So what do you do when parents forget to bring diapers? I try to warn parents a couple of days in advance when their supply is getting low. And I totally get parents being crazy busy and forgetting to grab more in the morning rush, but I end up using my daughter's night-time Pull-Ups on the daycare kids, and that gets really expensive.

I've got amazing parents, so I don't want to penalize them. Should I just get a huge box of really cheap diapers for times like these and suck up the cost? Or should I add a small cost (say, 25 cents/diaper) to their weekly bill? Or should I borrow from another dc child and then replace it when new diapers are eventually brought in (which doesn't seem fair, really)?

Today, dcb is completely out. Usually I only need to steal one or two Pull-Ups from my DD's stash, but I'm going to have to supply a full days worth today. That'll probably be 7 diapers by the time the day is through.

I don't want to be mean about it, but I do need to address it. What do you do?

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I tell all my parents a week in advance, when diapers and baby wipes are getting low. I will leave notes for each family- I will need diapers/and /or baby wipes next week.

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I send home a written needs list on Fridays and a reminder text Sunday nights with a winky face icon . I am annoying like that

I also get VERY many thank-yous for it since some of the parents weekends, with second jobs/juggling grannies/college practicals, make my head spin. Just too much to keep up with IMHO.

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I have an unopened pack as my reserves. If they run out before the parent brings me more I start usiny my unopened pack. When the parent brings the a new pack I put that one back as my unopened reserve pack and just keep using the one I had to open for DCK. It's nice too that all of my DKC use the same brand so it makes this system pretty easy for me.

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I write in permant marker on the diaper the child is wearing that I need diapers, that way when they change them at home they will see my note, so much easier.

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I have these cubbies with the children's diapers and the parents can see how many their child has left. I always give the parent a note when we are about a week down and that way they can get them the following weekend or the next weekend. All my parents will bring a large package

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I buy one pack each of the different sizes in case I need them. If I use any of my stash I replace those from the new pack the parent brings so that I never run out of my extras.

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I sent my parents a text EVERY Friday that says either your child doesnt need any supplies next week or your child NEEDS diapers and/or wipes this works for me well. I have never had a parent forget diapers since using this method and if they forgot and there child was out of diapers they would have to leave work and bring me some its not my problem or my cost to supply there children with diapers.

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I text the word diapers to them a week before they need them.

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I wish I could give a weeks notice but one of my families only brings a weeks worth at a time.

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I also send a text at least 3-5 days in advance. If I RUN OUT, I charge them $.50 a diaper. Moneymaker for me since I get my diapers CHEAP at the drugstores around here.

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I send home notes a week before I am about to think I am going to run out and I email them. If they still forget ( which they do ) and I have to use my sons - I charge them for each diaper used !

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Thanks for all of the ideas! I think I like this one the best -- no money changing hands to have to worry about . I'll probably just buy the largest size though, since most of my "forgetful" parents have toddlers ...

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LOL, I like this!!!!

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To PP who said they wrote it on the diaper itself, your post reminded me of a funny debate from last year: Just for fun

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.co...-baby-dippers/

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I send notes home about a week in advance and remind again a few days later but I also take 5 diapers out of the stack when I get new ones and rubber band them with a piece of paper with child's name on it. Those are my backups if I need them.

So far my parents have been great bringing them in.

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I send home a daily note and mark that they need diapers about a week in advance...and every day after that until they bring them. That way they have plenty of reminders. I do have one family that still doesn't bring them in time, and then I use my son's and replace when they do bring them. It isn't a perfect system though, because my son has an allergic reaction to one type of diapers they bring (they alternate between 2 brands) so I can't always replace them. I like the text idea-in this case it would be email because they don't text-but they get it right away on their cell phones like you would a text. I think I will try this because they will probably forget over the weekend that I need more. I would probably forget, too.

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I keep back ups because usually I forget and give them too short of notice. Luckily I don't have anyone in paper diapers right now, so that's one less thing to worry about.

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I send reminders as soon as I see they are running low, maybe a week out. I do have a secret stash in my locked bathroom cupboard. Every package I squirrel 1-2 diapers out of and into the stash so I have a variety of extras should I need them. But, my parents think I don't have any. I only use cloth on my own diapered child. I have a fresh batch of sanitized diapers as my "back ups" and every parent knows I'll use them if I run out and the THEY get to wash them. No one ever forgets

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I stated in my contract that says if I need to run out and purchase diapers then they eat the cost and its tacked onto their next weeks bill with a copy of the receipt. So far, I verbally let them know a week in advance, write on the daily sheet (that they may or may not read...) when they will need diapers and remind them when Im almost completely out. Yesterday I told dcm "I have no more diapers for dcg and tomorrow its gonna be paper towels hahaha". Today, I got a fresh pack. If not then they might have to suck up the cost of those brand name expensive brands they dont use.

