Thinking of changing my morning routine because of children's bad behaviours.

[Sarah A]

So I have closely looked at my routine because I have been have a lot of 2 year old bad behaviour issues and find that it mostly happens in the mornings before the scheduled day starts...during free play time. Most of the kids get dropped off at 730am and have free play until snack time which is 9am.

I really believe the all kids should have lots of free play because that's when children's imaginations come out and sometimes they play great together. But other times it's "MINE" all the time and then the hitting and pushing starts.

I always have plenty of toys and rotate them frequently. But I also believe that a lot of the bad behaviours start when the kid come overtired or hungry, teething...generally in a bad mood.

So I was thinking of changing my morning snack time at 9am to more of a breakfast at 830am. That would also help out parents who are trying to feed their kids breakfast and rush before they get here (some aren't even hungry so they send kids with breakfast to eat here).

Do you think I should charge more, because I will be feeding the kids more food?

What do you when children come overtired (2 years old)? Because sometimes the morning is a right off and they are sooo moody.

[Play and Learn]

I don't have a problem with my morning routine....but every child is different. I open at 7:30, first clients come between then and 7:45. Next 2 clients come at 8, and then between 9-9:30. Free play is until 9 a.m. as well for me. Snack is at 9 ish.

The kids just KNOW that I don't put up with shit anytime of the day. So, they play nicely! lol

IF you do decide to have breakfast, then YES, you will NEED to charge more - that's more food that you don't have accounted for in your fees. You also need to ask yourself if they're getting breaky between 8-8:30, then when is snack for those who come later?

[Crayola kiddies]

All of my kids come early 4 of 5 come between 6:45 and 7 the last one cones at 730. I offered to feed a parent supplied breakfast for children arriving before 730. So all parents send boxes of cereal, bagels, English muffins, oatmeal, milk, jam, peanut butter, cream cheese, waffles. I write names on all the products so I know who gets what. I start serving breakfast at 715 and its all done by 8. Everyone is happy and full. Then snack is lighter. So if I have to supply something at breakfast such as a bit of milk for the parent that only sends cereal, or butter for toast then I don't mind cause I have cut back on snack .... It's Now just a drink and crackers or apple slices or 1/2 a banana. It's works great for me.

[playfelt]

Anything over 45min to an hour without a break for freeplay does tend to deteriorate. Partly I think it is that possessiveness - if I started playint with it is mine. Also as the sugar levels dip so does the behavioiur. My gang comes between 6:30-7:30 and I do snack at 8:30. Snack is things like dry cereal, toast and jam, muffin and half a banana and milk to drink - all breakfasty types of foods and I am eating my breakfast for real since I don't like to eat when I first get up. Then anyone having a morning nap goes to bed for 9 and we do a group activity followed by more freeplay. This breaks up the length of the freeplay, lets them better change focus. And any toy that has been an issue during the first hour of freeplay magically disappears while they are eating so it isnt' there for the rest of the day. Or it is also easier to say to a child you had that toy before snack so now it is XXX turn after snack is different than making them switch users in the middle of playtime.

I then serve lunch at 11:30 so there is no more food between 8:30 and 11:30 although in the summer especially we will stop for a drink only middle of the morning. I find by making the time 3 hours between food they eat better at lunch and I like how the day is split up.

We also have a small main floor playroom and a larger basement play room so from arrival to snack we are upstairs then downstairs for the second playtime so that also helps since I can switch out problem toys that way too.

I don't charge any more because I am not really serving more food just serving it at a different time. I would keep the food parents have sent and serve it at the 8:30 time slot too so you are then only serving to those who didn't bring anyways but everyone is on the same page stomach wise this way. And the 8:30 serving is snack as in there isn't another snack later in the morning too otherwise they wouldn't eat a proper lunch - and note that is moved up too to accomodate infants who are hungry when they get up from naps and toddlers who are too tired to eat come noon. We then do story time or other group activity after lunch till naptime and length varies by the yawns of the group meaning I can add the extra half hour onto naptime on days I need to like Mondays and Fridays.

[Sarah A]

I totally agree with everyone and have had my snack time at 9am for so long so that they would be hungry after having breakfast at home. But I have some families where one kid doesn't eat early in the morning and she send food, another family who sends the kids fed but has to wake them extra early to feed them and another who is not hungry early in the morning and eats most of his snack.

I was thinking of just changing my snack time to 830am to break it up but then it might be too soon after they have had their breakfast and won't be hungry.

My snack right now consists of half bowl of cereal or muffin, or toast or banana bread, things like that. So if I served breakfast instead it would be things like eggs, french toast, pancakes, oatmeal and it would cost me more.

