Pickup policies

I have a set of parents that have work days that start&finish early, and they are home about 2 hrs before I close. They will schedule appts/hair cuts etc, or visits to the park for their child when they get home. The issue is that the child is picked up often about 1.5-2 hrs before closing, then goes to appts. /park, whatever, and then the parent shows up again to re-drop off the child in my care for the last 45 mins-1hr of care. I find this soooo rude, and disruptive to the other kids, and their kid, to have parents coming/going like this. Is there a way around this in my contract?
Can you enforce that if they are picked up at XXXXX time, then they are done for the day? I'm not a drop-in centre... Help please???

One drop off, one pick up rule.

Send home a letter, an amendment to your contract noting a new one drop off one pick up per day rule due to the disruptions you have been experiencing.

Why in the world would the parents drop them off for another 45minutes? The amount of effort the drop off and pick up would take seems like it would make it not worthwhile!!

Wow!! I have never had this but would put an end to it ASAP!!

If they have a morning appt before lunch, I do allow them to come back as usually the parent has to go back to work but any pick up after lunch is for the day

Yes I agree with the others. You are not a babysitter you are a daycare provider.
You have programs, activities and other children to look after. This is very disruptive indeed. I think in your situation I would explain the parents that you will no longer allow for the child to return once he's left the program on a same day because of the reason you have motioned. If they wish to continue then I think I would charge "overtime" fees.

I don't allow drop off after lunch - 11:30 - for this very reason. It never happened here, but it did occur to me that if it isn't spelled out in my rules, someone, someday would try it. I see now, you know this person. :)

Wow!!!!
never heard of this one before but it is good to tell her that from now on you can't accept the child after they leave daycare as it upsets the group plus their child is mixed up

Sometimes parents don't have a choice for when appointments are made, so the one pick up, one drop off rule is tough in those cases. Obviously I'm not talking about haircuts. But sometimes one has to take doctor or specialists appointments when you can get them. It would seem fair to me that if a child has an 11:00 appointment that the parent drop them off in the morning as usual, pick them up before their appointment and then drop them off again once done.

This all being said, what these parents are doing is ridiculous! It doesn't make any sense. One would think that if a parent is done work 2 hours before closing and wanted to book an appointment for their child or take them to the park that they would do so in the last hour, not take them for an hour and them bring them back for an hour. Is it the same parent that picks them up and drops them off or is one parent initially picking up the child and bringing them back and then the other parent picking them again later (in which case, maybe there is some sort of explanation for it). Either way, I'd definitely have a policy around not being able to drop the child off again during the last 2 hours of the day (or whatever time frame you see fit).

Wow I have never heard of that .... I don't allow drop offs or pick up between 12 and 3 and I would never entertain that type of schedule .... I would talk to the parents and get a set schedule

I not have a one drop off, one pick up, rule. Sometime my client come 7am, and then get picked up for immunization or doctor appointment and then come back. My only rule is around outside time. We go for walk after 9am snack and we come back for 11am. So need to pick up around that so other children not miss out.
I would not be happy with child coming back with less than hour before closing and would likely say something to parent.
I would say that if not here within 2 hours before close time, then too late in the day and very disrupting. So if close 4.30pm, cannot be dropped off later than 2.30pm.

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Originally Posted by homeschoolmom

I understand about appointments that are out of the parent's control, but it is still too disruptive to have the child popping in and out. Every time I've allowed it in the past (I've been a HDP for almost 26 years) it's been a disaster. If the appointment was for 11:00 I would take the child at their regular drop-off time, but once the parent picked up for the appointment they wouldn't be coming back. I would have already had to alter our morning to be home (we are out in good weather until 11:30ish), and we most likely would have already finished lunch before the child would be back. Being dropped off a second time can be confusing and upsetting for the child, and then naptime is affected as well. In group care, the needs of the group trump the needs of an individual child.

I just had a similar situation on Monday- the child had a doctor's appointment at 10:00. The mom kept her home for the morning, and brought her to me afterwards. She texted me after the appointment to see where we were, and met us at the park. I've been handling odd drop off and pick up times this way for a very long time, and none of my families have had an issue with it.

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I certainly wouldn't want to argue with someone who has that much experience. :) Of course, it would depend on one's daycare as well and how structured it is and what you all do during the day. However, I have to admit that I'm surprised that it wouldn't be more difficult for most parents who have morning appointments not to be able to bring their child back. That would mean a parent having to take more than a half day off from work (possibly 6 hours) for what might be a 30 minute appointment.

I've always taken the children back when it is a morning appointment, and they can arrive back before nap time, so I don't think I'm being unreasonable. Schedule appointments for after nap time and take them home early is my usual routine for parents. I guess the part that gets me is that they are done work, and at home, they don't have to race back to the office.
Of course it is one of those kids who is here usually from the second I open until the second I close, even though it's usually about 3 hrs less that they truly need. I guess they want some free time without kids. It drives me batty! Why come back for an hour?