Question About in Home Care and Parents

T., I am in desperate need of a babysitter for my almost 3 month old. If you know anyone or are willing to take her, I would greatly appreciate it. I am in the Flippin area and work in Mtn. Home. Thank You, T.

yup! more than fair. My in home day care that I send my little one too has the same requests....I am sure that a few straggle in from time-to-time, but they nicely tell them that breakfast is at 8:00 (of course they feed the child either way), but I am pretty sure that they make it clear. I have an infant, and I have to send the bottles, the formula, diapers, wipes, and food....and I pay for 2 days even if he doesn't go for both of them including the holidays and 1 day off per 6 months for her. So, yeah, you are more than fair.

I had a licensed daycare in my home in 85-87 and I made up a list of rules(contract)and gave them to all of my parents to read and sign. At the bottom it said after 2 warnings of any kind, they would have to seek daycare elsewhere. I never had any problem because it was there in black and white and they signed it. As far as the sippy cups go, you can buy the disposable ones at WalMart...it's very easy to forget it from home or it gets tossed in the rush. Write their names on them with permanent marker. I would rather have them in my home so I know they are clean and handy. As far as them showing up after breakfast is finished, I just kept finger foods on hand (fresh fruit, crackers, English muffins, bagels) and there was always a mid morning snack so if they missed breakfast, they could have something I didn't have to take alot of time to prepare. I never had anyone bring their child with PJ's on since it was in the contract to have them dressed and provide an extra set of clothes. If they didn't bring diapers and wipes (stated in contract), it was added to the daycare fee on payday and counted as 1 strike. If you do make a list of rules for them to sign, you have to enforce them...2 strikes and they are gone! It is a business, not a favor you are doing for them. You are a convenience for them so they can go to work and have their child well taken care of, they must reciprocate by following your rules or the contract is broken and they have to find someone else. If you let one parent slide you must let them all. I never worried about getting paid on time, them picking up late, bringing them sick or any of that because of the contract. It really works! :)

Speaking from the perspective of a fellow provider... Don't sweat the small stuff. Believe it or not, this stuff is very small. Parents do a LOT worse like never bringing enough diapers, paying late, not contributing wet ones, passing bad checks, bringing the child dirty day after day and I mean dirty diapers, dirty clothes and I could go on. Parents sometimes lie by giving fever reducers and just don't tell us when the kids are really sick.

I look at it this way. If I can make things easier for the parents, maybe they will be better about some of these other things. I tell them to bring them in pj's if they want. I provide all the sippy's because I don't want to have to run down sippys at the end of the day. I even send mine home sometimes and they never come back. And as far as the breakfast goes.. Yeah, it's a pain. I have parents bring 2 and 3 year old's at 10AM and tell me they haven't ate breakfast. Well, we eat at 11AM so they can eat a few crackers to tide them by.

I even proivde 80% of the wet ones because I get tired of asking for them. I provide back up formula. I keep their diapers and changes of clothing at my house and wash anything that gets soiled. I never charge overtime either. If a parent offers I tell them that I trust them to do what is right.

I really believe you will be happier if you try and relax a little more. Tell them all you want. Just don't expect them to really listen. In fact, I finally just started keeping a blog. That's my place to vent when I feel like I need to :) I have 8 months of archives. You'll see a few complaints in there LOL!

Suzi
www.kidsandfids.blogspot.com

Hi T.!
I have a 1 yr old daughter and take her to an in-home sitter. I dress her in the morning, but don't feed her and she doesn't take her sippy cup either. My sitter requests payment by Wednesday of the current week for the current week. She is licensed and on the food program so she feeds them breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks throughout the day. Originally we told her we would be dropping Josie off b/t 7 and 7:15 but I have changed my hours a bit so it's usually b/t 7:15 and 7:30. She has not had a problem with this at all. She does take her son to school in the mornings so if we are there before 7:45 she is fine with whatever time we show up before then. Her hours set in her contract are from 7am to 5:30pm. She has sick days set up to where we would pay her for 2 sick days and 2 weeks of vacation time. During that time, she finds us another sitter. There was one day she was sick and we had to go to another sitter and she had us deduct the amount we paid the other sitter from the amount we would have paid the following week.
I hope this helps... I know I have a very leniant sitter so some of this may seem a little extreme but at least you can see what a different sitter is doing. I would be glad to answer any other questions you might have! :)

When my daughter was in a home daycare with 11 other children. It was very structed. I brought her dressed. breckfest was between 7:00 and 8:00 any that showed up after 8:00 were out of luck and didn't get to eat till lunch. Sippy cups were provided. I did have to bring diapers and wipes. I was charged even if my child was not at the sitter and for sitters vactions. The next sitter we had. She watch my daughter and her two kids. At first I brought her dress, then I was told I did not need and she would dress her when her kids got up. It really helped out my morning I didn't run late when that happened. She also provited sippy cuts. She had a set time for breakfest and lunch and snacks. It did help that my daughter was the only one in her care other then her kids. I now bring her to work friend who quit and I bring her dressed and since I drop her off at 6:30 she is fed when the other two kids (her grandkids) eat. She also provides sippy cups. I would set a time for food and tell the parents if you child arives after this time without breakfest I will call you at work to pick them and you will be charged for the day and do the same for the kids that are not dressed. YOu might also write up a contract for each parent to sign with your new rules and policies. You are in charge of your business not the parents. There are tons of sitter out there parents can find. There are tons of kids in need of care. With quality care you wont have a problem finding new kids to replace any that you might lose by putting out new policies.