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This is exactly what we did/do at my former center. If the parent STILL forgets, then depending on who it is, we would either borrow from another child or make the parent take the child back and go get some diapers.

For the inconsiderate parents we would tell that parent that we can not properly take care of a child without diapers so they can not stay. They can go and get some and then bring the child but no diapers no care. Once we had a father who was SO furious at us and he was ranting and raving saying he had to this and that (he was unemployed BTW) and he didn't have time to go to the store and get diapers (yet he was arguing for a good 10 plus minutes). I told him that sorry but we can not and will not borrow from the other children. Either he goes get the diapers or we can not care for the children. He was so mad he stormed off with the children. An hour later the mother called and said the father decided to stay home with the children after all. Umm ok. The next day he did in fact bring diapers.

For the more reasonable parents we would tell them that we would borrow for the day but they needed to replace the ones used plus bring in for the their own child.

We would also tell them a week before and send out daily reminders (not that they read these of course). But IMO the best is to write all over the diaper, even if you have to do it a few days before that says...5 more to go

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My parents bring a stocked up diaper bag daily. After summer vacation I ask parents to supply 6 diapers or so to the emergency diaper box. About once a year each parent manages to forget their diaper bag and when they do I have my emergency supply to go to. I occasionally pull an extra diaper from their bag to replenish the supply.

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I give my parents the option of supplying their own diapers or letting me supply them at a cost of $0.25 per diaper, most parents choose to bring their own, and if they run out I start charging the $0.25 per diaper until they bring a new pack

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Hmm, this is an interesting thread. At first I was thinking to have the child picked up if they ran out of diapers because the parents need to provide them and if they don't then care cannot be provided. If anything instead of a parent having to leave work they could even call their neighbor or friend to go buy diapers and drop them off. LOL.

Then, quite a few people say they'll use a diaper from another child's stash, but I wouldn't do that. I would tell the parents that I don't keep anything extra on hand that parents must provide (diapers, clothing changes) because I would need some of every size and that is rediculous. BTW, how many diapers do your parents usually supply? Most of the time we get one pack from a box pack that is sealed, I'm guessing it's about 20-40 diapers? Wouldn't most parents only bring diapers for the week? So many PP's said they send reminders on a weekly basis--so how many diapers do they give you at a time? I can understand if they're part time children, yet, but not full timers bringing 100 diapers in.

Lastly, do you think charging .50 a diaper if they go over is worth it? Seems like a lot of work for me. I guess I would try my best to remind two or three days ahead of time and enforce the "no care can be provided without diapers" rule. Then, they still pay for the day if they must leave early for a diaper change.

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I can't believe want to argue of that, I just write that I need more diapers, I don't draw pictures.

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I have been doing home daycare in my home for 25 plus years.

I have a diaper station set up in my restroom. I have a changing pad, my sink, wipes, diaper pail and diapers in a cabinet next to the sink within reach of one hand. I put each child's diapers in stacks in the cabinet.

Every morning before my day begins I check to see my diapers to see where I am with each child. I always make sure I have at least 8 diapers left in the bag so when I go to replenish the stack, I always put their empty bag that the diapers came in back in their diaper bags. Plus remind them at pick up that I need diapers. Each family knows I only have enough for one day.

The parents tell me that when they go to pack their bags that morning the empty bag reminds them they need to bring me diapers that morning

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i don't think it's "unfair" to do that if the diapers ARE being replaced and if they're the same quality. i forgot to take my daughter diapers before and i told them when they called me at work to use someone elses and they could put them back when i brought some later. when i worked at the same daycare, they'd start talking about i'm gonna have to call so and so for diapers and i'd tell them to borrow mine and replace them. they didn't really care about the diapers though - they were hoping if a parent had to come to bring diapers they would just take their kid home. i did work at a daycare where they would tell me to "borrow" diapers when a kid ran out and they DID NOT replace them. that bugged the crap out of me.

either way, if you're uncomfortable borrowing and replacing parent's diapers - i would say buy a box of your own and still REPLACE them so you always have extra. no matter how good a parent is and no matter how many ways and times you remind them, or you might forget to remind them - they're going to run out of diapers at some point. i've bought diapers and been in such a rush i've forgotten to take them in - it happens.

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Ditto--I have a supply of sizes 3, 4, and 5 that I take from if I need a diaper and don't have one for some reason. If/when I have kiddos who are wearing size 1 or 2, I'll have those, too. When the parents bring diapers, I simply replace as many as I used from my stash, if I think of it, or else I don't worry about it. My stash is currently diapers that I "inherited" from my sister when her youngest got out of diapers, but when those are gone if I have to replace them, I'll just buy Target dipes.

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