How dirty is your kid after daycare?

ccam · May 2013

I mostly lurk here, but thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself, too. I'm a FTM to a 9 month old little boy. Both DH and I both work FT and DS goes to a combo of daycare and my SIL during the week. I'm a regular on the Aug 2012 board and Success after IF.

Anyway, for my question - when you pick up your child from daycare, how dirty are they? I'm just looking for a comparison because I feel like DS comes home super dirty. His clothes will be dirty, some days worse than others. I understand that they have a bunch of kids to watch and that babies are messy when they eat, but if I saw a child that dirty, I would change him. I send in tons of bibs and extra clothes, just in case. Also, his face is always a mess! I literally wipe him down when we get in the car. The other day he had food in his hair and even on his eyelid! I know he won't come home like I send him there, but I feel like it's a little extreme.

Maybe I'm just being too anal and this is all normal, but I get there at the same time every day to pick - his diaper is changed and he's ready to go. But he must wear this food on his face all day because the last meal he eats is around lunch and I get him at 4. I wouldn't even know how to talk to anyone there about it.

ferris0906 · May 2013

My DS (15 months old) is either very dirty or wearing new clothes almost every day. That said, it is all his fault--he is the world's messiest eater. He believes meal time should be a full body experience. I am pretty sure other toddlers go home dirty because of him/his eating. That said, most of the mess is on his clothes, and it is evident that he has been cleaned to the best of anyone's (short of a washing machine) ability.

If it bothers you, definitely say something (especially about the food still being on his skin and hair). I might approach it as, "I just wanted to check if I should bring in more wipes or wash clothes for DS. I know he can be a messy eater, and I noticed he gets food on his face and hair," or at least start with something like that.

littlestjerry · May 2013

DS is pretty dirty when he gets home, especially if it's a day they play outside. The first thing we do when we get home is change outfits and wash hands. Unless your child is like Pig Pen dirty at the end of the day, I think it's normal and not a sign of bad daycare practice or anything.

ETA: Food in the hair wouldn't bother me because it's hard to clean without a bath. Food on the face would be slightly irksome unless it was clear it was just a remnant that they missed when cleaning his face.

*sparky* · May 2013

How messy is he at home when eating/playing? DS would usually end up wearing half his meals and gravitated toward dirt outside, so trying to keep him clean was like a full time job. If he was messy when I picked him up from DC it would not be a big shock to me. I would say the food in the hair and on the eyelid is a little much though and warrants you asking if they can give him a quick wipe off when he finishes eating.

ccam · May 2013

*sparky*:
How messy is he at home when eating/playing? DS would usually end up wearing half his meals and gravitated toward dirt outside, so trying to keep him clean was like a full time job. If he was messy when I picked him up from DC it would not be a big shock to me. I would say the food in the hair and on the eyelid is a little much though and warrants you asking if they can give him a quick wipe off when he finishes eating.

He's pretty messy when he eats at home, too, but his clothes rarely are because he always has a bib on. He will occasionally feel the need to rub his food into his eye and hair, but I always wipe his face and hands after he eats. I guess I just kind of assumed that they'd do the same after the kids ate.

ccam · May 2013

Thanks ladies! Your responses make me feel a little better. DS is happy at his daycare but I was starting to question the cleanliness thing. At least now I have something to compare it to. I completely understand that he's a kid and he's going to be dirty, but I guess a quick wipe down after meals is what I'm really looking for.

boogerbearoriginal · May 2013

Food - he'll either come home with shirt stained or in a new shirt depending on what he had for lunch that day. But his face/hands are wiped clean.

Dirt - if the weather is nice they are outside playing when I pick him up so he frequently has dirty hands/face/knees/etc but they are actively playing so it's NBD.

Generally speaking, he is as clean as a toddler can be without a bath lol.

If you feel like it's too much left, maybe mention something about finding food on him, likely they wiped him down quickly and just missed spots. But it would bother me if it consistently seemed like he wasn't being cleaned well after eating.

eyenigh · May 2013

ccam:
*sparky*:
How messy is he at home when eating/playing? DS would usually end up wearing half his meals and gravitated toward dirt outside, so trying to keep him clean was like a full time job. If he was messy when I picked him up from DC it would not be a big shock to me. I would say the food in the hair and on the eyelid is a little much though and warrants you asking if they can give him a quick wipe off when he finishes eating.

