How would you address this? Daycare question

pc150805 · August 2012

We've recently started daycare and I'm not thrilled but I'm not sure I should leave either. So here's the situation:

C eats 4 oz. every 3 hours on the weekends/when I'm home. Every morning I feed her before we leave and I prep 3 bottles of 4 oz for her day. Lately, she has been coming home with 1-2 oz left, in each bottle! I don't know if she's just taking too long to eat or what. Do daycare centers usually have a set amount of time they let little one eat? When she gets home she's really hungry and ends up eating 6 oz. or more. She's also been much fussier with them then she had been. Should I talk to her teacher or the director? Is it possible that she just eats less at daycare?

I don't want to freak out if it's normal but if she's not being fed enough that is a huge problem.

LoCarb · August 2012

Address the teacher w/ your concerns before inviting the director into the issue. Ask the teacher how they feed on a schedule or on demand. How old is your LO? Yes, it is possible for a child to eat less at DC. Also, you mentioned you recently started DC so it may be an adjustment to the new environment and caregivers.

Don't freak out. It sounds like they are feeding her and not being neglectful.

pc150805 · August 2012

She started in July so she's had several weeks to adjust and it's just now started to happen. She's a slow eater and that's why I worry so much. I'll discuss it with the teacher first thing Monday morning.

mben1119 · August 2012

Estwd2:
Totally normal. Most kids will eat/sleep/act differently at daycare than they do at home. But it definitely can't hurt to ask her teacher more about how she eats there. Is she fussy? Is she distracted? Etc. She likely just needs some time to adjust to the new environment and people. She'll settle into a routine and then you'll have a better idea of how much she eats at daycare as opposed to at home.

This. DS's habits and schedule are completely different at DC than they are at home, but it works for us.

katieh1017 · August 2012

I would just ask the teachers...could she be falling asleep at the bottle and that's why she is drinking less? Does the nipple flow need to be changed? I know L started taking a long time to eat and would fall asleep because she was working to hard to get the milk. I changed the nipple flow and it helped out.

Our know our DC will feed on demand but she is consistent in eating every 2 hours. That is what we told them she eats at so they follow it.

wychets · August 2012

Estwd2:
Totally normal. Most kids will eat/sleep/act differently at daycare than they do at home. But it definitely can't hurt to ask her teacher more about how she eats there. Is she fussy? Is she distracted? Etc. She likely just needs some time to adjust to the new environment and people. She'll settle into a routine and then you'll have a better idea of how much she eats at daycare as opposed to at home.

I think this is great advice!

PP our DC doe snot have a set time for the infants to eat. I don't think any DC has a time limit...I would address it with the teacher to see what exactly happens when LO is eating and go from there.

Netty_3 · August 2012

Definitely talk to the teacher first. No need to skip up the chain of command, over something you'd probably get a better and faster answer if you go directly to the source. (Plus you don't want to lose trust with your teacher.) You need to think how you would want someone to address something where you work...do unto others and all. I don't like it when somene takes up something over my head, when I could have easily handled it. Plus the directors are busy with other things as well. In the future...would you go to a principal or a teacher when they're older.

DCs can only allow 1 hour to finish a bottle. We keep an extra container of formula at school in case he's hungrier than what we pack, or is a slow eater.

My son recently dropped a lot of formula because he eats more solid food now.

skyejo · August 2012

Sounds normal to me, though I'd talk to the teacher about it. It's not like the teachers are saying, baby, you have 10 minutes to drink this bottle or you're cut off, so it's got to be something else. Maybe your LO is distracted by the environment, is still getting used to being fed by someone else, or maybe it's time to go to the next nipple level.

ETA: I do remember there being a time period where the bottle would have to be tossed after being heated, maybe an hour or two with BM, but it certainly was a long period of time and the DC teacher would attempt to feed DD multiple times within that time period.

SilliRy · August 2012

EllaHella:
Talk to the teacher but keep in mind that LOs have different habits- eating, sleeping, etc at daycare versus home.

This exactly. My DD never drank all of her bottles at daycare, and that was fine. I don't think is a problem, but talk to the teachers. DD was just too interested in everything else at daycare to be bothered!