Another WWYD daycare question.

Reallynervous83

When my son was little he was in a in home daycare.  That provider recently brought a daycare and so he moved to a center situation.  It's been great, I feel like he socializes and learns more and many others reason  could list why I love this provider.  HOWEVER: Our thought was to put our new one (not due to August so this is pretty far away) also in the same daycare.  The problem I have is when it comes to babies (my son is almost 2 years old so I don'[t see this with him) I have a few problems with the daycare:  1.  I feel like the ratio of worker v. kids is off--I believe in my state it supposed to be 4 babies to one worker I'm not sure if this can be mixed and match but I feel like I see an extra kid or two each time.  2.  I see babies on the floor (not a problem) but they are mixed in with kids who are walking--which concerns me.  

How would you handle this or would you let it go.  Hearing about daycare deaths has made me extra nervous.  

Reallynervous83

HilarityEnsued:

I would double check that state ratio.  That seems very low.  I doubt that's right.  They either are or are not in compliance with the state.  If they aren't, then it would be a no-go for me.  If they are, and you just aren't comfortable with it, then that is something that you need to work out.

At DS's daycare center, he is in the infant class.  There are many of them that are starting to walk, and there are some much younger babies.  The teachers make it work.  Are there times when the babies are crawling over one another?  Sure.  But it's not like a 8 week old baby is just stepped on and no one is paying attention. 

Neither of those things that you mentioned would bother me (and honestly, in my research, are typical and expected at every center).

 

Yeah I double checked.  It is 1:4.  https://daycare.com/missouri/  

I'm only there briefly in the mornings--if I don't leave quickly he gets upset--would you bring it up with the director just before pulling him.  I'm pretty sure they are one to two kids over.  

ASmallWonder

Ratios ARE mix and match by age group so it's hard to say if they're in compliance or not.  If they have 6 kids in the room but only 1 is an infant, they're probably still ok, vs having 6 infants kwim?  The walking issue doesn't bother me unless it proves itself to be an issue.  Are you referring to new walkers?  New walkers will always be in an infant room - there's no way around it.  If you have a kid who starts walking at 11 months but the next room starts at 15 months, that kid will be in the infant room.  In our small center they consolidate at the end of the day and there are often little ones in the toddler room but they're watched carefully.

write2nicole

If you're talking about the first hour of the morning with fewer kids there total, and maybe they have 9 kids between 2 rooms for about 20 minutes before the next teacher shows up, then I wouldn't be worried.

If you think they have 9 infants in one room with 2 teachers all day, and they are flat-out disregarding the state requirements, I would have a huge problem with that in general and I'd definitely talk to the director to see what's going on. I'm not sure how I'd feel about staying even if they correct it because it's such a blatant violation and I'd wonder what else they're knowingly violating that I haven't noticed yet. 

I wouldn't think twice about having walkers in the room with crawlers, assuming we're talking about 15ish months or less.  If they're combining 2yos with crawlers full-time, I'd be pretty worried.

zeldadoggo121

It really sounds like a normal daycare situation. In PA where I used to work in a daycare during college, infants were 6 to 1 and if I had one infant I was only allowed six kids maximum even if the other five were much older. In te mornings we were in separate rooms by age groups but we all moved into one big room with less workers and less kids by the end of the day and never once did we ever have a baby stepped on besides by another baby. The big kids were always careful around the little ones? We always kept an eye out for them though.

hmp1

If your toddler went to this provider in home when he was a baby, wasn't he mixed in with older kids? If you were cool with it then, I don't think moving the daycare to more of a center environment should really matter.

Our daycare follows the ratio for the youngest in the class. For example, James moved into the 2yr old class when we was 22mo old. He is the youngest one in there and they can't add another kid (without adding another teacher) until he turns 27mo because that is when our state bumps up the ratio. Not sure what the actual law is, but that is how our daycare handles it and I am happy they do it that way.

We also have two infant classes so the non mobile kids are in one room and the mobile kids are in another. Crawlers and early walkers are together but walkers are not with non mobile babies. 

Manateearmz

This sounds pretty normal. A PP said the ratios goes up with age. I used to drop DD off first thing on the morning and she was 1 of 5 but the children were closer to school age.

lrn327

My DC is super strict about ratios (our state is 1:6 for infant but our DC follows 1:4) so your comment about breaking the ratios makes me slightly pause but it's something to keep an eye on.  The walking thing though is common.  My DS took his first step at 10 months so I'm glad they didn't kick him out of his infant room, lol!  Seriously though, they're used to that and keep a close out of for this type of thing.

nikip6454

I haven't read through the replies, sorry if I am repeating.

 I used to work in a center and we would combine classes in the early morning and for closing.  I would double check to make sure that is why the class is mixed.  Also, at least in WI, the class can be mixed during opening and closing but the ratio remains 1:4.

If my sister didn't watch DD in her inhome, I would prefer a center.  Typically centers have extra people on hand (the director, a float, whatever) that can step in and help in the infant room, plus infants tend to have different schedules.  While one adult to four babies sounds like a lot, half the time a couple babies are sleeping.  Centers also usually have stricter standards and State visits more often to check for violations, especially whe nthe center is new.

tyke29

Ratio - If you are dropping off at a busy drop off time, then they might be over 1 or 2 kids for a few mins in the morning.  My center is like that sometimes for like 15 mins before the next room opens up.  The baby and creeper room are together in the mornings and so right before the next room opens up/ the workers gets there and starts getting the kids, then might be over by 1 or 2.  This was never an issue for me.  Most infants dont need feeding first thing in the morning and the older ones were usually eating or getting ready to eat breakfast in the highchairs.  A timing issues is not a real problem as long as the room appears to be running good.  If they are 1 or 2 extra full time kids in the class, then that is an issue and I would talk with the owner about it. 

AquaFlowers

I'd ask about that and check the ratio. I definitely would not like a baby going in a daycare with kids who are already walking in the same room!

nanabanana06

AquaFlowers:

I'd ask about that and check the ratio. I definitely would not like a baby going in a daycare with kids who are already walking in the same room!

That would suck if your kid was an early walker then. At Rosie's old daycare they would have some of the younger kids from the toddler 1 class come into the infant room to even out ratios until someone got off break or lunch. Also sometimes the older babies would go into the toddler 1 class to help transition. It was pretty well supervised though. Nothing you mentioned seems out of place for a center setting.