T.,
My daugher is in a home daycare and I always dress her, that is her Parents job, I make sure she has breakfast, that is also her parents job. I don't think you are out of line on anything! It seems like laziness to me on the parents part.

I don't think these things are too much to ask, but if it was not made clear at the start be aware that you will ruffle some feathers making changes. I'm not in the "child care" business but my son goes to an "in-home" provider. I never take him dressed, or fed because i have to be at work so early, he normally goes back to bed shortly after he gets there. My sitter is awesome and has never complained but now i will be sure to ask if it's a problem. Also, my sitter is a "pay by the day" kind of person, however i pay her the same amount each week, if we are there or not. This is my way of showing her that i appreciate the little extra things she does for my son. I also gave her a pay raise that she did not ask for as soon as i could afford it. So, in my opinion it's a you do good to me, i will do good to you situation. It's your business, you make the rules. Good luck and i think all people should be more thankful for good childcare, it's hard to come by sometimes.

Hi,
I am an in home child care provider too. I have this same thing with one parent who continues to bring her son without him having had breakfast...so far I have just fed him but she has my CHEAPEST and discounted rate so it is especially bothersome. I do not mind occasionally feeding children but with her I think it is just the user type. I plan to increase their rate to my regular rate and I guess just feed him. He isn't here for lunch so I guess I can do it. I would say though if it is a full day child just tell her she can either bring the food for his breakfast or you can provide it for an additional $3 per day or something, that is what I would do I think. I don't dress children and I do ask them to bring a sippy cup along too. I don't ask it to be difficult, I find that kids like THEIR sippy from home and somehow I never have two of the same kind so everyone knows whose is whose. I provide wipes, all food and drinks, baby food, etc. I agree it is small stuff however it is pretty easy to feed your child at home if you are dropping off later. I am always amazed that the mom of the girl who comes at 7a has already eaten. I would be happy to feed her. I have so far not charged late rates either but I occasionally do get people abusing that and should probably enforce it. It only takes a minute to make a phone call and it is rude to just show up whenever in my book. I have been on the other side of this child care thing and I would have gotten a late fee for that. Anyway, I digress.
I think you are really nice to work with their pay dates. I have parents pay me in full for each week at their first drop off day of the week. Hope that helps. Where do you live? I am in South County.
L.

Do you have room for one more child? This would be temporary and for a few hours a day. Please let me know! Thanks a bunch!!

T.
Are you running a daycare which is licensed or just making extra money? I run a licensed daycare in Topeka KS, and the state mandates a minimum of 3hours between meals recommends 4hours. Do yourself a favor and create a schedule. Print multiple copies and have each parent take one home and sign one to leave with you. Explain to them that in order to provide the best possible care for their children you need them to work with you and recognize that you have assigned times for meals. If they choose to not be responsible and feed their child before they come then they must understand when the next meal time is.

Yes this is cruel but otherwise you find yourself in the kitchen all day and with children that have no routine which cause digestive problems, anxiety, and chaos. And be firm with them. Some parents will push you to your limits just because they are unable to manage their time well.

The sippy cups, well I provide mine that way I know that they are always available and always clean. They are cheap at Walmart or KMart you can get two for less than $5.00. I would much rather spend the ten bucks for four cups then spend my day frustrated because the child tossed it in the car or mom/dad forgot it.

If you are serious about doing this there are somethings you can do to lessen your frustration. Be upfront and honest with your parents. Explain that it is a respect and consideration issue on the meals and cups and let them know that you want to work with them to the best of your ability but these things you can not be flexible about.

I don't think your requests and expectations are out of the norm. The only thing is I believe is the provider should provide the sippy cups. My son was always dressed before he was dropped off, the only time I didn't do that was when he was a baby and just sent him in a sleeper outfit. I would explain to parents that when you have to take the time to dress a child it takes away from the other kids.

I would also set up a rule that if a child is dropped off after 8:15a.m. that they will need to be fed before being dropped off.

Don't be afraid to lay down the rules with the parents, they will find these rules are very common with providers and really is in the best interest of all the children.

Good Luck!

The only thing that I have been guilty of is not having them fed on a coupole of occassions before dropping them off. Otherwise, I always had them dressed and ready to go. I don't feel you are setting high expectations. They are getting a good deal with you (paying only on days they are actually there). I don't believe it is asking too much to bring their own sippy cups, because a lot of small kids are particular about what kind of sippy cup they have. Anyhow, stick to your idea of how things should be run. The parents are not going to find any place that is more flexible.

Actually it isn't too much to ask. The Inhome daycare that my oldest goes to asked that when we started there. It is in their paperwork. As to what she does if that has happened I couldn't tell you. Email me and let me know how it goes and if you have anymore questions. ____@____.com is my e-mail address.