Bad experiences with day care providers

[Judy Trickett]

I do not have any such bad experience because i always prefer the day care school where this types of problems are not created.It always better to keep your kids in the daycare than to leave them on the any individual daycare.There are lots of such daycare who are dedicated to the kids care and grow them in a environment of love.

I don't agree. Bad stuff happens in ALL daycare settings - both centre-based and home-based. Have you ever been to www.daycaresdontcare.org? Go there. Read the comments from workers in CENTRE based daycare. You would be surprised by the stuff that goes down there. One of my best friends is an ECE and worked in "quality" daycare centres and once she had kids she stayed home with them because she said she would NEVER put her kids in a daycare centre.

I have had the opportunity to have live video feeds of a few daycare centres and let me tell you, they are NOT all they are cracked up to be.

[carla]

That website is horrible. As far as I can tell most are from the states. When I started in daycare and something was not right I stood up to the director about it. I also phoned licensing and reported it. My friend had her child in a licensed dayhome and the provider left all the kids at home by themselves when she went to the bank. Should I assume all dayhomes do
That. ABSURD. I am a director and my staff are always in ratio even if that means I am in ratio. There are good and bad daycares. We have an open door policy and my families are more then welcome to come anytime of the day. We do not watch tv all day nor are my staff allowed to use there phones during the day. My staff work only 8 hour days and make more then minimum wage by alot. Ok now that I have ranted on enough I need to go to bed so I can sit in front of a tv all day and play on my phone (not)

[Judy Trickett]

That website is horrible. As far as I can tell most are from the states. When I started in daycare and something was not right I stood up to the director about it. I also phoned licensing and reported it. My friend had her child in a licensed dayhome and the provider left all the kids at home by themselves when she went to the bank. Should I assume all dayhomes do
That. ABSURD. I am a director and my staff are always in ratio even if that means I am in ratio. There are good and bad daycares. We have an open door policy and my families are more then welcome to come anytime of the day. We do not watch tv all day nor are my staff allowed to use there phones during the day. My staff work only 8 hour days and make more then minimum wage by alot. Ok now that I have ranted on enough I need to go to bed so I can sit in front of a tv all day and play on my phone (not)

I think you were disagreeing with me. But what you said was exactly my point - neither is horrible or terrific or the other. Each care situation is unique and all have pros and cons. It really bothers me when people really preach against home daycare (or centre daycare, for that matter).

There are good AND bad home daycare AND centre daycare.

[dodge__driver11]

I am not sure how to feel about that website (daycaresdontcare.or g) wether it is a scare tactic or not...I truly believe as a parent of a 3 y/o that I MUST DO the "leg work" in order to see wether a daycare/home is good for my child...Though I consider what reviews have to say --I do not base my opinion solely on them...

If a director/owner takes his/her job seriously, the children will be happy, safe and well adjusted...If not...well...we all know what has the potential to happen. I ALWAYS MADE surprise visits to my daycares, sometimes to the staff's shagrin (sp) because they thought I was a hovering parent....but so what?? (I am an ECE as well)

I wanted to make sure that they were doing the job they needed to do, and I did pull my son out of one dayhome because of what I saw, I also reported to early learning....

I guess what I am trying to say is we can't let websites do our work for us.

[Cocoon]

Carla, where r you located? Please say you are in Calgary and you are looking for stuff

[Cocoon]

*staff*

[mom-in-alberta]

Nope, Carla is in Edmonton.
As in life, none of us should be painting ALL types of care with the same brush. There are both pros and cons to centre based care, as there are with home based. Each family has to make that decision based on what they feel is important.
And that is all I have to say about that. LoL

[VictoriaChildCare]

In my 11 years as a home daycare provider I always tell the parents at the interview to drop by 'sometime next week' and hang out with us for a bit. In all of those years only 1 parent has taken me up on it. She signed the contract that day. Come and see what we do, then decide and always follow your gut.

[Momof4]

My 4 children attended daycare centres and in the 80' & 90's the home daycare profession was still 'babystters' and we had good and bad experiences with them. So now, I get mad when anybody calls me a 'babysitter' because my daycare is nothing like the situations my children had to endure. I run a program with healthy, safe routines, nutritious food and lots of learning activities and active play. I have heard horror stories about daycare centres too, but thankfully my experiences were great.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I have not had time to read this thread in its entirety as it is an older thread and well rather long so I just skimmed it

While venting is important for sure cause without it we might explode ~ IMO there is constructive venting where the intent is to share common problems and to find positive solutions to a problem moving forward growing with stronger knowledge and deconstructive venting where the intent is to spread gossip about others, promote bad feelings about others without any intent to 'seek resolution' and well THAT is not healthy for anyone and creates a negative atmosphere

There are definitely awesome and horrible experiences in ALL business settings ... as well as the 'perceptions' of those using the service based on expectations and bias and so forth can create a negative experience where no others have seen or experienced it ~ I have restaurants I LOVE that my peers HATE because we share different expectations and values around dining and well the same goes for childcare as well ~ just because someone was not happy with a providers service does not mean they are a BAD provider it just means that they were not a match for service!

IMO regardless of the 'setting' the best REGULATORS of childcare industry are CLIENTS who are in those programs day in and day and can LIVE the quality of care being provided or not .... when choosing a childcare centre or provider IMO the BEST place to start is ensure you put MORE research into it than you do your new car purchase cause IME 95% of clients seeking childcare do NOT do their due diligence in choosing care ... they do not make that 'informed' decision that could avoid conflict and a poor experience in the first place and in hindsight if they HAD they would not have chosen as they did!

Plus if you have had a REALLY bad experience with a daycare provider or daycare centre where you felt there was risk to your child and you had to pull as a result ... so something BEYOND just not being a match for childbearing philosophies or not being happy with the contract you agreed to and signed.... there are CONSTRUCTIVE recourse's for clients to resolve these issues and hopefully help prevent issues in the future for others ~ if you feel strongly enough about the care provided or not provided having put your child at risk of harm than USE them

For those in Ontario you can start here ~

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/concerns.html

What to do if you have concerns about your child's care

Child care should be an enriching and satisfying experience for your child. You should always feel confident that your child is in a healthy, safe and happy environment.

Talk to the staff or your caregiver

If you have concerns about your child's care your first step should always be able to talk to the staff or your caregiver. Here are some tips:

Schedule a time with your caregiver to talk about your concerns. That way, both you and the staff or caregiver will be ready to talk.
Be prepared. Make notes ahead of time about your concerns.
Be clear about what's being said. If you need clarification or have concerns about your caregiver's response, ask him or her to explain it further.
If necessary, arrange a follow-up meeting.

Talk to the Ministry of Education

If you continue to have concerns, contact your local regional office of the Ministry of Education.

Informal caregivers are not monitored by the Ministry of Education. However, regional staff will investigate complaints from the public about a person who may be providing care to more than five unrelated children without a licence.
Children in Need of Protection

If you have a reasonable suspicion that a child is or may be in need of protection, you must report it to a Children's Aid Society in your area. A child in need of protection is a child who is or appears to be suffering from abuse or neglect.

Bottom line is that WE are the only advocates children have ~ we need to do our due diligence to protect them and not expect the 'government' to always be doing it through regulations we 'assume' people are following!