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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Do You Allow DCK's On Your Furniture?
SandeeAR 07:16 AM 04-14-2011
For those of you doing daycare in your own home, do you allow them on your couch, chairs etc?

I did in the beginning and thought nothing of it. Until the now almost 3 y/o was 2.5 and refuses to potty train. She will hold it for long periods and then FLOOD a diaper. She did this on my couch one day. My covers are not removeable, so it soaked the cushion. I told her she couldn't get on the furniture anymore.

I'm not letting the toddlers even start up on my furniture.

I thought at first, I was wrong to do this. Then I got to thinking, in a center or at school, they don't have couches, loveseats etc. They sit on the floor or a kids chair.

What do you do?
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nannyde 07:21 AM 04-14-2011
I don't have any furniture in their area. I do floor based play.
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JenNJ 07:28 AM 04-14-2011
Ditto nannyde. I have a large playroom with no furniture. If they want to sit up on something I allow them to sit on the wooden windowseat only.
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Blackcat31 07:33 AM 04-14-2011
I do not have furniture either. Wooden wipeable surfaces only.

When I did have furniture, I only allowed those with undies to be on it and if they didn't sit properly, they were banned from it. After awhile, everyone was banned from it so I just ditched it all together because what was the point if no one was ever allowed to use it.
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nannyde 07:34 AM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by JenNJ:
Ditto nannyde. I have a large playroom with no furniture. If they want to sit up on something I allow them to sit on the wooden windowseat only.
My poor kids don't even have a windowseat

Floor based nets super agile kids who get a TON of exercise every play time.

Gravity doin it's j-o-b
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MN Day Mom 07:37 AM 04-14-2011
When I did childcare in living area of my home I did not allow them on the furniture... more so because of the fighting over who gets to sit where etc.

When my childcare finally got its own space, I was all floor based. Recenty however I added child sized couch, chair etc to their dramatic play area. But we are still mostly floor based.
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youretooloud 07:40 AM 04-14-2011
They sit at our kitchen barstools, but that's it. I bought those with the kids in mind. Otherwise, they have their own furniture and floor mats. They may not sit on our family furniture.
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morgan24 07:48 AM 04-14-2011
Mine only sit on my dining room chairs when it's lunch. Their play space has child size plastic chairs that they can use, but not abuse. If they don't use them right they lose the right to use them at all. I don't think there is anything wrong with not allowing them on your furniture.
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Meyou 07:52 AM 04-14-2011
My playroom has no furniture either although I do have some throw pillows and a futon mattress in the closet to put out occasionally for a movie or extended booktime.
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AnythingsPossible 07:59 AM 04-14-2011
Our daycare space is also our main living space. If I told the kids they weren't allowed to sit on the furniture, I think their parents would be a bit perturbed when their children came home and said Ms K won't let us sit on the furniture. I look at it as I decided to open my home to other peoples kids, so I deal with what comes with it.
Yes I get very aggravated when I am wiping buggers off the couch for the 50th time, but I can't imagine the stress in trying to keep them off of it. They do not jump or play rough on the furniture though. If they start that, they are told they have to sit on the floor.
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MyAngels 08:06 AM 04-14-2011
The kids use the main living area of our home, as well as their dedicated playroom. I do allow them on the furniture, with the usual rules of no jumping, etc. I also bought kid friendly furniture, though, so spills and accidents aren't usually a problem. I guess I figure I'm a family daycare home, and since I don't expect my family to stay off the furniture, I don't expect the day kids to, either.

If I thought that one particular child would be a problem (like the OP's dck) I might implement special rules or place a pad on the couch and ask them to sit there only.
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daysofelijah 08:11 AM 04-14-2011
No, I did at the beginning, but I got grossed out by all the drool and boogers that they would leave.
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MommyMuffin 08:16 AM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by SandeeAR:
For those of you doing daycare in your own home, do you allow them on your couch, chairs etc?

I did in the beginning and thought nothing of it. Until the now almost 3 y/o was 2.5 and refuses to potty train. She will hold it for long periods and then FLOOD a diaper. She did this on my couch one day. My covers are not removeable, so it soaked the cushion. I told her she couldn't get on the furniture anymore.

I'm not letting the toddlers even start up on my furniture.

I thought at first, I was wrong to do this. Then I got to thinking, in a center or at school, they don't have couches, loveseats etc. They sit on the floor or a kids chair.

