Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I have logged out for privacy. I have been doing licensed daycare for over 15 years. But lately, I keep getting families that just aren't working out. Either the family is not prepared for blending into a group setting, the parents don't want their clothes dirty, or the parents want all sorts of special treatment for their child. I used to have families that worked out perfectly and never had problems getting and keeping kids for years. But lately, I have been going through kids every couple of weeks.
It seems like every new family I get lately is simply not prepared to handle going to daycare. I had a mom who breastfed. She knew that she was going to go out to work and not be a stay at home mom. She wanted to provide breast milk in bottles for daycare. Which is perfectly fine with me. But she never had anyone else other than the father and aunt (only for 2 days) feed the baby (3 months old) before attending daycare. So of course, the baby would not take the bottle from me. The baby would go all day long without eating at all! I watched the baby for a few days and called the mom each day to get her to pick up early to feed her baby. I simply couldn't bring myself to let the baby go all day without eating. After a couple of days, I told the mom that I couldn't keep watching the baby because he wouldn't eat.
I had a mom who raised her 1 year old to sleep all day and be up all night. Her sister decided that she needed to get a job and put the child in daycare. So they went from having the child sleep all day to being in daycare and me keeping her up all day ( except for naptime after lunch). They are mad at me because the child falls asleep at dinner time. I told them that they have to give the child time to adjust to a new sleeping pattern. They just fussed at me about her being tired.
I have had a few kids lately whose parents allow them to drink and eat all throughout the day at home. So when they come for the interview, I tell them that their child will not be allowed to do so here and that their child will be served their breakfast, lunch, and snack and that after meal time, the food and drinks will be cleared away. They will not be allowed to constantly drink and eat here. So the parents, after a few days are fussing at me because their child is hungry and thirsty when they go home. Of course they are! First of all, they are used to nibbling and drinking CONSTANTLY all day long (which is not healthy for them) and secondly, the child had snack at 3. The parents pick up at 5:30 and get home around 6 (3 hours after snack) so of course the child is going to be hungry and thirsty when they get home.
I have had parents who throw a fit if their child gets a speck of dirt on their clothes or skin their knee on the sidewalk. The children are supposed to be able to play outside. Which includes running and occasionally falling on the sidewalk which results in a skinned knee. They play outside in the grass area which also has dirt under the grass, so, when the child falls or sits down, they are going to occasionally get a grass stain and/or dirt on their clothes. But the parents flip out over these things!
Then there's the families that want special treatment. Things such as 'can you write down everything he eats and drinks, every time you change a diaper/every time he goes to the bathroom and note whether he peed or pooped, which children he played with and what things he played with, he will tell you when he's hungry and thirsty, so just feed him and give him drinks whenever he lets you know he needs them, he likes this food and doesn't like that food, if you serve him a meal and he says he doesn't like it or doesn't eat enough, you can just ask him what he wants you to make to replace what he didn't want to eat, here's his special blanket he has to carry around with him all day, and I want you to make sure no one else touches it or he will get upset, I want him to watch television/I don't want him to watch television, etc.
And of course, there's the parents that coddle their children obsessively up to the age 5! The parent babies their child so much that the child literally emotionally can't handle leaving mommy and daddy. The child cries throughout the day for weeks for the parents because they are used to being held, coddled, and doted on all day and night by their parents. The parents have told me that one or the other is constantly entertaining, holding, sitting with, laying down for naptime and bedtime with the child or the child sleeps in the bed with the parents every night. I have actually had parents who tell me that they want me to lay down beside their child and rub their child's hair until he falls asleep! NOOO!!! I can NOT lay down beside your child!!!
It just seems like the parents think I am a personal nanny or something. And it is obvious that their child rules the house at home and they expect me to allow their child to rule the daycare!
These are the types of families I have gotten in the past year or so. I used to get families that were prepared to enter a group daycare setting and the families would stay with me for years. However, in the past year or so, I haven't been able to get many families that are ready to enter daycare.
Do any of you get families like these? Do you keep them in your care? Do you make special changes as per their requests? Or do you basically tell them that they might not be a good fit for your childcare and let them go elsewhere?
I can totally relate to what your'e going thru, iv'e had several interviews and no one has been a fit, every single one of them has their child in the care of grandparents and apparently wanting to have a steady childcare or want a back up caregiver, part time, 3 hours, one hour, variable care, and of course these parents are not used to paying for child care and fight my fees, which were not high,(child care rates are all over the place in california they can go from high to very low)I live in a medium income are, that doesn't help either right now.
I do not give in to their special requests, or allow them them to change my policies, like not paying for holidays,absences, paying after care, lower my fees, they go back to the grandparents, where care is free.I get special requests like letting them watch their favorite show, baby can read videos for infants etc.
I have an interview tomorrow for an infant, I only work with 0-5, and I'm fearing it, I'm losing my confidence am I'm tired of hearing the same story over and over again and waist my time interviewing parents that don't really need care, they say one thing over the phone interview and when they get here the story and hours needed changes all the time.
Don't take me wrong I have been in this business over ten years and done very well,rarely encountered this problems before, I have plenty of experience and I attend college and hundreds of workshops, none of that matters to this parents, they only care about the bottom line $.
I'm organized and a business person and I love children, what else can I do?
You are not alone, business it's good for some and pretty bad for others right now.
There are times when I feel like giving in and just lower my fees and do whatever they ask , but no, i know that I can't do that, and at the moment I have zero kids so thats also a problem for some, they want to see kids.
I wish that I could have a good answer for you but I don't, I have been trying to figure out whats going on myself.
One thing i've done is to up my fees in my effort to avoid these type of parents.
The last client I had left because she wanted her child, a one year old to be around more children, so she went to day care that had twelve kids, and the one coming tomorrow left her current day care because they have too many kids, or at least that is her story for now. What gives? ....