I am sorry you had a bad experience. That is not the norm. At. All. To me, it sounds like they were understaffed and undertrained. Possibly even bitter to have had a 9th child placed in a room that was designed and functional for 8. They probably were told that 4 kids each were all they would have upon hiring. The third employee was most likely pulled from her own classroom that she put so much effort into establishing a routine and culture so resented that, too. With new management, that is not at all surprising.
To then have someone else stay and watch them do their jobs and judge their ability must have been infuriating.
I have been in business since the early '90s and have never owned a boppy pillow. Infants are in cribs when they show signs of sleepiness, laid down on their back awake and if they are not asleep within 20 minutes they go back down to the floor to play with toys. Infants do not have access to one another here, they each have their own safe play space with their own sanitary toys. Confinement equipment is not used, here, except during meals in a high chair until 12 months.
There are as many kinds of daycare as there are kinds of families. I'd recommend you continue your search if that is what you want to do. That said, as a SIDS mom who lost her child at 6 months in daycare, I'd recommend that if you are able to spend time with your child without financial turmoil, do it. Nobody has ever regretted spending too much time with their kids when they were small and willing to let them.
You can take your child to parks and playgroups for socialization. You can teach independent play by setting up activities and walking away to read a book. There are tons of free curriculum activities online for the taking. You are your child's' first and best teacher if you do it with purpose. Good luck to you.