What do you do?
Wrong to do this? No way!!! It is your house, your rules! Get some bean bag furniture if you feel bad they dont have a place to sit.

I think you were far too kind to allow it in the first place. My dcks do just fine not sitting on my furniture. Plus, having toddlers climbing on the furniture was a safety hazard in my house.
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JenNJ 08:17 AM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
My poor kids don't even have a windowseat

Floor based nets super agile kids who get a TON of exercise every play time.

Gravity doin it's j-o-b

Yup! They aren't allowed toys on the bench, only books so it has become our reading area by default.
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Luna 08:27 AM 04-14-2011
I used to allow it but I got tired of trying to clean the snot & slobber all the time, not to mention pushing it back into place when the kids were done shoving it all over the place. The only one who misses using the couch is the oldest one, and only because he wants to use it as a jungle gym.
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cheerfuldom 09:02 AM 04-14-2011
No daycare kids on my furniture in the house. No daycare kids on my chair in the playroom. The rules are different for my own kids and they all have to learn that and I don't feel bad about it. Our old couch was ruined by dirty hands, slobber and throw up. When I first started, I let the daycare kids and parents get WAY to comfy in my home. No more.
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daycare 09:13 AM 04-14-2011
I have a dedicated room for DC. However the kids have to pass through my living room to get to the front door. I dont allow them on the sofas or any other furniture. I actually have in my PHB that my living room is not child proofed and therefore children are not permitted in any part of it.

If someone trys to sit on it I will tell them feet on the floor or I will remove them myself.
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thecrazyisout 10:14 AM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I do not have furniture either. Wooden wipeable surfaces only.

When I did have furniture, I only allowed those with undies to be on it and if they didn't sit properly, they were banned from it. After awhile, everyone was banned from it so I just ditched it all together because what was the point if no one was ever allowed to use it.
I have furniture, and NEVER allow the children to sit on it. There may be times where I have one family and the older of the two is bored, so I will sit on the couch with them and play a game or read books.

But, generally, the are never allowed
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Live and Learn 10:19 AM 04-14-2011
No dc kids on furniture ....unless I invite them up to snuggle in for a book.
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ammama 10:39 AM 04-14-2011
They are allowed on my furniture. I bought a couch with washable covers, just for that reason. We play in the living room all the time (connected to the playroom, and I don't have a gate or anything there, so it is just part of the playspace), and sometimes it's nice to just snuggle up on the couch and read a book, or whatever.

I have never had a child pee on the couch/chairs (they wear diapers until totally potty trained), and we only eat in the kitchen. I clean up their hands and face (and shirt ect if needed) as they exit the kitchen so that food doesn't get smeared in.

They are not allowed upstairs in our bedrooms, or in the basement where the family room is.
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SandeeAR 12:17 PM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by ammama:
I have never had a child pee on the couch/chairs (they wear diapers until totally potty trained),
That is what made my decision for me, she WAS in a diaper, one that an hour earlier had been dry. She flooded thru the diaper and on to my couch!




I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. Our home is small, our play area is in my main living area of the house. So I must have furniture for us.
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Lucy 12:35 PM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by AnythingsPossible:
Our daycare space is also our main living space. If I told the kids they weren't allowed to sit on the furniture, I think their parents would be a bit perturbed when their children came home and said Ms K won't let us sit on the furniture. I look at it as I decided to open my home to other peoples kids, so I deal with what comes with it.
Yes I get very aggravated when I am wiping buggers off the couch for the 50th time, but I can't imagine the stress in trying to keep them off of it. They do not jump or play rough on the furniture though. If they start that, they are told they have to sit on the floor.
Same for me. For awhile I didn't let them on it, but it was more stress constantly policing it than it was to just let them go for it. I don't let them drink or eat while on the couch of course, but stuff happens. I think of it like you said -- I opened my house up to kids, and my motto is that I treat them as I would my own nieces and nephews if they came for a visit, and I certainly would not tell my nieces and nephews they can't sit on my couch! My furniture is almost 20 years old, so at this point, I don't care! I've done daycare for 17 of those years. If I wasn't doing daycare, I would have bought new furniture LONG ago!
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Abigail 12:38 PM 04-14-2011
I really like having a child-only space. It's hard enough getting cat hair off my furniture with the vacuum and throw blankets over their favorite spots. I'm not willing to be scrubbing my furniture from accidents/vomit/mud/etc. I'm purchasing child-friendly furniture for the reading area and I have child-sized chairs to sit at the table. The living and work space will be almost completely separate. If I could own a separate building I probably would.

