Last week I picked up Aiden from daycare at 4.40pm. It was his second week of daycare and they have been really good about everything and very understanding that I have to have him in daycare, so I was reallly happy with them. When I got there last week though he was strapped in to a bouncer covered in his own vomit!! I'm talking covered, even all down his back and in his nappy!! The woman in the nursery (not the group leader) at this time never spoke a word to me even though it was only me there n 2 other kids. I asked where his dummy was and she walked away! I grabbed Aiden and hauled @$$ outta there in tears. When I got home I called the director and she said 'oh between 3.30pm and 5pm we are swamped so thats why Aiden has gone unnoticed' then I asked when he had his last bottle and nappy change and she said ' (group leader) changed him at 3pm and fed him at 3.30pm' when I mentioned the lady in the nursery ignoring me dhe just said none of the other parents have ever had an issue with her as she has been filling in at the nursery for over 12 months, maybe she just didnt hear me! I was 2 feet away from her and she clearly wasn't deaf!!
All I can gather as Aiden wasn't sick when he got home was that was reflux which he gets occasionally but come on an hour!! Most of it was dried (sorry tmi)
So now my questio is do I take him there today and just chalk it up to a bad day or do i look for another daycare?? I dunno if I'm over reacting or what
Personally i would not be impressed. firstly o.k maybe she didnt hear you. But come one spew every where that's not on and if it was dried that's saying something. Not only that but the directer her self said maybe he had gone unnoticed. AHHHHH HELLOOO shouldn't someone one be watching him??????? I would be making complaints and wouldn't risk it if it was me. Follow your gut in stinks here! What are they saying????
Big hugs hun. I have had my boys in day care for quite a while now, and have used two centres in that time. NEVER has anything like that happened. It is true that the late afternoon is a busy time as parents turn up and want to talk etc, and mostly they are in mixed age group then as well, so the carers there might not be the ones from their room. I know this is the time that DS1 used to be most likely to have an accident (wet undies), as the carers might be busy when he needed to go to the toilet. But he was never left in wet undies - they noticed that it happened and fixed it. And a baby covered in vomit - come on. That would smell for one thing, how would they not notice. That doesn't seem right. Not at all.
I'm sorry hun, I know it's a huge PITA, but I would be looking for a different centre. You need to know your child is being well looked after and you have doubts you will just feel guilt. I hope you find somewhere fantastic. GL.
First of all, definitely put in a letter of complaint to the director. IMO, leaving a child sit in his own vomit is not acceptable. Neither is the excuse that they were too busy at that time of day to see to him. I have my DD in daycare part time, so I know that at that time of day, it is really busy, but that does not mean that they can not attend to him when he vomits, or at least check that he is ok.
I personally would find another childcare. I don't think you are over reacting. I think most parents would feel the same way you do if it happened to them. If they didn't notice him covered in vomit then they can't be watching him very well. I know I would be mad.
Last edited by Mum0809; August 28th, 2008 at 09:26 AM.
regardless to it being a busy time all careers priority's are to the children first and if there needs cant be met they need to hire more staff in those times. This is a situation that shouldnt have happened! My husband works in daycare and he would be disgusted at this. What if your son had choked with out supervision GRRRR! We pay good money they should be being watched. some one must be in room always supervising kids.
OMG!! If this happened to C where she is now I would be putting in a complaint! I would talk to the group leader first and raise your concerns with her. If she is unable to assist, and more than likely she wont be able to, have another talk face to face with the director of the centre. If you are not happy with the response, and get the "too busy and went unnoticed" response again I would tell her that you are VERY unhappy with that answer and feel that you will have to take your complaint further.
I would then write a complaint letter, to the director with a CC to the head office of the centre (or vice versa). If it is a council run centre (mine is) make sure the executive officer at the council gets it as well.
Lastly...try to find another centre. The one thing that sold me on my centre (besides the fact that it is the only one out here) was that when I went to have a look at the centre before I enrolled her, the carers didnt even notice me...just wanted to talk to C and show her around and the director spoke to me. I went back later without C and spoke to the G/L then. Was nice that they were interested in the child.
I would DEFINATLY find another day care. Please follow you gut instinct!!.
