Child Centre V Family Day Care

[kobi'smama]

Hi

I have returned to work full time and have DS in a day care centre, yesterday was his first day. When i dropped him off i advised the team leader that he was due for breakki at 8am, it was all written on the routine forms as well that i handed her. After tears from me i left and phoned at 8.50am to see how he was, they told me he was crying and they were about to offer him some food....an hour late to when he normally has breakki and he would of been tired as he goes down at about 8.45am.
When i picked him up the team leader was on lunch and the other girls didnt really have an explanation as to what happened. I was upset because it was his first day and i would of thorght they would of tried to make everything run as smoothly as possible. He was fine for the rest of the day and when i picked him up he was sitting up playing happily. So that was the only issue i had.
I called the centre manager today and she said she would speak to the Team Leader tomorow as she was sick today and call me back.
I also got a phone call from family day care yesterday advising us of a day car mum who lives a few streets away from us, we are going to meet her this arvo.

I just dont know what to do! DS is due to go back to the centre on Friday.

I know this is a very personal decision but would love advice from those parents who at some point have had their children in both options and how they found one against the other - Pro's and Cons.

Thanks

[EmPowering]

i do know that in a child care centre it is very hard to try and fit everyone routines into one.

for example if outdoor play finishjed at 9 and they have morning tea at 9.15 its hard to try and feed a kid whose routine is morning tea at 8.45 when you have to be supervising children outsdie

but then again the group leader shouldnt have told you that she would give him breakie at 8 if she wasnt going to

i guess if your not happy with the centre, go have a chat with the FDC and see what you think. FDC will be able to work around your childs routine alot better as theres only 3-4 children at a time

hope it all works out for you

[guerin]

Hi

I have returned to work full time and have DS in a day care centre, yesterday was his first day. When i dropped him off i advised the team leader that he was due for breakki at 8am, it was all written on the routine forms as well that i handed her. After tears from me i left and phoned at 8.50am to see how he was, they told me he was crying and they were about to offer him some food....an hour late to when he normally has breakki and he would of been tired as he goes down at about 8.45am.
When i picked him up the team leader was on lunch and the other girls didnt really have an explanation as to what happened. I was upset because it was his first day and i would of thorght they would of tried to make everything run as smoothly as possible. He was fine for the rest of the day and when i picked him up he was sitting up playing happily. So that was the only issue i had.
I called the centre manager today and she said she would speak to the Team Leader tomorow as she was sick today and call me back.
I also got a phone call from family day care yesterday advising us of a day car mum who lives a few streets away from us, we are going to meet her this arvo.

I just dont know what to do! DS is due to go back to the centre on Friday.

I know this is a very personal decision but would love advice from those parents who at some point have had their children in both options and how they found one against the other - Pro's and Cons.

Thanks

I cannot give your pros and cons as I only have my DD in a community based childcare centre. However, whenever I read these sorts of posts I always find myself thinking that when I put my DD in I never thought I could ask them to change their routine, rather I thought it important before she started that I had her routine similar to theirs. That is I asked what their meal breaks were and what times for naps and I got her into that routine. Are there childcare centres that cook and prepare the meals in the room whilst watching the babies/children? Because if it is like the one I have then all meals are prepared by a qualified childcare cook and thus a part from a cookie or a bit more milk the childcare workers do not have a say when the meals are made. Which is another important reason why when I put my child into an institute that caters for more than just her I insured she fit in with the overall group.

I can also imagine it would be the same with a family daycare if the carer has multiple children to take care of. If she has a routine I doubt she is going to throw that out the window, but will push the new child to fit in to that routine. That is if they are normally dropping older kids off at school b/w 8 and 9 then I doubt they are going to be having morning tea or naps.

I realise that I probably sound awful but my attitude to care is this. If the workers are nice and seem to be switched on regarding health, food etc. Then my child because she is one of many can adapt to a change in her routine to fit in with the routine of the childcare centre.

[overitand36]

i have used both

you will find regardless of what care you use the routine will be set my the carer unless you can get one on one care

as far as family day care goes we where very lucky with our carer she was almost perfect and I was happy until my daughter started to get older 18mths

i wanted her to be doing more activities and learning that is when I changed to long day care

but before she started day care we where on a waiting list and our first family day care lady stopped working this is when I had a problem with FDC the 2 other carers we saw where of substandard one was very dirty smoked etc
the other was ok but english was not her first language and i felt that my daughter and not the language she spoke at home

many FDC do pick up from school go out in their car get sick etc you need to check all these things out

day care centres I feel have a much higher standard but like you said it all comes down to personal choice

[Mrs Nietzsche]

I had my daughter in family day care from 2 years, my son has been in a daycare centre from 12mths.

I think ultimately it depends on the child, but for me, daycare centres are better because they have greater resources and so on.

I think it would be even harder for a family daycare person to adjust routine to an individual child tbh.

DS only goes 3 days a week, I have basically adjusted his routine to fit the daycare centre. They will change to suit him to an extent though totally - like if he is asleep at lunchtime they will save lunch for him, or they will put him (and other children) down for sleeps when asked to or when needed, etc. But I think it is actually nicer for the children for themall to be eating meals at roughly the same time.

