Realistic Expectations of Daycare Cleanliness?

tessajd · November 2012

For those of you with children in daycare, how clean do they appear upon pick-up? My daughter just enrolled in a daycare with a good reputation, which is even certified by the National Association of Education for Young Children. However, when I pick her up she has dried boogies on her face and her clothes have stains. No issues with diaper changes, etc, although when I picked her up today the room did have a faint poop smell. Also, my daughter appears fairly happy there and the staff seems responsible and loving (although I plan to make surprise visits to confirm that). Is all of this normal and just the reality of daycare in general? I have had her at home for a year and kept her squeeky clean, as I'm a little OCD.

If all daycares are somewhat like this, I'll be able to relax a bit. If not, I'd like to know so that I can ask them to make some changes. TIA!

Mrs.Greg · November 2012

I think its kinda normal. DD1 used to go to daycare and she'd have dried food in the corners of her mouth, dry snot on her face if she had a little cold, hair would be a mess, etc. But she was always happy when I picked her up and the dirties weren't serious so I didn't fuss about it. But like your LO, mine stayed home [with my mom] until she was about 18 months and she was always cleaned up when I got home from work.

JenniCollins · November 2012

Normal. With so many kids it can be hard to keep on top of cleaning faces all the time. And clothing stains are normal, this is why I only let dd wear "daycare outfits"...aka ones that are already stained or I don't care if they get stained.

TiffanyBerry · November 2012

I would hope they let her play and explore rather than changing her clothes every time she gets dirty! As they get older, they get more stains on their clothes (in my experience). A clean shirt is a sign of a boring day around here.

laurakaz13 · November 2012

I would never expect my child to be totally clean. In fact, as a toddler she is pretty messy at the end of they day. It's normal. She just gets a bath every single night.

However, if she gets food on her clothes, they always change her clothes. Each kid has a cubby with changes of clothes, etc.

Oh and DD LOVES it there. She has a great time and they take excellent care of her. I agree with the other ladies that a clean kid is a sign of a boring day.

loganlac · November 2012

Absolutely normal!

DD comes home with stains on her clothes and if she has a runny nose, she has dried snot on her face and if they have oreos, she might have some crumbs by her mouth. She is always super happy though. I don't blame you for wanting to make a few surprise visits - I have done that and it definitely puts my mind at ease.

jllmb79 · November 2012

When my LO was in daycare it didn't bother me so much stained clothing from food. Her clothing would be changed it if was stained from poop. I brought in boogie wipes after the first day of picking her up with boogies on her face. She never had boogies on her face again when I picked her up after giving them the boogie wipes.

blueandgray · November 2012

I can't keep the boogers off DD's face, so I really can't expect her DC teachers to keep up with them! ha ha!

The teachers used to change her clothes in the afternoon after lunch since she almost always would have gotten some kind of stain on them. But I told them not to bother unless it was a diaper stain or her clothes were soaked cause she spilled her cup or something. Otherwise, that's just more clothes I need to wash and its not like we are going anywhere but home after school.

nikki2246 · November 2012

Totally normal...DD is usually some sort of stained when I get her. She is always happy and I know she has a ball. She def. has the boogie issue especially when she has a runny nose and most days has some sort of food stain on her. They do change her often when she wears more water on her shirt then when she drinks. She is always dry diaper wise etc...I agree with PP's..that there are so many kids. I know the place itself is super clean so it's okay that DD gets a bit messy.

Ms5586 · November 2012

I say totally normal. J usually has food stains on his shirt, because he is a very messy hands-on eater, and he pulls bibs off or out of his way. As far as the nose crusties, he pitches an absolute fit if you wipe his nose. They will wipe him if he's a snotty mess, but otherwise, it's not worth the fight IMO.

tessajd · November 2012

Thanks, Everyone! Yet again you made me feel better!

Elocin · November 2012

Messy is good! It's a sign of an active day. Be prepared that your DD will be getting sick, soon. It's just a DC reality.

lukafoo74 · November 2012

The clothes are no big deal, maybe they can work on the boogers. Our in home daycare does laundry, so his clothes are usually relatively clean. Sometimes he has boogies though.

rosesandpeonies · November 2012

sounds pretty normal to me. My daughter has paint on her, etc. however, any time she has ever gotten wet outside in a puddle or anything really bad they have changed her clothes.

Diaper is always dry upon pick up and she has never had a rash from there. I have personally seen them wipe noses, etc., so I know they do the best they can but sometimes she has a runny nose.

It literally says in the handbook to send her in clothes that can get messy lol.

I know they sanatize the diaper changing area and use paper there and I have personally seen them clean the tables, etc. The toys are all cleaned everyday. They are extremely good about things like that and those are the things I think are important. Even the outside play area is well taken care of. All of the toys are fairly new and very well taken care of. To me this is the stuff I worry about, not her clothes being messy, but that is me and like I said any time her clothes got wet or really really messy she was changed.

NewFamily09 · November 2012

My kids stay home with me and I watch a couple other kids too. The dirty clothes wouldn't bother me much. My kids, especially DS2, get their clothes dirty within 5 minutes of putting them on. I get grossed out by dried boogers and filthy mouths though. I clean up that kind of thing throughout the day. Granted, I don't have 10 kids to watch, so I can see how that wouldn't be high priority at a daycare.

rlyttle · November 2012

I have very high expectations when it comes to cleanliness. This is also another reason why we prefer in-home vs. centers. Our in-home DC provider's house is ALWAYS very clean & the kids look clean as well. I'm weird about that stuff though. I've never been in a DC center that met my expectations.

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