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I think that's just day care and it's because of low wages, high turnover, and they are constantly trying to cut as many hours as possible. So if they can do things like, combine rooms and send someone home to get them off the clock, they do it.
My LO is in a private preK program that doesn't start until 2, so she was in daycare for about a year before that and similar things drove me nuts. My husband always thought I was being too picky, but once she moved into a legit school and he saw how they do things, he was like "Yeah, daycare is a hot mess."
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@PrincessBaby: I think that is true. I guess I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be much variety in daycare though. Like if this is the norm, you'd think that someone could open up a center with a lower ratio and more stability for the kids and people would flock to it. Not EVERYONE of course, but I think there is a good number of people who can pay more than "basic" daycare but not enough for a nanny.
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@Mae: with a super low ratio day care would likely end up more expensive than a nanny because they have so many overhead costs (building costs, insurance costs, director salaries, etc)
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@Mae: There is a center near me with low ratios like you are discussing and it costs more than a nanny. The toddler ratio is 1:3 which is super low but the cost is VERY high.
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@Mae: I'm sorry you're having trouble!
Maybe a nanny share? Not sure if that was mentioned! Good luck.
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@Mae: I'll say that while I think the things like combining rooms and having floaters are the norm for obvious reasons, I don't think the chaotic feeling is something you need to accept. I toured a lot of daycares and some were chaos and some weren't. Like I said, our daycare had floaters (but one of two main teachers was typical always there) and they combined rooms, but it was never chaotic. It was a small center though with total 75 kids infant-kindergarten which probably helps.
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@catomd00: I didn't ever feel it was chaotic when I visited. But they encouraged visits in the mornings (which worked out for my schedule so it was fine for me anyways). I was told there was an AM teacher and PM teacher but I didn't realize how often floaters were in/out or that sometimes the PM teacher is sent home and LO is sent to another room without anyone she knows there. And mostly I think the chaotic feeling comes from the fact that they can't seem to remember the things I tell them over and over again and it makes me feel like they're just not on the ball. I worry in looking at a new center it will be hard to do a better job evaluating because anyone can talk a good game.
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I think the general gist of what you're saying is "normal" for daycare. But what you're exactly describing? No, that's not normal. I know plenty of daycares near me that are centers that aren't private. They still manage to not charge an arm and a leg and still not be a "hot mess" and take good care of the kids.
My daycare is one of the cheaper ones in the area. There is a high turnover for "floaters" but not for lead teachers. All the teachers are great and you can tell genuinely love the kids. My girls teachers aren't both always there at drop off and pick up. It's a long day and they have to break up the 8 hour shift somehow. I can always call between 12-2 (nap time) and talk to their teachers. Or anytime really for an emergency. We've been having behavior issues at daycare and each time her teachers have made time to talk to us personally even if it meant they were staying late
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@regberadaisy: exactly.
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@Mae: I just wanted to say hang in there, it does get easier. Whether you decide to move her or keep her at the current center, adjusting to daycare is really hard, I think much harder on parents than kiddos. I think you've gotten a lot of good advice and I hope you're able to find something that works for you and your LO. It's so hard to leave our babies for the first time, I can't imagine having spent nearly two years at home and then enrolling LO in daycare. My LO was 15ish weeks when he went to daycare and I can barely remember a time when things were different. That was hard at 15ish weeks, but my heart really goes out to you, I'm sure this transition at 20m, even with a Mary Poppins dream nanny, would be so so hard. But it will get better.
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Completely normal and while it's seems disorganized it isn't. I worked in childcare for a few years as a Pre-K teacher and here is what is going on (at least from my experience):
At our center there were 2 teachers per room
The AM teacher who actually went over any curriculum (even with toddlers) and a PM teacher that was there for the playtime. There was sometimes a nap time teacher who could be any teacher in the center that was there as needed (like someone was going to be late or had to leave early or called in sick and they were forced to restructure some things). At the end of the day, we have to get our rooms cleaned and organized for the next day. We would often trade who got to clean first which meant, when our ratios were low enough, consolidating the kids into another room.Also, you think a 1-7 ratio for toddlers is crazy? Try a 1-15 for 4 year olds... And I had that daily in the PM.
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