He's pretty messy when he eats at home, too, but his clothes rarely are because he always has a bib on. He will occasionally feel the need to rub his food into his eye and hair, but I always wipe his face and hands after he eats. I guess I just kind of assumed that they'd do the same after the kids ate.

This is how it is for us at home, too. We use a pretty big big that covers well and, I have to admit, I wipe pretty frequently so he's never a huge mess. I understand that he can't get the same while-he-eats-wiping at daycare since they have a lot more kids but I do feel like he could be a bit cleaner if they used bibs that were actually for feeding instead of small teething bibs. I tried to send different bibs for him before but they only wanted to use their own.

However, in the last week, my son has started to want to feed himself with a spoon and it is a messy, messy ordeal. Today I walked in to daycare with a giant, smock style bib and explained how he now wanted to use a spoon so it would probably be a good idea to keep this giant bib here-- I also added that I sent spaghetti, lol. Today they were much more open to keeping the big bib and actually suggested keeping it there. He always comes home with a little food stuck to him, which is fine, but if a bib can help keep him a bit cleaner, I don't see what the big deal is.

ksyknelvr73 · May 2013

Some days are worse than others for us - there are days when I wonder why they didn't change his clothes and why his face isn't wiped down, but for the most part they do a good job of keeping him mostly clean. I would probably say something if your DS is that dirty all the time. Seems a little excessive. They are going to get dirty for sure, but I really don't see why they can't keep his face clean.

cecilyandgautam · May 2013

DCP wipes DD down with a wet washcloth after every meal & snack and changes the outfit if anything spills, so pretty clean. I wouldn't mind sand in the shoes and hair kinda dirty, but I might lunch smeared all over the face for several hours.

Leap08 · May 2013

My 1.5 year old comes home with dirty clothes almost everyday. She won't wear a bib and she's a messy eater. Depending on what they did and what they ate that day, my 3 year old might come home with dirty clothes as well. Their hands and faces are always clean unless they're playing outside when I pick them up. If they had food or dirt on their hands/faces I would be annoyed. I don't care about the clothes though.

kanga1622Wed220857 · May 2013

Usually DS has a clean face unless he's got a super runny nose that is impossible to keep up with.

He does often come home with food in his hair or some sauce (BBQ, tomato, salsa) up above his elbow under his shirt. Not sure how he gets the food there, but I am guilty of missing some of those things at home too so I don't hold it against his DCP.

DCP doesn't generally take the kids outside much since it is a home based and she has such a wide range of age groups. DS is home with DH during the summer though so he gets plenty of outside messy time and I get to help clean sand out of his hair after I get home.

Netty_3 · May 2013

Pretty clean actually. They change him into his standby clothes, I think if he drops water on his shirt...so we have a ton of clothes at school we take every week. The afternoon lady is obsessed with having them clean before naptime, so they're changed if they deem needed, and faces washed after diapering. I think the only time he's "dirty" is when he has a runny nose and wipes it all over himself. Other than that...pretty clean.

katieh1017 · May 2013

ksyknelvr73:
Some days are worse than others for us - there are days when I wonder why they didn't change his clothes and why his face isn't wiped down, but for the most part they do a good job of keeping him mostly clean. I would probably say something if your DS is that dirty all the time. Seems a little excessive. They are going to get dirty for sure, but I really don't see why they can't keep his face clean.

All of this.

ccam · May 2013

ksyknelvr73:
Some days are worse than others for us - there are days when I wonder why they didn't change his clothes and why his face isn't wiped down, but for the most part they do a good job of keeping him mostly clean. I would probably say something if your DS is that dirty all the time. Seems a little excessive. They are going to get dirty for sure, but I really don't see why they can't keep his face clean.

Exactly! I'm going to see how this week goes and pay closer attention. Runny nose I totally get, but the food and the fact that he even naps that way grosses me out.

financialdiva · May 2013

DS1 is 3 and comes home dirty from playing outside or from an art project gone crazy. And that to me is the sign of a perfect day!

However, food on his face everyday would bother me and he rarely comes home with that. I guess they have always wiped his face after lunch. I would ask to wipe his face after eating.

Sparks in training! · May 2013

WOw....I would be PISSED! My son is never really dirty at all. I mean...there will be times that his little hands are stained from playing with paint...but i dont mind it at all because i know how much he LOVES playing with paint. But literally his face is always clean, his clothes are not dirty. We bath everyday as soon as we get home. I would be upset with daycare if he has food stuck in his hair or eyelid.

