Seeking Daycare Advice

Because your daughter spends more hours at the day care than at home (sorry but it's the truth and it hurts, I am in the same boat, working full time!!), you may have to adjust your schedule on the school. That's what we did. My daughter had a different schedule at home than day care and it wasn't fair to her to have her switch all the time so we adjusted our life on her. We now feed her at the same time as day care on teh week ends, no matter where we are or what we do and same for nap, same time every day.
Give it a try!! Not sleeping through the night, shouldn't have much to do with sleeping during the day, she is still small and mine didn't sleep through the night until she was 7 months old. She still wakes up around 6AM every day but is in bed at 7PM...

Good luck but listen to your daughter and see what works for her.

You are in a tough spot. I too am an ECE educator but I don't have a child enrolled at the center I work at.

Have you told the teachers about how it is throwing your daughter's schedule off including her sleeping at night?

I should hope that if you speak to your Director about your concerns that it wouldn't effect anything to do with your job. That is if she/he is professional. If that is the case probably not the place for you to be working. Also I suggest You try talking to your daughter's teachers to try to resolve this, talking to the director about it as a last resort. Even if it means setting up a time that is good for you and them to meet with them to discuss your concerns and a solution. I hope everything works out for you. Let me know.

I'm just curious as to how you know so much about what they are doing with your daughter during the day if she's in a different room than you? Perhaps the teachers are feeling a big unsupported in their efforts to keep your daughter healthy and happy if you are constantly peeking in their window and making comments?

I agree if that if such a rigid schedule is something you desire, than a small family day care may be a better fit for you. Larger centers have a lot of advantages, but imagine if every parent had a unique schedule that needed to be followed. A smaller daycare might have the resources to devote to your child's needs, especially if she is the only infant there.

Another option would be to alter her home schedule to better match her schedule at day care. I've had friends with opposite complaints -- they couldn't get their kids to nap on weekends or eat enough at night. When they talked with the daycare provider and adopted a similar schedule at home, they found that their children started napping and eating better. It might be worth a shot, anyway...

Good luck!

C.,
I worked in the infants room at a daycare center. The rules are totally diiferent for infants. They have to be fed on demand. And if they're sleeping they cannot be awakend just to please the parents. Its impossible to coordinate all the babies of different ages to have the same schedule. I would suggest a family style daycare where your scheduling preferences will be taken into account.