Hi everyone! I was just wondering if I could get some input from other mommies here about some things that have kind of bothered me at my twins’ daycare. We have been going there for about 1 ½ months now and they kids love it!! Here’s some background:

1) About 3 weeks ago my daughter insisted on wearing her Cinderella pajama top to school. My dh let her and she was happy. She apparently had a pee pee accident that day and she was wearing a different set of clothes when I picked her up. The teachers did not give me her clothes and quite honestly I forgot to ask. This past weekend I was wondering where her pajama top was and started looking around the house and never found it. Wasn’t too concerned because our house is chaotic b/c of the twins…things get “lost” all the time. Monday I picked the kids up after work and the teacher hands me her napmat (she pee peed on it) and a bag of her clothes. When I got home her Monday clothes were in there plus the outfit from 3 weeks ago. Oh my God!! The pee pee smell was overwhelming. They must have had that outfit tied up in a big for the entire 3 weeks and just found it on Monday.

2) Yesterday I pick my kids up and my son had a #2 accident. They hand me his clothes in a bag and it smells bad. When I get home and undo the bag his soiled underwear were in there along with the poop. Am I unreasonable to think they would have dumped the poop at the very least?

3) Last week the teacher told me my son hadn’t eaten a single bite for lunch (he’s a very picky eater) but when they handed me his daily report (which shows how he ate, slept and played) they had eating marked as Excellent.

4) I have continually noticed that on the daily reports that whoever is filling them out does not know how to spell and has an improper use of the English language. (ex: Billy learn how to play the piano or Billy ate 2 crakers)

Okay…here are my questions….

- Would you expect them to flush the poop or does your daycare just leave it for you??
- Would you be concerned that the person teaching your children don’t know how to use the English language properly ??
- Would you be concerned about the inconsistency between what your child actually did and what the report says?
- Is this the type of thing that is to be expected in a daycare setting??

Please be honest with me. I had the world’s best nanny for 2.5 years and put my kids in preschool on my dr.’s recommendation b/c my son had a speech delay. I will be very anxious to hear what you ladies have to say.

Thanks so very much in advance!
Susan

I'll start by saying that my kids never went to day care, so I really don't know what normal protocal is. But if it were my children, yes, I would definately think they could have at least flushed the poop (jeesh!), I would think they could have rinsed them as well. And the jammie top thing, that's nasty, they should have given that to you the same day. Does this place seem clean and organised when you go there?

I would be concerned about the reports being anything other than accurate. You have to know as a parent what is really going on and everything should be consitant.

Spelling and proper English, well, I can say that I'm not always a great speller, especially if the kids are running around distracting me, but I that doesn't mean that I wouldn't be a caring provider for children. I probably wouldn't stress over that one.

You should go with your gut feeling. Are your children happy and clean when you pick them up? It is their well being that is the most important thing.

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I think they should have dumped the poop before they gave you the clothes. my babysitter would even rinse them and then put them in a bag for me. and definatly give them back the same day!
The report should say what happens,, thats how you would know what happened that day. what if the teacher hadnt said anything, you would have thought he ate lunch that day.
I would definatly talk to the teacher about these items, and if that doesnt help go to the principal/director.

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Okay, I do not have my children in daycare, but they are in preschool...AND I have done home daycare off and on for almost 15 years. Let me say that as a home daycare provider, one of the benefits of "having" me is that the kids in my care are treated like my own. If they have an accident, not only do I clean them up, I also will wash, dry, and fold/redress them before it is time to go home, if at all possible. Now, in a public daycare or my children's preschool, they do NOT do this. It is standard practice (and I have six kids...all who have been in public preschool) to simply put soiled clothes in a plastic bag and send home for Mom to deal with. The teachers simply don't have the time or the ability to take care of it like we do. I do have to say that I would not be happy about clothes sitting for three weeks (nasty!!), but I can see where it might have slipped by. I would just recommend double checking at the end of each week to see if there are any clothes needed to take home...and if after that they still bring you some that old, THEN I would have the fit!! The spelling thing drives me NUTS. I am very picky about spelling, grammer, and punctuation...to the point that on this board, I will go back and edit old posts of mine if I happen to see where I messed something up!! I don't really think it is hindering your child at this age, though, since they aren't at the level of learning to spell or read. The reports being filled out wrong, I would definitely ask about. That is something you use at home to gauge how your children did each day...and if they aren't filled out correctly, what is the point in having them? Hope that helps you some...and by the way, WELCOME!! I haven't seen you on here before!

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Would you expect them to flush the poop or does your daycare just leave it for you??
Depends. If it's a home daycare, then maybe yes, I would think (not expect) she would rinse it out or atleast dump the poop. If it's a regular daycare, I would highly think that they would dump it atleast. I would just go and talk to the director/sitter and just ask what their procedure is on the issue and how things are done, at the same time let them know of your expectations.

Would you be concerned that the person teaching your children don’t know how to use the English language properly ??
Not at all. But that could be a person-to-person thing, I don't know.

