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Babies: 9 - 12 Months
would this bother you? daycare related
so yesterday i went to pick dd up from daycare. there were two other LOs in there, one in a high chair and one in an exersaucer. i was on the floor with dd putting on her jacket and getting her ready to leave when the DCP just walks out of the room for approx 2 or 3 minutes. i think she just went next door to their laundry room, but she was still gone a significant period of time. i thought it was very odd and i would've been pissed if i was the parents of those other two children and knew that happened. am i being over sensitive about it?
i can't decide whether or not to bring it up to the director. i guess it just makes me wonder how often this lady actually does leave the room? and if she does it when there are more kids in the room or when the kids are just on the floor playing? granted, i have left dd in her exersaucer while i go into another room to grab something, etc, but i'm paying these people a crap load to keep my dd safe. any thoughts? would it bother you? thanks!
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Re: would this bother you? daycare related
yep, that would definitely bother me.
i also leave riley in her exersaucer to go into the other room, but i never leave for more than 30 seconds (like, i'll go grab something from the fridge). too much can go wrong that fast. and besides like you said, you're paying them to watch your child!
at riley's center they have a woman who is basically a "floater", and she goes around during the day letting people have bathroom breaks, lunch breaks, etc. and if they need her, they will call the director for her to come.
what starfish just said.
Thats a good system.
Then yeah, OP, I would tell someone.
i think it's different at home. there are laws about this in daycare facilities. and you're paying for that care. wouldn't you be mad if you were paying $1200 (or more) a month to find out your kid got into something and no one was in the room? i think that's what OP is more upset about.
You said it.
Is there a guideline about how long you can leave the room?
to answer the pee question again, the daycare has floaters for this purpose. what is more of a concern is whether or not she is leaving kids in the room alone when they aren't in a safe enclosed space. how do i know that isn't happening if the dcp leaves the room while i am there without even saying a word. at the very least i would have expected her to say "running to the other room, brb."
Yeah, I agree. Home is different. I know when we lived in NC to be in compliance with state law you must have at ALL times, the correct teacher to child ratio in the daycare or pre-school. The ratio is lower the younger the children are. Most larger facilities have floaters that are called to a room to cover if a teacher needs to leave for any reason. Unfortunately, there are certain jobs where peeing at will is not an option.
I think that if you have those types of concerns, then you should definitely talk to the director.
It must depend on the state, then.
In MD, daycare centers are required to maintain the 3:1 infant ratio regardless of bathroom breaks. When DD1 was in a center, they had a floating provider who could step in while the regulars stepped out.
ETA: OP, I would definitely mention it to the director. Even approaching it as "hey, I just wanted to make sure YOU didn't get in trouble if an inspector stopped by" angle will help.
We use an in-home provider, so she is the only one there all day. Of course she needs to use the restroom from time to time. I asked how this was handled on my interview and she told me that she will put the baby into a PNP outside of her bathroom. The other kids are also in a safe area - within a play yard, also right near the bathroom. DS is the only one she has under 3, so it works well.
She asked if I would mind if she did laundry when the kids were napping (the laundry room is right off of the room where they nap.) I told her I did not mind.
I can see how this would bother you, OP if it was something that was never discussed before and that the DCP never even said she was running next door for a minute. I'd say something.
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ooh, i didn't even think of this aspect.
thanks everyone. i will be asking them about their policy on the matter today and will go from there.
I have worked at a few daycares and we always had to get another teacher or the director to cover. Under no circumstances were we to leave the children unattended. That being said, I would certainly say something to the director. Sounds like the teacher was assuming you would keep an eye on the kids since you were in there and that is sooooo not okay. Like you said, you're paying THEM a crap load to watch yours and others kids.
I think it definitely depends on the state and on the daycare for how it's enforced. Here in Iowa, children can never be left in a room alone. That's enough to get you fired.
I've worked at two separate daycares here and one required ratio to be met at all times - at that one, you had to get the cook or one of the management to step in for you to use the restroom, since any floater teachers were already assigned to a room of their own. The other daycare allowed you to drop to half ratio when you were outside at recess, which meant that we just held it until we got outside and used that time for restroom time.
OP, I'd definitely talk to the director about this. See what your state guidelines are and what the daycares rules are on this. Then, you at least know what to expect.
When you are at home with your own child, it's different to put your kid in an exersaucer or high chair to run out of the room. That's your decision and quite frankly your child to risk (I don't say this judging you, I do the same thing.) But it's a completely different situation to risk others in your care. You don't have the right to do it. A quick potty run is one thing - especially when you are desperate and can't find someone to help you, but leaving the room for something that wouldn't cause a change of clothes isn't a good choice, IMO.
OP, it's also possible that the caregiver felt that she could leave with you in the room (another adult, technically), which is something that I would make sure you figure out in your situation. If that's the case, she's leaving you responsible for other kids without checking with you ahead of time and is probably breaking daycare rules.
I don't know if it varies state to state, but in MN you are NOT allowed to leave the room if there are children in it! If you have to pee, you can't go unless another teacher is in there to be with the kids for you! There's even rules for how far away from the children you can be- for instance, a teacher has to be no more than 3 feet away from infants and needs a direct line of sight and sound, for toddlers I believe its 5 feet w/ sight and sound, for preschool you just need to be w/in sight and sound and for school age you just need to be able to hear them and know where they are. But even with school agers, you are not allowed to leave them alone in the room and walk out.
OP, yes I would bring that up to the director! If it is allowed, you should at least bring it up so you can get a full understanding of the rules for leaving them unattended.
this was my first thought...i don't leave my child alone with strangers. i'd be upset if something happened and the only one in the room was a parent i didn't even know.