Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
wwyd
Tell me which of the following you would address with the daycare, if any, or all
#1 - I have noticed that M has a certain smell when I pick him up from daycare. It's not just the "smell" of the daycare, it's like lotion or something. I did not give them any lotion to use on him, nor have they asked.
#2 - When I went to pick him up the other day, he was sleeping in his bouncy seat BUT the bouncy seat was placed inside his crib. ???
#3 - Yesterday when I picking him up a few of the youngers girls that work there were leaving. Their time machine was right by the infant room and I was loading M into his carseat. They knew I was there, but they all were talking about how they couldn't wait to get out of there and how they didn't want to be there yesterday. As a parent who doesn't want their kid to be there any way the last thing I want to hear is that the staff doesn't want to be there either.
Re: wwyd
Unless he's having a reaction, I wouldnt address the smell. It could just be the lotion/perfume that whoever cares for him uses?
The bouncy seat inside the crib.. I'm sure was just to keep him up and safe away from other kids, but it does seem dangerous.. cuz what if he fell out? Does he sleep well in his crib, or does he normally fall asleep in his bouncy?
I'd address the dumb girls, for sure. Maybe just pull the director aside and say something like, "I know what its like to want to leave work, but as a parent it just kind of struck a nerve.. you might mention to them to keep that talk quiet when parents are around." with a smile - your point will be made, but you wont look bitchy.
#1. Do you provide wipes? If not, maybe the wipes they use have a scent and that's what you're smelling? Otherwise, my bet would be that the teachers are using lotion on their own hands and then picking up the babies. They're washing their hands after every diaper change and nose wipe and before every feeding, so lotion is a must. I know when I worked in an infant room, I went through lotion really quickly. Unless it's causing a rash or irritation, I wouldn't say anything.
#2. When I worked in an infant room, sometimes the babies would fall asleep in the bouncy chair. To let them keep sleeping, we'd sometimes just move the whole chair into their crib so the other babies didn't climb on the chair and disturb them. I wouldn't say anything about this, but if you're concerned about his safety, by all means, say something.
#3. This would bug me, too, but I really don't know how you'd go about addressing it. You could mention it to the director so she could give a reminder in the next staff meeting/newsletter about courtesy around parents, but unless it was a consistent problem, I'd probably shake it off. Everyone has rough days at their job.
1. Could be the perfume the person is wearing.
2. Probably put him in there so nobody would bump into him or wake him up.
3. I'm guessing this happens a lot. It is their job and although you want people to LOVE their job and being there, it just doesn't always happen. At my daughter's old daycare there was one teacher that hated her job. It rubbed me wrong. Some of these people maybe make $8.00 an hour with very few benefits. It is sad but you are not going to have the cream of the crop all of the time. My girls are in a daycare run by Catholic nuns. I can honestly tell you that these women love the kids and their job. I've had my kids in 5 other daycares before and this one is honestly perfect.
My advice is go with your gut. If you don't like it change but know that you might be stepping into something worse. The very first daycare I sent K to when she was an infant, I pulled her out within 1-2 months. It rang my mom bells bigtime. 2nd daycare was okay and I liked it enough that I kept her there until I stayed home with her. (over 2 years) 3rd daycare was part time and I liked it a lot but I mostly liked her teacher.(over 1 year) She was really good. 4th daycare was part time / drop in and was too expensive and there wasn't a real value for the money. 5th daycare was ringing my husband's dad dars off (not much bothers him). The final daycare we love. I do not worry about my kids one bit.
Yes he does sleep good in his crib but he does also fall asleep alot in the bouncy.
It's true that everyone does have rough days at their job, BUT - my concern would be, if they are dumb/flippant enough to say something like that in front of a parent.. what kind of common sense do they have?
For real, that would bother me.
Ditto. I'd be pissed. If they can't wait to b!tch until they are out of the building, what else is going on.
The smell would bother me since we dont' use any scents on our laundry, lotion, etc but I probably wouldn't say anything.
I would ask about the bouncy in the crib just to clarify. If it's a once in awhile thing, that's no biggie but if they are using the bouncy to get him to sleep and then just putting it in the crib, I wouldn't like that. It's not creating good sleep habits, IMO. You've said he sleeps fine in his crib at home so I would expect daycare to follow suit.
love is for every her, love is for every him, love is for everyone
* Does his skin feel like they've been putting lotion directly on him? If not, I wouldn't worry about it. Probably their own lotion transfering.
* If there are a bunch of crawlers in the room, they probably would put the bouncy in the crib. I know we did when I worked in the daycare, especially when we had crawlers in the room because they see sleeping babies as THE BEST toy in the room! As long as he's strapped in and they are checking on him periodically, it's okay. :-)
* The conversation... I don't know. Do they work with M? If so, maybe say something directly to them? If not, I wouldn't mess with it. Everyone has a bad day, and no it wasn't professional or smart to say something around parents, but sometimes you just have to vent! They could have been in a room they aren't as comfortable with, had a particularly rough day with a child, etc... any number of things.
Picture courtesy of Heidi Keene Photography