Clothing requirements for Home Daycare

[cherbear]

Good morning! I am new to this site. I am excited about all the advice, everyone has fantastic suggestions. Knowing we aren't alone is comforting. I have one question I would love to hear feed back on. I have 15 month old girl in my daycare. She comes everyday in sleepers. I have asked that they send pants, shoes and socks as she is now walking and the sleepers are very dangerous. The mothers solution was to cut the toes off of the sleepers. I have asked repeatedly for clothing suitable for playing. The mother just smiles. The next day she is always in sleepers. The family does have older daughter in SK. I am beginning to think that it is just the mothers laziness! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[mickyc]

Hmmm....not sure what else you can do other than to threaten termination. Mom is clearly ignoring your requests. That would be so annoying. Is it really affecting the child's development? Ability to get around?

[Lee-Bee]

Maybe it is all they own? That or they clearly have a strong preference for sleepers! To actually try and meet your needs by cutting off the toes shows they are trying.

Why do you feel they are dangerous? Do they not have grippy feet? Pretty much all the sleeps I have seen for that age have the rubber grips on the bottom of the feet and that would frankly make them rather safe to walk in!

Instead of demanding pants, socks and shoes I would just flat out ask why they seem to always have her in sleepers. If it was just laziness as you say then they would send what you are asking for and not bother putting her in them, leaving you to.

I suspect they either just don't have clothes in that size or they have a reason to keep using the sleepers.

If the do not have grippy feet then put a pair of socks with grips over top and continue on with your day.

[cherbear]

The sleepers do NOT have any grip on the bottoms. She can not walk with out slipping. The older daughter says that her father does not like her in sleepers all day and her mother changes her when she goes home after daycare. I have never demanded the clothing, rather ASKED while explaining how she is unable to walk and play. She falls all the time because she is slipping. (Hardwood floors) The mother meets me at the school where I drop of a child and she drops off her daughter. Even in these cold temperatures she hands the child to me with only her arms in her sleepers, bare legs.

[33 Daiseys]

i would simply say that you are not going to the park and when she gets baby dressed she is free to meet you there.
I had a family a few years back that refused to send hats mitts boots ect for their 13 month old. In my contract i have a 5 dollars enforced rental fee for any clothing that is forgotten at home. So after 4 day of being charged an extra 25, they got with the program.
It sounds like mom is sending baby in jammies so that she can take baby home and dress her so she is fresh for the evening.

[kindertime]

Do you have a written clothing policy? If not, I highly recommend it. Having policies written down gives you something to fall back on, and for parents to refer to so they know what you expect. Also, when you get a situation like this, you can 'refresh" the parent's memory about what you expect. Personally, I wouldn't care about the sleeper, because I require shoes (or at least slippers) for children who are walking. And I require proper outerwear, too. I have it written down so I can enforce it. When this parent hands you the half naked child outside does she also give you the coat, shoes, mitts and hat for her? If not, wouldn't that be considered neglect? My advice is, ASAP, write down what you expect of all parents in terms of clothing, inside and out, and refuse service if this is not adhered to. You don't have to terminate, just send her home to get the appropriate clothing.

[mickyc]

33 daiseys- what a great idea!! I never thought of having a rental fee. I just refuse to supply extras. Luckily I haven't had issues in years