Provider feedback about your child

Sarah,

Parents do need to know about B.M’s and if they have or haven’t had one! I have stated the importance of this in my previous posts. In regards to myself yes I do take notice of my own B.M's pretty much every time, I really care about overall health!!!

In response to this crazy discussion the bottom line is (lol) that if we are taking notice then it means we are doing our jobs well! By you saying that if it were unusual then you would tell their parents means your taking notice. This means we care about our daycare kids overall well being and that we are doing a great job.

Signed,

Sue a.k.a: Passionate about poop!

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Originally Posted by Sarah

Sorry, english is not really my first language so sometimes it's hard to say exactly what I mean.

So what I meant was that a BM is a natural thing, that parents don't need to know about, unless there is a problem with it. I agree with the impotancee of the BM, but only when there is an actual problem. Just requiring this information as part as a daily recap is giving it a "medical" importance. Do you analyze your own BM every time you go? I don't think so!!! You will analyze only if something feels wrong about it.

Anyway, hope I am clear!

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Poop talk aside..... lol (by the way, Skysue "bottom line??" hehehe, funny) :)
I was wondering if you gals that use the journals or give daily reports have worked in larger centres? I can totally see why that would be quite applicable, as there are a greater number of kids to remember who did what, ate what, etc. Easier for the details to get lost in the shuffle. I have only a couple of families, and none of them seem to need more than the basic info.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skysue

Sue a.k.a: Passionate about poop!

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:) :) :)

I guess I can sign Sarah a.k.a: Passionate about (ouach) poop! But still a little bit less than Sue

lol!!!

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Originally Posted by Sarah

Why on earth would parents want to know their child's everyday BM???

Please help me understand! I mean if their child is sick, I understand, but why would you need or even want to know about BM for a healthy kid. Please enlighten me

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As a parent who used daycare before -- I used to want to know for peace of mind that the plumbing was working as it should and also that my child was being changed regularly

Imagine if your child usually has a regular BM every afternoon after nap. It is Friday where you pick your child up from daycare. On Saturday you notice his stomach is swollen and hard and he hasn't pooped and he seems quite uncomfy. Wouldn't you then go back and consult your daycare sheet and see did the child poop Friday at daycare or his he now 2 days constipated and in pain?? It is little things like that.

or you pick your child up and he seems to be pooping every hour on the hour - you would check to see whether the same trend happened during the day and whether maybe they had a virus or something they ate affecting them.

It is always good to have as much info as possible because what if you have to go to urgent care at night and the doctor asks about your child's day and what they ate or what their diapers were for the day and you have to say "I don't know - they were at daycare". Eeks:)

I guess to parents - it is just good to have in case of issues and peace of mind

I tell parents about diapers as a daycare provider for those reasons. I know that I used to want to know. I have had parents walk in the door....check the sheet and see if their child had a BM yet or whether to expect one since they were going shopping etc.

Yes the info is important but what I would be telling the parent at the door is the changes such as little A didn't have a poop today and they usually do or they had 3 today and them seemed to be getting softer and softer. That is the kind of stuff we talk about at the door right up there with our normal chit chat.

Oh my word! Journals...I had a parent ask me if I could keep a journal of her child's day and this is what I said, "I am not a daycare center. I am a home daycare provider. I do not have staff to watch the children while I fill out your child's journal and write her whole day."
Like really? I couldn't even believe anyone would ask that. If the only break I get is during nap time for 45 minutes out of a ten hour day, do you think i'm going to sit there filling out "journals" for five kids???? lol
If a simple 2 minute rundown of the day during pickup is not enough then perhaps parents should bring their children to a daycare center and pay $50 a day and not $35!
Good gravy...:laugh:

I do journals, but I only write a couple sentences in each. I don't discuss their whole day. I just write a funny little thing they said or did or something they really enjoyed whether it's an activity or song etc. It only takes me a couple minutes for each children, definitely not difficult. I do it during naptime. My kids nap for two hours, so I have a nice long break. Some providers may do it and others don't, it's all a personal choice. For me, I know as a parent I like getting little write ups about all my kids, so I thought I would offer the same to my parents.

Hello! New here! I actually have a daily sheet I fill out (an idea I stole from my DD daycare when she was little). It has information like the date name of child, Time of nap and duration, if they went down well. Number of wet,dirty diapers, what they ate for snack, lunch bottles all written with just filling in the blanks like I napped from ____ to ____ and went down ______. I leave a section down at the bottom of the page where I can write comments but dont always do it. From the Parent perspective it gives the important info quickly. I print a bunch at the beginning of the week and fill them out at nap time. Takes all of 2 minutes.

Hello!

I am also new here. I run a home daycare in Alberta.

I think the level of communication should vary according to the age of the child - an older child can share information themselves, whereas a baby needs parents and caregivers to be in closer communication. I also believe that it is important for language development for parents to be able to talk with children about their days and to do that, they have to know what the children are doing in a regular and timely way.

I post my menu and activity plans in advance by the door, and I try to always share/ask about how the child slept or ate at dropoff or pickup.

I also have a private facebook group for my dayhome parents and grandparents. I am not fb friends with them, and all parents gave me written consent to take the photos and a promise not to share photos of other children off the group, so professionalism is preserved. I can post pictures and short videos from my camera or iPhone very easily as I take them, and at naptime, I go back and add comments. Sometimes I post links to books we read or youtubes of songs we are listening to or the words to songs we are singing, etc. I find it very easy to maintain this - much more so than the old notebooks I kept. I love the feedback from parents and sometimes grandparents in comments, too. They watch the videos especially over and over with their children.