[playfelt]

The only way to actually do the breakfast you are thinking is to arrange with the parents that that is what you will do - ie too much for those that ate. And yes you might want to charge for that if you are still doing an snack later in the morning. I do the pancakes and eggs for a lunch often. I like doing dry cereal and fruit for morning snack because I can then control the amount served by when they ate. I mix several kinds of cereal together and sometimes add in a few crackers too. They get a scoop in a dish and maybe some raisins or craisins sprinkled on the top a couple days a week. Milk to drink.

Often kids just need a drink. It is amazing how their demeanor can change after a drink.

[Crayola kiddies]

You don't have to change what your serving just change the time and maybe just up the quantity by a quarter ... I certainly wouldn't be making French toast or pancakes for breakfast ... My mornings are too hectic with my two school kids too. I sometimes do French toast or pancakes or homemade waffles for lunch but I don't use syrup they get cream cheese and berries instead so no sugar before nap.

[mom-in-alberta]

I was going to suggest that if you want to do breakfast at your place, have the parents provide it. (Send out a list of acceptable vs non-acceptable foods) I am sure the family that has to get up early to eat, would appreciate it.
If you are set on providing items like french toast, eggs and pancakes; I would suggest pre-cooking as much as possible. French toast and pancakes can both be reheated in the toaster. Otherwise, between breakfast, snack, lunch and snack, you are going to feel like you spend most of your day in the kitchen! Also, you may find that if you are providing this type of breakfast, your need for a morning snack will diminish, maybe even disappear. Most of these parents have likely been serving a quick and portable breakfast, like bars or cold cereal. You may find that all you need to do for snack is a piece of fruit and a drink.

[Sarah A]

I don't want to do both a breakfast AND a morn snack. My son (who's 2.5) wakes around 8am and I give him breakfast then snack at 9am (which is too close). It just might be easier for me to feed breakfast at 830am to everyone and then no morning snack.

My morning is pretty relaxed as I don't have any school drop offs to do. Just drop offs of the kids around 730am.

Not sure I want to have the parents bring their breakfasts here because then setting all different breakfasts for 5 kids might be too much work for me. I already have one that comes with a mini go and cheerios every morning and the kids are already saying "where's mine".

[Skysue]

All the early kids should be fed breakfast before comming. Just ask when they get dropped off how they ate. This will give you a good indication if they are hungry or not! I offer dry cereal to my early kids in a cup.

When I do am snack I always make it a breakfast style snack, yoghurt with toast (cream cheese, peanut butter, jam) and fresh fruit cut up. We always do snack at 9:30am this way my 4 year olds get there breakfast at the same time!

Cheers!

[gcj]

I personally think that you're going to complicate your life by doing breakfast. It sounds like a lot to take on. I would be more inclined to break up the free-play somehow. After a certain amount of time, gather them together for something as simple as colouring. You still don't have to be super-involved....but it will break it up. There are always phases like this....I would be firm with discipling their actions as oppose to reworking everything else.
If you change snack time, I'd still keep it simple. Don't go cooking up a storm, just because they can't share. That's just my 2 cents.
At one point I did breakfast for 2 that arrived early (plus my 2 kids) I will NEVER do it again. I didn't realize it at the time, but it's tough. I thought make toast for 2 or 4...what's the difference...but somehow there is one! I guess my coffee just hadn't had time to kick in yet :laugh:
Now, with preparing my kids breakfasts and lunches for school...never again. If they arrive early, they need full tummies to play nicely while I do my morning routine.

[Sarah A]

Great suggestion gcj! I think I'm trying to help out the parents as well with breakfast but I don't want to be out of pocket for buying more food and I don't want to charge more. I think I will just move up the snack time and maybe offer if they would like to bring their own breakfast that they could sit and eat here.

[Momof4]

I open at 7:30 and serve breakfast to the children who arrive by 8. Then we are out the door for our busy morning by 9am so I don't serve any more food until 11:30ish when we get home for lunch. It works great for me and I am in the same shoes as you with free play time inside. The 2 year old is the worst one for acting badly and I have two more little ones about to hit that age.

However, I serve the same amount of food to the children having breakfast as I would if I were serving a morning snack - fruit & pancakes OR eggs & toast OR cheerios & fruit OR sausages & croissants, you get the picture. I bet you serve more than that at your morning snack, right?

Plus, I'm only feeding the few children who arrive by 8 and don't have to feed the others who come after that time because they have instructions to be fed and their first meal of the day is lunch, so in fact I'm SAVING money! Will that work for you?