I know a lot of people believe in family child care as a home-like setting, but it's also a lower number setting so it is still a benefit to the family even if it is not setup like a home in the daycare area.
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TBird 04:22 PM 04-14-2011
I have a separate daycare area but I do have one love seat in there. I really only use it for Quiet Time stories. Otherwise they're not allowed on it because it's dangerous...they think it's roll around and play time or sit on each other and fall off time. Floor or kid seating is so much safer (and easier to keep clean).
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nannyde 05:00 PM 04-14-2011
I watch two centers cameras for my consulting business and they have kiddie furniture in their carpeted play area (which I call the WAR ZONE). I have my "no furniture" rule vindicated every single day when I watch the way those kids act on the furniture.
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marniewon 05:37 PM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by Live and Learn:
No dc kids on furniture ....unless I invite them up to snuggle in for a book.
Yep, this! If they are invited up to sit next to/on my lap, they may come up. Otherwise, they are not allowed to even lean against my furniture. Oh, and no toys on the furniture (including the coffee table).

Originally Posted by Joyce:
Same for me. For awhile I didn't let them on it, but it was more stress constantly policing it than it was to just let them go for it.
I guess I really don't understand that - you can't get them to stay off the furniture just by making the rule and enforcing it until they learn it? I have had at one point 4 kids under 3 and all of them learned very quickly not to touch the furniture, much less try to climb on it. Only VERY occasionally will I need to "remind" someone to not TOUCH it (at this point they don't even try to climb up anymore).

I used to worry about what the parents would think about them not being allowed on my furniture, but I figure, they didn't pay for it, they won't be paying for my time to clean it, or pay to have it professionally cleaned, so, my house, my rules.
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SunflowerMama 05:50 PM 04-14-2011
I allow them on the furniture. I have one playroom just dedicated to childcare but the rest of the main level is also used daily (kitchen, living, dining). We don't have a huge main level so we use it all.

We do crafts and other activities at the dinning room table, cook and create in the kitchen and they use the couch and love seat in the living room for reading books, playing doctor, making a fort or for a "baby's bed" while playing house.

With the excepting of 1 all my kids are age 3-5 so they are all potty trained and all know that if we jump or attempt flips off the furniture it's off-limits for the day.
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Lucy 11:55 PM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by marniewon:

I guess I really don't understand that - you can't get them to stay off the furniture just by making the rule and enforcing it until they learn it? I have had at one point 4 kids under 3 and all of them learned very quickly not to touch the furniture, much less try to climb on it. Only VERY occasionally will I need to "remind" someone to not TOUCH it (at this point they don't even try to climb up anymore).
I have a majority of school age kids. I have the pleasure of having families who start with me as babies and stay till they are older. One started as soon as mom got off maternity leave and she is now 11 1/2. One started at 9 months and is now 7 1/2 and I have his 2 1/2 yr old sister. Also have another 7 yr old who started at age 2. I like to treat them as family and would not ask family to sit on the floor. Rest assured they are all good on the furniture. I don't allow monkey business. If someone were to start jumping, climbing, etc., they would not be allowed to use it till they prove they can behave.

I'm not knocking anyone's decision. If I had nice furniture, I would likely do the same thing. If I had a dedicated Daycare space, there probably wouldn't be furniture in there anyway. I'd have maybe bean bags or something. But my Daycare space is my living room.
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boysx5 05:04 AM 04-15-2011
I only have a rocking chair and they all know its Ms. Julie's chair the floor is fine for them they have lots of area to play and run
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SilverSabre25 05:10 AM 04-15-2011
I do...but the main furniture they have access to is a couch I despise. It makes a useful "toy" when it turns into a boat, a car, a train, a plane...and it's really cute, the games they come up with. The couch frankly sucks, I don't care how they treat it, and the cushions don't come off of it.