I had somthing happen to my DS who was 3 ( so much older). I went to the day care ( where he had never had a problem before, he had been going for about 6 months) to pick him up one day and one of the girls told me he had been WINGING!! all day. I thought that was a strange thing to say but carried on, when i got to him he was sobbing and obviously verry upset. I had never seen him like that before at DC. The director then told me that he'd had and accident and wet his pants.( he was potty training). So in the car on the way home he was still crying and he told me that one of the teachers smacked him!! i was fuming. went back down there without the boys and talked to the girls. no one owned up and I never have taken him back. To this day its been 6 months since he last went, you cannot talk to him about going to daycare or kindy or anything. he just breaks down and cries!. Its so sad.
Sorry for ranting, I just want you to know that its not acceptable and I am so glad that I followed my instinct and never took him back, somthing obviously happened to him there.
Hi
I own a child care centre and if one of my staff members left a baby in a bouncer in vomit they would not be working at my centre any more. Just letting you know it's not acceptable.
No way. Totally unacceptable. Don't let them guilt you into feeling like you are being unreasonable because that is plain neglect. **** is all I can say. Put a complaint in writing and get him outta there.
**** is right... This is so not acceptable... Especially at that young age... My DS had reflux and almost chocked on his vomit several times... Being busy is like mentioned NOT acceptable.
My son's school had a girl walk out and when i picked my son up she had pooped his nappy and it was all dry (sorry TMI) as a result he had bad nappy rash... I went off at the director... OK the girl walked out and left them fort staff but so what... i pay good money for him to be looked after properly, you expect the same quality care you would give him at home... In my case i did give them another go... but in ur case there was no staff walking out...I'm sure there is someone you can complain to about there standards of care appart from the director (like an outside organisation)
If something were to have happened to him (heaven forbid) whos fault would it have been... Most schools claim no responsibility for accidents.. And i cant believe she said "oh between 3.30pm and 5pm we are swamped so thats why Aiden has gone unnoticed'...
UNNOTICED.... I'm in shock... Look in the thesaurus about the meaning of Unnoticed -abandoned, unobserved, overlooked, disregarded... This is definatly negligent The women who was supposedly careing for him wasnt doing her job
This is negligent on there behalf and if they cant manage they should hire more staff.... simple.. No excuse is good enough for putting a child in that situation... I'd get him out of there. If the spew was dried it would have been there a while...
Not sure where you live but in case you live Northside of Brisbane I can recommend an awesome centre that you could try. Otherwise try posting on BB for some recommendations near you.
I'd definitely be doing two things. Looking for a new place and writing a letter of complaint to the director.
There is no way that I would keep going to a place that would let me walk out in tears and maintain that they are in the right about it all because, oh, poor them, they got busy (this is a foreseeable situation, if they can't handle doing their job during a daily occurrence of busy periods they are not cut out for it).
You're paying them money to keep their business going - that means, maintaining appropriate staffing levels during quiet AND busy times. Busy times are pretty predictable, and if they are busy then they should be short and sweet with collecting parents and reverting straight back to the children still in their care. Collecting parents should understand that they can't chat for too long because staff need to direct attention elsewhere. They can save their questions for later, surely.
My lasting impression from your post is you leaving in a highly agitated state with your child and them justifying themselves and invalidating your experience. It's despicable and absolutely sub-standard.
There ARE centres out there that make you feel GOOD about leaving your child there - harder to find and probably have long waiting lists, but hold out till you feel comfy leaving your baby there
hun I would never step foot back in that place again, that is totally unacceptable, if they are swamped between those hours they should have more staff on, the children should not suffer and being that covered in his vomit is just not on. I would be putting a complaint in to who ever it is that looks out for dodgy day care centres, it really does not sound right to me at all.
Come on are these people for real - you're paying them to look after your BABY - leaving a baby STRAPPED into anything let alone unsupervised and covered in vomit is not my idea of good care - get him out and complain - but by the sounds of it your complaints will fall on deaf ears given the directors original response - I'd be sure to let others in my community know how poorly this place really is - Time to move on IMO - I'd be so MAD if this happened to me and rest assure they'd know it!!!
Aside from writing a letter to the director you should also call the local counsil and ask to speak to whoever deals with the centres or complaints about centres in your area, or even the health department could help
What do I do??? (possible tmi)
The woman in the nursery (not the group leader) at this time never spoke a word to me even though it was only me there n 2 other kids. I asked where his dummy was and she walked away!
I grabbed Aiden and hauled @$$ outta there in tears. When I got home I called the director and she said 'oh between 3.30pm and 5pm we are swamped so thats why Aiden has gone unnoticed'
Most of it was dried (sorry tmi)
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