Question on Water

hoping4sticky

Yes, I realize this is silly, but what does your daycare do with drinks? We came from an in-home and she had a sippy of water available to her all day and we do the same at home. Her new daycare does drinks with breakfast/after outside time/lunch/snack. This seems reasonable to me, but she is thirsty when I pick her up and I now have to make sure I have water for her on our way home.

Trying to decide if I should broach the topic of having water available all day. What is the norm for you?

aglenn

We went through this for a while, too.  In the older classrooms they leave out a pitcher and cups during the day, but toddlers and twos aren't quite ready to serve themselves and they don't want them sharing sippy cups, etc.  We asked about it and they said that there is water available at any time that a child asks for it, but DD wasn't asking and was just thirsty so I made sure we had a cup in the car for her.  Just chiming in to say that it is likely temporary.

virginiagirl11

We provide water for DS all day at home. I am a big proponent of making it available to kids at all times.

He goes to a DC that operates similarly to your daughter's new one. We just brought an extra sippy of water with us on his first day and asked them to please offer it to him throughout the day, and we've taken it in every single day since and left it in the same spot on the counter. They know it's his and why it's there. Sometimes it's empty when we arrive, sometimes it's full, you never know. He's often thirsty when we pick him up, but we refill it before we leave and let him drink away as we're leaving. I think his newer teacher pays more attention to it than his other one.

It bothered me in the beginning that they didn't seem to be on top of the water situation the way I wanted them to be, but he's survived and our system works well enough for us. Btw, he goes to this DC three days a week and is home with our babysitter on the other two days and has full accessibility to water then. 

bridetobe920

DD goes to a center, and we are required to send in a cup of water everyday (we bring it in an insulated kids' Thermos).   It is in her cubby, and she can reach it whenever she wants a drink.

lrn327

hoping4sticky:

Yes, I realize this is silly, but what does your daycare do with drinks? We came from an in-home and she had a sippy of water available to her all day and we do the same at home. Her new daycare does drinks with breakfast/after outside time/lunch/snack. This seems reasonable to me, but she is thirsty when I pick her up and I now have to make sure I have water for her on our way home.

Trying to decide if I should broach the topic of having water available all day. What is the norm for you?

Ours is similar water after outside and snacks so five times and milk with meals (twice) so drinks a total of seven times at DC.  Honestly all he's ever mentioned is that a few times he drank a lot of water that day.  I'd just mention it to DC and as pps said, it's probably temporary.

Ms5586

I'd be concerned with kids drinking other kid's sippies if water is available all day.  I believe that J has water/milk available at meals and snacks, and again before/after nap(s).

LoCarb

Is she talking much? I would teach her sign language for drink along with the word. Then she can ask her teacher anytime she is thirsty. Our DC offers drinks the same time as yours in addition to after outside play. They will offer a drink to anyone who asks. Also, at 14 mo they are no longer allowed to have sippy cups; big cups only so the kids will have to learn a new skill and ask for water themselves.  They simply cannot point at their cup in the cubby or wherever.

EMOmamma

My son's DC is the same and he's often too excited to get back to playing at snack time that he doesn't drink much.  I always have a sippy of milk or water for the ride home.  

hoping4sticky

LoCarb:

Is she talking much? I would teach her sign language for drink along with the word. Then she can ask her teacher anytime she is thirsty. Our DC offers drinks the same time as yours in addition to after outside play. They will offer a drink to anyone who asks. Also, at 14 mo they are no longer allowed to have sippy cups; big cups only so the kids will have to learn a new skill and ask for water themselves.  They simply cannot point at their cup in the cubby or wherever.

I guess I can encourage her to ask for water. She has no problem talking and will ask me for things, she is just generally more reserved and shy around others so I doubt that she would ask.

alstumb@gmail.com

Ms5586:

I'd be concerned with kids drinking other kid's sippies if water is available all day.nbsp; I believe that J has water/milk available at meals and snacks, and again before/after naps.

I worked in the toddler room of a daycare for 4 years and this is a big concern. We just did drinks with meals and when we came in from playing outside. The kids did/do fine. My son is now in that room and I do give him a cup on the way home, but I'm not worried about him drinking during the day. If he were to ask for a drink, they would give him one, but it's just not practical to have them out all day.

brettsmama

We had the exact same issue. We very nicely said "he seems so thirsty when we pick him up". What options are available for him to get a drink if he wants one? They were great and started putting out a water cooler with little cups and the kids would get a cup and ask the teacher to fill it. It helped all the children a lot. We also just made sure we did always have water with us when we picked him up. I think it worked because we let them take the lead on how to fix it instead of us trying to dictate.