They're not allowed to stand on it though--not safe. Nor jump off it. But they don't usually try.
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juliebug 06:08 AM 04-15-2011
they get to use my kitchen table and chairs only. I have a dedicated toy room for them with kid size chairs and table other than that floor is mighty nice.
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melskids 06:13 AM 04-15-2011
i have a dedicated space for DC, but we always end up using the whole house.

mine can sit in the furniture providing they follow the rules. they have to sit properly. if they dont, i have no problem kicking them off. we end up on the floor everytime

its usually the SA i have a problem with too

the SA like to play in my sons room, which is OK with me (and him) but thats the only place i put my foot down. they sit on the floor. NO BED. not only because they are animals, but because i dont want other kids germs and goobers all over my kids pillow. yuck!
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sahm2three 08:06 AM 04-15-2011
I wish I had an area dedicated to just daycare, but I don't. So, yes, the kids are allowed on my furniture. If they stand, walk, jump, roll on or off of any of my furniture, they are told 1 time to "sit or get down" and if they do it again, they are off of the furniture for the day. I have a white board that I write their name on if they are not allowed on the furniture (so that I remember, lol!) and they have to sit on floor pillows on the floor. Also, unless we are watching a video, they aren't allowed on the furniture anyways. No need as they need to be playing. And I don't allow toys on the furniture. Toys are played with on the floor. I don't have super nice furniture, and don't plan on getting anything new until I am done with daycare or until they make kid proof furniture! My mom and I recovered our couch and will just spend $50 every couple years to redo it until the couch starts falling apart! Food and drink spills aren't an issue because I don't allow food or drink anywhere but the dining room or kitchen.
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Unregistered 09:13 AM 04-15-2011
I allow kids on the furniture downstairs in the basment which is our usual play space. Both couch and chair are older and have a pattern which hids the yuck pretty well. However this is a privlidge and my kids only very rarely need to be reminded of it. My girls like to pretend they are babies or at the dr and lay on the couch while another one takes care of them but for the most part the furniture is not used much by the dck anyway.

My furniture upstairs is off limits. The kids are only in the living room when I am making lunch and when they are waiting for the bus (always late) to pick up the am K kids. They all sit on the floor and read books. No questions. Parents have never said anything about it to me and Im sure any parent can guess why that is the reason anyhow.
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Unregistered 02:54 PM 04-15-2011
I think it is kind of absurd and rude to expect children to be floor bound all day. I once had a sitter who didn't want kids using her bathroom (she had a potty on the back porch). I told my mom, she pulled us. I can't imagine being told I couldn't sit on a couch or chair and being someplace all day long. Little kids in a play room with a good set up part time, ok....but imagine how you would feel going somewhere to spend the day, every day, and not being allowed to sit anywhere but the floor?

Kids are people too. Teach them how to care for furniture. Put your self in their position. And - if it is your rule - tell parents up front, at the interview or before - I don't allow your kids to touch my furniture in the room where were are most of the day.

DO you expect kids to learn how to treat furniture by watching tv? Home based daycare is a lot like life.
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kidkair 04:03 PM 04-15-2011
If you don't allow them on it then technically you are not suppose to count that space as part of your square footage which may run you into problems with licensing. I have basically made my living room a toy room only. My actual living room is in another part of the house. I do have a couch for them in the living room and for awhile they were fine with it. Then for a time they started pushing each other off or sliding off head first while another kid jumped off. I tried to enforce the sitting nicely on it rules but they would disobey whenever I left the room. So I took it away and hid it behind bookcases so they had no access for about a month. Then I brought it back out as I had no where else to store it in the house. I put strict rules that they could not touch it at all. After a month of that I let them climb on it to get a book (small bookshelf above the couch to keep books from babies) but they have to bring the book to the floor and return it to the shelf when done. Oh and only one kid is allowed to be getting a book at a time. It's worked out great for the past few months now. Helps that I've only got two and a schoolager. I also like the fact that they get to practice their climbing skills in a safe controlled way. The rest of the daycare is set up for floor based play.
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Jewels 04:42 PM 04-15-2011
My furniture is all in the daycare space I use daily everyday, the kids are all allowed on the furniture, its there, and I have never noticed boogers or big drool spots, no one has ever peed or pooped on it, and if someone did right now it would be my own daughter, who has been ripping her clothes and diaper off. I have nice furniture, but it is all passed down from family, so I have not actually paid any money, except my table, which the finish has been destroyed by the children, but you can't really make them eat on the floor.
The kids are even allowed to play in my room throughout the day, in the early morning its in my room and my bed that all the kids pile and watch morning cartoons until breakfast, my whole upstairs is very open, and opens right onto my master suite, so they love, it, I just treat them like my own children.
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Stacy214 04:47 PM 04-15-2011
Yea, I do allow, I purchased my furniture with the children in mind, its washable...(my mind may change if I had a pee pee accident )but I have opened my home to them and want them to be comfortable. They have to follow rules and sit nice (no jumping or tumbling of course). This is basically their home away from home
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