thanks for sharing your story