Would you be concerned about the inconsistency between what your child actually did and what the report says?
YES, 100%. No if's ands or butts about it. It's my child, and if they have it where they jot down the events of my childs day, then I wanna see what really happened, and that way we can both work on it together. At the end of the day, it's up to you to review the report, and if it doesn't matchup to what they told you, then you have every right to question, oh btw, it says yada, yada, yada in the report, and you mentioned this. What's the truth? Maybe they were busy and jot down something not remembering what actually happened. YOu know how it is with kids running around.

Is this the type of thing that is to be expected in a daycare setting??
No, but again, I think you need to sit down with her and ask the same questions to your daycare provider that you mentioned here, but schedule it at a time when it's one-on-one so that there aren't any kids interrupting you.

HTH.

My kids have never been in daycare, but I have worked daycare for many years and in different age groups.

Yes, I would dump the poop and even rinse out the clothes if at all possible. Does your child have a cubby? I always put the soiled clothes in a bag and then in the cubby or diaper bag, then wrote that on the daily report.

Yes, the daily report should accurately reflect what your child did that day. Honestly, I have seen daycare workers "fudge" the reports, but not often.

The proper grammar, although it would drive me nuts, I wouldn't worry about it. Now, if this is more of an academic setting, then I would expect proper grammar.

It's hard to think about, but the people that spend all of this time caring for our children only make about $7/hour. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for and some daycare workers aren't who we would choose to leave our children with if we interviewed them ourselves! Afterall, you can work at a fast food resteraunt for more than they pay daycare workers.

I've had my sons in a fairly low-budget daycare before, not that yours is, just so you know where I'm coming from. They were potty-trained there, therefore they've had accidents before. I've never received a bag of fecal matter with my sons' clothing. I've always received their clothing, that has been saturated in water (so as not to reek of human excrement), within the day it was worn. I didn't expect them to line dry my sons' clothing or anything, so I was ok with the fact that they didn't let them sit in their own funk at least.

I don't think it's out of line for you to express your points (the clothes AND the inconsistencies with the written report and the teacher's verbal report) to the daycare director. There was definitely no need to send his poop home. Not only is that disgusting, it probably borders some health law somewhere. Another child could have gotten into the bag and started playing with it, either there at the daycare center or in your own home without your knowledge. Clothing should be rinsed. It's not just a courtesy, it's the right thing to do. Yes, it's gross, but it's unfortunately part of the job when you're already wiping the bottoms of potty-training children.

The grammar thing is something you will probably end up having to bend on, unfortunately.

- Would you expect them to flush the poop or does your daycare just leave it for you??

I am a daycare provider and have been an assistant. I would atleast dump the poop in the toilet. Sometimes if it's really busy i could see not rinsing them out. As for the bag that smelled like urine....I wouldn't have cared much about that. The bag probably just got misplaced. Atleast you got the shirt back.
I am editing to say.....I would probably mention to the provider that next time you would like for them to atleast dump the poop in the toilet instead of putting it in the baggy with the soiled underware. That is pretty common sence.

- Would you be concerned that the person teaching your children don’t know how to use the English language properly ??

Again maybe the person is in a rush. I mean how many kids is she writing notes for. If she is taking good care of your children i wouldn't worry about her spelling ability.


- Would you be concerned about the inconsistency between what your child actually did and what the report says?

I would keep an eye on this. Maybe the person who wrote the note wasn't the person that you talked to at the door? It can be difficult to remember every thing that each kid does during the day. I would take a look at the written info after she tells you something so you can point out an inconsistancy right then and there.

- Is this the type of thing that is to be expected in a daycare setting??

Honestly yes sometimes things like this happen. I don't think they are all that bad. Your child is clean and ready for you when you get there. Sure you get a bag of poopy underware but your child is clean and happy. If you were seeing more inconsistancy in what the provider was telling you i might be concerned but it's not happening all the time right?

There is nothing that you posted that gave me a red flag that something is off. They probably just have alot of kids and things can get hectic. That's my opinion.

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Jodie....Wife to Andrew (1995)
Mommy to Riley (2000) and Wyatt (2003)

I think you have some valid concerns. To me it is unthinkable that they would hand you the pants back with the poop still in it. Not only is it disgusting, but it is unhealthy as well. I also can't see why they gave you back your pee soiled clothes 3 weeks later. If they had misplaced it, they should have been thoughtful enough to wash them and hand them back to you clean. I wouldn't worry so much about the grammer thing in a daycare setting. These workers don't get paid well and cannot be expected to be overly educated. The reports should be factual. If they are not, then they shouldn't bother doing them at all.

Now here is a question for you. Does this daycare offer speech therapy or are the workers there specially trained to deal with kids with speech delay? If not, you are probably better off hiring your nanny back and getting your son speech therapy. JMO

I worked as a daycare teacher for many years, and as far as the poop is concerned, we were not allowed to do anything with the dirty pants but bag it up. There was some kind of regulation about that. The rest of the stuff, I would definitely be concerned about!

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