Tell me if I'm being unreasonable re:daycare

knighec

Hey, Ladies. I know I haven't posted much, but I lurk daily and learn so much! Your opinions on a daycare issue would be much appreciated.

 DS's daycare has a rule that the children have to arrive by 9 a.m. unless they have a doctor's appointment, otherwise they have to miss that day. Now, I can kind of understand this rule for older children who have a schedule and eat the meals provided by the center. However, I have an infant who, by their own guidelines, sets his own schedule. I feel like I should be able to bring him in later occassionally (i.e. I wanted to bring him in around 11 today due to having family in town, they said no). I pay them for a full week, and I let them know the plans, but they still said before 9 a.m or he has to stay out the whole day! Is this a common daycare rule?? TIA

srs5624

Never heard that one before.

Did you ask why they have this policy?

Maybe they have to lock down the doors and they can't afford key tags for all the parents and can't keep a dedicated person at the other end of a call button all day long...?

Edited for clarity.

Twinkz

It is not the policy we were will take DS. We have to let them know if he'll be late but he's allowed to come in late or leave early

babyblues314

I have not heard of that before. We just have to let them know if he isn't going to be in for the day.  If I plan on picking him up early, I let them know just as a courtesy.

knighec

srs5624:

Never heard that one before.

Did you ask why they have this policy?

Maybe they have to lock down the doors and they can't afford key tags for all the parents and can't keep a dedicated person at the other end of a call button all day long...?

Edited for clarity.

I just asked if the 9 a.m rule applied to infants and they said "yes, otherwise it throws their daily schedule off." Every parent has a code for the door so we can come and go as we please, so it's not a security issue. It's not a staffing issue either. I guess I'll discuss it with them further.

knighec

Twinkz:

It is not the policy we were will take DS. We have to let them know if he'll be late but he's allowed to come in late or leave early

See, that is totally reasonable to me. I thought letting them know in advance would be fine. It's daycare, not school!

RSMom32011

That's crazy to me. What if LO has a morning Dr. Appt. If I pay them for the full week, they better be able to care for DD anytime between business hours. Anything that prevents them from doing so, IMO, would need to be resolved.

knighec

CupidsCuter:

That's crazy to me. What if LO has a morning Dr. Appt. If I pay them for the full week, they better be able to care for DD anytime between business hours. Anything that prevents them from doing so, IMO, would need to be resolved.

Thanks! This is what I thought, too. They said doctor's appts. and things like that are fine, but just coming in late is not. I could have lied, but they probably would have asked for a doctor's note.

srs5624

knighec:

srs5624:

Never heard that one before.

Did you ask why they have this policy?

Maybe they have to lock down the doors and they can't afford key tags for all the parents and can't keep a dedicated person at the other end of a call button all day long...?

Edited for clarity.

I just asked if the 9 a.m rule applied to infants and they said "yes, otherwise it throws their daily schedule off." Every parent has a code for the door so we can come and go as we please, so it's not a security issue. It's not a staffing issue either. I guess I'll discuss it with them further.

That's just weird then.

If it was security or staffing, I could understand. Random "in by 9 am or don't show up" rule is odd. Older kids... sure. The teachers have stuff planned and it's helpful to have everyone there who is going to be so they can get the day started. But infants...?

knighec

srs5624:

knighec:

srs5624:

Never heard that one before.

Did you ask why they have this policy?

Maybe they have to lock down the doors and they can't afford key tags for all the parents and can't keep a dedicated person at the other end of a call button all day long...?

Edited for clarity.

I just asked if the 9 a.m rule applied to infants and they said "yes, otherwise it throws their daily schedule off." Every parent has a code for the door so we can come and go as we please, so it's not a security issue. It's not a staffing issue either. I guess I'll discuss it with them further.

That's just weird then.

If it was security or staffing, I could understand. Random "in by 9 am or don't show up" rule is odd. Older kids... sure. The teachers have stuff planned and it's helpful to have everyone there who is going to be so they can get the day started. But infants...?

Yep! And even with older kids, at a daycare, I think advance notice of a late arrival should be sufficient, as long as it wasn't habit...

YouandMe912

I've never heard of that rule before and I think it's kind of crazy but did you know this before you signed your LO up there?

If so, not that I think you're being "unreasonable" but I don't think you have a right to be upset by it.

If no, then yea you should be upset and try talking to the Director maybe.

Sarai28

I've worked at 3 daycares and never heard that before!  It's common courtesy to let the teachers know if you will be late or absent, but I don't think that rule makes much sense.  Maybe it's for their staffing purposes.  I'd be upset if I were paying full price!

Ginafawny

I have worked at a daycare that had this policy. But we did not have an infant room this school was for 1 year and up. But this policy was because the school was locked and there was no one that was being paid just to stand by the door and open it for parents. So we would have a drop off time and a pick up time. If you dont like it then I say find a different daycare. You dont want to get in trouble because they could always kick you out. Now the reason they gave you is just dumb. Your are the parents I think you can keep them on their schedule.

Artsywife07

I've never heard of that.  At our daycare, we can drop off and pick up at any time, no questions asked.

MelScreven

DD1 went to a daycare with the same policy.  Also, my sister sent her kids to a daycare that required all children to be dropped off no later than 9:30am.  Both places said the specified time was so as not to distract the other children and not to throw off anyone's schedule for the day.  I know it seems silly for the infants but it was the policy for all ages.  HTH's.

JPLbride

Children must arrive by 10am unless it is for a doctor/dental appt, however, this is only for the PK3 and PK4 classes because they are in class from 8:00-12:00 and anything after 10:00 would be pointless.  The director told me that the 10am rule does not include the infants through age 2.

ksspiff

At our daycare there is no drop-off between 11-2, though pick-up can be at any time.  The reason they give is because this is the 'quiet time' for all the classes.  I guess dropping off is supposed to be more noisy than picking up.

BeetleLinz1125

MelScreven:

DD1 went to a daycare with the same policy.  Also, my sister sent her kids to a daycare that required all children to be dropped off no later than 9:30am.  Both places said the specified time was so as not to distract the other children and not to throw off anyone's schedule for the day.  I know it seems silly for the infants but it was the policy for all ages.  HTH's.

This is what I'm thinking they mean by throwing off schedules...if one child is later than the others, then they have to stop what they are doing at the moment and attend to the child, which might affect the other kids...

Even though it's a sucky policy, I understand...but I wouldn't like that I can't just drop off/pick up at any time.

knighec

Thanks, everyone! These are some excellent points...lots to think about. Regardless of what I do about this, I'll have one more question to ask the next daycare we choose.