Nechie122 · May 2013

Estwd2:
I am okay with food stains on clothes, dirt on clothes if they were outside, and disheveled hair.I am not okay with dirty hands and face. They should be washing their hands before and after every meal, and when they come inside from the playground. They should also wipe off faces after messy meals. If my kid had pasta at noon and came home 5 hours later with sauce on his face and spaghetti in her hair, I'd be speaking with the teacher. If I pick her up during outside time, I don't expect her to be squeaky clean.

This exactly. I don't care about clothes stains; I pretty much expect it. But I do expect some basic hygiene throughout the day.

cedenton · May 2013

DS is almost always clean when I pick him up and it's not like he's a clean eater and he spits up a good bit. They're very good about keeping him clean and they change his clothes if they get dirty or he drools too much. He goes through many bibs per day because they change them if they get soaked.

Rarely ever has food on his face.

salt78 · May 2013

ferris0906:
My DS (15 months old) is either very dirty or wearing new clothes almost every day. That said, it is all his fault--he is the world's messiest eater. He believes meal time should be a full body experience. I am pretty sure other toddlers go home dirty because of him/his eating. That said, most of the mess is on his clothes, and it is evident that he has been cleaned to the best of anyone's (short of a washing machine) ability.

This exactly. Except I have a girl.

Mr. & Mrs. Woodtick · May 2013

My DS is generally pretty clean everyday when I pick him up. I would be pretty pissed if I were in your situation. DS is extremely messy when he eats and that's what the extra clothes I send to DC are for. I can seriously count on one hand the number of times I have picked DS up in the same clothes I dropped him off in, and I am 100% okay with that.

If they are truly leaving food on your LO's face from lunch time until you pick him up at four, that's pretty nasty.

cltk12 · May 2013

DH and I had this discussion many times after DS started solids at DC. Some days, he'd come home clean and other days, he'd come home with food in his hair, behind his ears, on his forehead and we wondered if anyone wiped him down. Now that he's a pretty good self-feeder, he comes home clean.

Looking back, it had to do with what they ate for lunch. If they had ravioli or meatballs, he was dirtier than on days where he had chicken breast. I'm sure they wiped him down on those messy days, but he fought it so they got him as much as they could.

I debated if I should say something, but it got better. If LO is really really dirty, I'd say something.

Mustardseed2007 · May 2013

He comes home very dirty, but the food on his face you mentioned would worry me.

As far as food remnants, he does have them on his clothes and sometimes his hair is kind of stiff from getting stuff in it (I know, gross!) , but there aren't any visible bits in his hair on on his eyes. That's a little beyond. They ought to be wiping down his face and washing his hands.

Also, since you bring extra clothes I would ask them to change him into a new outfit. They may be holding off so he doesn't get another outfit dirty, but if you let him know they could be more willing to change him.

KathrynMD · May 2013

Unless your kids clothes are wet/dirty, I wouldn't let that bother me.

Dirty face and hands - from meals several hours ago - yes that would bother me.

They should be wiping your kid's face after meals and his hair if needed. A few random crumbs or a smear that they missed is normal, but crusty face means they didn't wipe him off.

ccam · May 2013

Just had to add that I picked him up today and he was cleaner than he's ever been....

LoCarb · May 2013

For the most part, my kids come home clean. If they are dirty, DC will change them to a new outfit.

laurakaz13 · May 2013

DD is usually in new clothes by the end of the day. They do clean off her face really well, but she's not exactly clean after a full day there.

She gets baths every single night after daycare! I used to be more anal, but now I really am not. If DD's face was super dirty, I would ask them to please wash it off occasionally during the day.

jessicaleigh13 · June 2013

As a daycare worker I can say from experience that I clean every child's face after they eat. No one wants their child to have food on their face its gross. It's harder to get food out of hair but I try my best. We also always use bibs to cut down on mess on clothes. But sometimes kids get dirty anyways. If a child gets really messy or dirty I will change their outfit.

I would talk to your child's teacher and ask in a nice way if they can wipe his face more or change his clothes if he gets really dirty. I have parents ask me for things all of the time and this request would not be unreasonable. It take thirty seconds to wipe a face and maybe a few minutes to change an outfit.

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