cara041083 09:31 AM 03-24-2015
Ok. I feel like I have been a cry baby this week but I have had an awful couple weeks and I have decided that I need to put my foot down. I have a DCG (2) that the parents wake up at 5am every morning. Normally they drop her off to me at 10:30 so she can eat lunch and take a good nap. I do lunch at 11 and nap at 11:30 so this has always worked well. Well the last 2 weeks, Mom decided that she would bring DCG at 8:30 and then go home and relax before work (she works at 1)and she has Mon and Wed off but still brings me DCG Which is fine I am paid for the full time spot). Well now by 9am, DCG is a bear! She is falling asleep on the floor, she is crying and extremely fussy because she is tired. If I try to keep her up so that she naps with everyone else it just gets worse. Most of the time she is normally asleep on the floor by 10 and will sleep through lunch and then she wakes as everyone is laying down and then she is up and then I spend nap time getting her lunch and that is not how my schedule works. I am open from 7:30 to 5:30 and each parent uses me for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. So I am paid regardless. These parents are 100% in the hours they need to be. My question is, do I have the right to tell them that she can't be dropped off before 10:30 if she gets up at 5:30 am (they wake her up and then her bed time is 7pm)? Do I need to suck it up and deal with it? I can't tell if I am having a problem with this because I have had a bad few weeks because of this or if I need to put my foot down and say enough is enough. Thanks and hopefully this is the last "whinny" issue I have for a while lol
Unregistered 10:06 AM 03-24-2015
Do you know the reason that they are waking her at 5 am? This seems very strange since she doesn't NEED to be up that early. I once had a DCG (2 at the time)who woke up on her own between 4-5am for the day and parents didn't make her stay in bed to try and go back to sleep, so by 9-10am she was falling asleep. I ended up letting her take cat naps in the morning to get her through past lunch. Parents weren't very willing to work with her to try and get her on a better schedule so this is what I needed to do to make sure everyone had a happy morning. I would try to have a conversation with parents about how it is taking a toll and making for a very rough morning for DCG being woken up that early in the morning. Also how it is disruptive to the rest of the children in your care. Make it clear what your daily schedule is and let them know (in a nice way) that you can't be serving lunch multiple times. If you catered to every child's individual schedule, you would be serving food all day long. I have in my contract the times each meal/snack is served. I make it clear that these are the only times food is served. For the child's sake, the parents either need to start letting her sleep longer!!
cara041083 10:25 AM 03-24-2015
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Do you know the reason that they are waking her at 5 am? This seems very strange since she doesn't NEED to be up that early. I once had a DCG (2 at the time)who woke up on her own between 4-5am for the day and parents didn't make her stay in bed to try and go back to sleep, so by 9-10am she was falling asleep. I ended up letting her take cat naps in the morning to get her through past lunch. Parents weren't very willing to work with her to try and get her on a better schedule so this is what I needed to do to make sure everyone had a happy morning. I would try to have a conversation with parents about how it is taking a toll and making for a very rough morning for DCG being woken up that early in the morning. Also how it is disruptive to the rest of the children in your care. Make it clear what your daily schedule is and let them know (in a nice way) that you can't be serving lunch multiple times. If you catered to every child's individual schedule, you would be serving food all day long. I have in my contract the times each meal/snack is served. I make it clear that these are the only times food is served. For the child's sake, the parents either need to start letting her sleep longer!!
No I am not sure why they get her up but they have always gotten her up that early since I have had her. I have had her for a year.
Peaches 10:41 AM 03-24-2015
Did the parents normally have her nap before they brought her at 10:30? If not then there might be something else going on. If so then you may have to offer a quick cat nap in the morning shortly after she arrives to get her through. But at age 2 she really should be able to make it until nap time with the other kids even if she wakes up early. I have had kids that woke early in the mornings without any problem making it until the afternoon nap time. try talking with the parents about it, they should at least have a heads up that it's disrupting the schedule.
cara041083 11:20 AM 03-24-2015
Originally Posted by Peaches:
Did the parents normally have her nap before they brought her at 10:30? If not then there might be something else going on. If so then you may have to offer a quick cat nap in the morning shortly after she arrives to get her through. But at age 2 she really should be able to make it until nap time with the other kids even if she wakes up early. I have had kids that woke early in the mornings without any problem making it until the afternoon nap time. try talking with the parents about it, they should at least have a heads up that it's disrupting the schedule.
I don't think they gave her a nap in the morning. I truly think that she has became a handful at home and the mom is bringing her to me so she doesn't have to fight with her. She is usually perfect for me but the min dad or mom walk in she turns into a holy terror. Which I am assuming that's why they pick her up at 5:30 and then put her to bed at 7. Now that they are bringing her early, they don't have to deal with her much in the morning either. The thought crossed my mind that something else could be going on. The thing that gets me is she use to be so happy and one of the best kids I have. Now she can't even stay awake in the morning and she starts crying over EVERYTHING. In the afternoon, she is a little better but she still isn't the little girl she use to be. The thing that gets me is she gets very excited or happy when mom or dad walks in and she turns back into the kid I know. So I am just so confuse as to what to do. If she stays like this I won't keep her. I will term. I am spending most of my day focusing on her and not the group. However I don't know why she would all of a sudden have an issue being here. I have had her for a long time and I have had the same kids so nothing has changed other then her getting here early instead of 10:30.