They also do a lot of painting and activities that a FDC can't really do, and take photos every day of DS and put them in a book for me, and write down all his sleeps and what he has had to eat. He seems to really thrive in the environment - he is an extremely busy child and I think would get bored / boisterous in someone's house every day (he certainly does in mine).

Is it possible that your child didn't want breakfast then as they were distracted by what was going on? I hope things are working out better now.

[kobi'smama]

I cannot give your pros and cons as I only have my DD in a community based childcare centre. However, whenever I read these sorts of posts I always find myself thinking that when I put my DD in I never thought I could ask them to change their routine, rather I thought it important before she started that I had her routine similar to theirs. That is I asked what their meal breaks were and what times for naps and I got her into that routine. Are there childcare centres that cook and prepare the meals in the room whilst watching the babies/children? Because if it is like the one I have then all meals are prepared by a qualified childcare cook and thus a part from a cookie or a bit more milk the childcare workers do not have a say when the meals are made. Which is another important reason why when I put my child into an institute that caters for more than just her I insured she fit in with the overall group.

I can also imagine it would be the same with a family daycare if the carer has multiple children to take care of. If she has a routine I doubt she is going to throw that out the window, but will push the new child to fit in to that routine. That is if they are normally dropping older kids off at school b/w 8 and 9 then I doubt they are going to be having morning tea or naps.

I realise that I probably sound awful but my attitude to care is this. If the workers are nice and seem to be switched on regarding health, food etc. Then my child because she is one of many can adapt to a change in her routine to fit in with the routine of the childcare centre.

All the day care centres i visited inc the one DS is in advise they go by your childs routine, they dont have one general routine for all the kids. They give you massive amounts of paperwork to fill out regarding your babies routine as well.

[Mrs Nietzsche]

I think that is true kind of (at our one anyway) - in that everyone has different times for sleeps and bottles, but they do have set meal-times - but they seem to fiddle those as needed. I actually thought their meal-time routine worked well which is part of the reason I adopted it myself.

They should not be letting anyone go hungry especially on their first day.. it does seem odd.

[BabelFish]

We have just started our DD in a daycare centre a few hours a week, which will go up to one day.

They have set times for breakfast, lunch and snacks. So I didn't expect them to fit to DD's routine (not that she really has one, I should say - not a strict one anyway) but rather am changing our day around so that she can fit in with theirs.

Actually I never really even thought about her not fitting in with their times - there's quite a few babies and toddlers and I think I'd be paying MUCH more if she had a one-on-one carer like that!!

I have to say I was a bit surprised when they said they serve lunch at 11am, so now I either give her lunch before she goes or take her earlier so she can fit in. She's usually asleep at that time, and I AM quite strict about her sleep times, but as it's only one day a week, and they put all the toddlers down for a sleep after their 11am lunch, I think she'll adapt quite well.

The centre is lovely and the staff are lovely so at this stage I'm happy for her to stay there.

I think it's harder as your bub is quite a bit younger and therefore probably has a more structured routine that you don't want him to get out of. I totally understand that and would probably have similar concerns to you. Especially if they have actually told you they'll try to stick to his routine instead of theirs.

But it might be a little unrealistic and it may well be that once he's used to it he will get that when at daycare things happen one way, and when at home they happen another. Even very little babies are pretty smart and especially if he is in daycare full time, it will become more normal for him to follow their routines than the one he has at home, probably.

[Little-Pink-Hen]

i do know that in a child care centre it is very hard to try and fit everyone routines into one.

for example if outdoor play finishjed at 9 and they have morning tea at 9.15 its hard to try and feed a kid whose routine is morning tea at 8.45 when you have to be supervising children outsdie

but then again the group leader shouldnt have told you that she would give him breakie at 8 if she wasnt going to

i guess if your not happy with the centre, go have a chat with the FDC and see what you think. FDC will be able to work around your childs routine alot better as theres only 3-4 children at a time

hope it all works out for you

I agree with ezzza as a room leader myself sometimes it us hard to fit bubs routine into one routine for the entire room. That said though bubs room routine are normaly very flexiable to deal with this. Sometimes bub change their own routine when in care aswell, some children it becomes a bit easier to supply demand routine iykwim. Remember for your lo just eating and sleeping in a new place is out of routine anyway so may not of wanted food or had been a bit upset as you left and whilst he was settled they didn't want to disturb him for a short period.
But if fdc makes you more comfortable than change ;-)
hope you find the right care for you

[Hootenanny]

I have worked and been a Director at a Long Day Care Centre and have used FDC as a parent. The centre where I worked was a high quality centre with great staff but we chose FDC because I like the homely environment and the more individual attention, we found a great carer who had qualifications and had worked in a centre.
I'll address a couple of things,
1. I dont think there is the right answer for everybody, everybody had different needs and expectations and individual centres and FD carers are all different
2. I think FDC can be more adaptable to routines but a LDC should also be flexible especially with under 2's.
3. Family day care is not as reliable as long day care, if the carer is sick or has holidays it can be hard to find substitute care.
4. With FDC you know who will be looking after your child each day, at a centre staff change and casuals are often used.
In the end it comes down to your feelings, are you happy with the centre and think he is getting the best care there or would you rather try to find a FD carer.