My 11 month old baby was terminated from childcare for crying for the first week

[angelina]

Sorry, the arrangement did not work. Some kids will take more than the others to adjust.

I saw some daycare centers who stated that day 1 - parents stay with baby in the baby area for about the day, just to be familiar// then day 2. - parent stay for 4 hours:// then day 3 parents stay for 2 hours// then by day 5 hopefully just 30 minute parent child time - then kid will be okay. and they recognize that some children takes longer or shorter but that was the ideal recommendation they said that have work for them. Let us say not all parents can do that, but at least the centers experience has success rates for baby transition.

Actually, I have a case to share - I hope I am not jumping in your topic, but sort of reverse is happening to me. I am a private daycare, so I do all my contracts. I write it as simple as it can be. No deposit, stated the termed contract "nov 19, 2012 to dec 14, 2012". mom said she is off school by dec 14th, so we end it there, and she said we will do another one for january 2013 till end of school year depending on her schedule as a student nurse. Baby is 9 months, adorable, easy going...loving. cry is not an issue, i took him to playgroup - he enjoys it, i took him to park, loves it.
Now today, day 3 - the mom called me if the baby was here at 11:20am. i said "yeah, your husband drop him off". she said, "oh my husband beat me up, i'm in the police, don't give the baby to my husband, i will pick up my baby" . i said "sure". Come 2:30 pm, dad knocks the door and said he is off early to pick up baby. I said sure, come in, dress him up as I am busy. He came in, he dress baby, i told him his feeding and diapers and next snack and he was fine with that. And when he left, I texted the mom that dad pick him up early. She freaked out on me, saying " I told you not to give him to him:". I told her "what right do i have to keep the baby in daycare away from his dad?"

I was so upset and I was just shaking my head. What I think? The 9 month baby is more mature than the parents. It is never my job to babysit these adults, only baby.

I really like the child, he is adorable. The mother said she is entitled to alter the contract. I told her "no, you don't". It is my daycare, my business. Only a court order can change, who gets the baby. As it stand, both parents are entitled EQUALLY to pick up baby. I told her that she has 3 options: 1. keep the contract as it, until they settle their fights, 2. get a court order, or restraining order, saying husband cannot come to my home at _____ meters away, 3. she keeps her baby home until they both come to a settlement.

If she bothers me again about change in contract without court documents, she can keep her baby home until she finalize custody agreements.
My job is to take care of baby, from 7:15 am to 4pm, per contract.

Tell me, is there anything else I can say to them ( except telling them to grow up and this baby is human being, not a toy to fight over) ?

Do you think I have ground to cancel the contract because it is only 3 days, and I don't want any trouble. note: the parents are old (in their 30's)

[Inspired by Reggio]

...
If she bothers me again about change in contract without court documents, she can keep her baby home until she finalize custody agreements. My job is to take care of baby, from 7:15 am to 4pm, per contract. .

I would have handled this exactly the same way you have ... please do not bring your drama into my program and it is up to the courts to decide if your child's father no longer has rights to his child not yours or mine!

I actually have a written policy on how custody arrangements or changes to them for 'separated / divorced' clients are handled here!

Custody Arrangements
If you are in a situation where both parents are not living under the same roof please ensure that you put in writing how you would like to handle making decisions regarding your child’s best interests while in care. For example how you want to handle payment of fees, the sharing of information about your child, who receives the distribution of written information, and who can authorize the release of your child at departure time.

It is my recommendation that all separated/divorced parents provide a copy of the custody arrangement. I would be UNABLE TO ENFORCE any custodial parents requests WITHOUT legal documentation.

This copy should include the following.
 TITLE PAGE (this states who is involved),
 CUSTODY PORTION (this clarifies the agreed upon arrangements), and
 THE JUDGES SEAL & SIGNATURE (this confirms it has been reviewed by a court of law).

Parents need to work together to ensure that collectively that there is consistently one set of directions and they are presenting a united front as far as decisions or issues that affect your little ones participation in the program.

It is the responsibility of both parents to keep the lines of communication open. Unfortunately it is not my role, nor do I have proper counseling background, to mediate family disagreements. Should a family be in a situation where their inability to provide a united front while in the program, and in my opinion, this behaviour is affecting the well being of their own child or others within the program I may be required to discontinue services until such a time that ‘family harmony’ can be restored. Please see the ‘Code of Conduct’ section for details.

[sunnydays]

Wow! What a mess! I feel for you I htink you did the right thing...you could not say no to the dad based on what the mom said. You contract has both parents as able to pick up the child...you have no legal right to deny the dad his child. I guess the only thing that you might have done differently is not to say "sure" when the mom called requesting such a thing...it set her up to believe that you were going to follow her request. But, sometimes in the moment it is hard to think clearly too! I think if there is any more trouble, i would terminate as I would not want to be in the middle of such a messy situation, but maybe it will calm down and they will not involve you again now that you have laid out their options. Good luck!
By the way...I did have a good chuckle out of you saying that they are "old...in their 30's" Aren't most parents these days having babies in their 30's? Anyway, not to detract from the seriousness of your post...I just found this part funny

Sorry, the arrangement did not work. Some kids will take more than the others to adjust.

I saw some daycare centers who stated that day 1 - parents stay with baby in the baby area for about the day, just to be familiar// then day 2. - parent stay for 4 hours:// then day 3 parents stay for 2 hours// then by day 5 hopefully just 30 minute parent child time - then kid will be okay. and they recognize that some children takes longer or shorter but that was the ideal recommendation they said that have work for them. Let us say not all parents can do that, but at least the centers experience has success rates for baby transition.

Actually, I have a case to share - I hope I am not jumping in your topic, but sort of reverse is happening to me. I am a private daycare, so I do all my contracts. I write it as simple as it can be. No deposit, stated the termed contract "nov 19, 2012 to dec 14, 2012". mom said she is off school by dec 14th, so we end it there, and she said we will do another one for january 2013 till end of school year depending on her schedule as a student nurse. Baby is 9 months, adorable, easy going...loving. cry is not an issue, i took him to playgroup - he enjoys it, i took him to park, loves it.
Now today, day 3 - the mom called me if the baby was here at 11:20am. i said "yeah, your husband drop him off". she said, "oh my husband beat me up, i'm in the police, don't give the baby to my husband, i will pick up my baby" . i said "sure". Come 2:30 pm, dad knocks the door and said he is off early to pick up baby. I said sure, come in, dress him up as I am busy. He came in, he dress baby, i told him his feeding and diapers and next snack and he was fine with that. And when he left, I texted the mom that dad pick him up early. She freaked out on me, saying " I told you not to give him to him:". I told her "what right do i have to keep the baby in daycare away from his dad?"

I was so upset and I was just shaking my head. What I think? The 9 month baby is more mature than the parents. It is never my job to babysit these adults, only baby.

I really like the child, he is adorable. The mother said she is entitled to alter the contract. I told her "no, you don't". It is my daycare, my business. Only a court order can change, who gets the baby. As it stand, both parents are entitled EQUALLY to pick up baby. I told her that she has 3 options: 1. keep the contract as it, until they settle their fights, 2. get a court order, or restraining order, saying husband cannot come to my home at _____ meters away, 3. she keeps her baby home until they both come to a settlement.

If she bothers me again about change in contract without court documents, she can keep her baby home until she finalize custody agreements.
My job is to take care of baby, from 7:15 am to 4pm, per contract.

Tell me, is there anything else I can say to them ( except telling them to grow up and this baby is human being, not a toy to fight over) ?

Do you think I have ground to cancel the contract because it is only 3 days, and I don't want any trouble. note: the parents are old (in their 30's)