Daycare did not feed baby for 5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this a daycare center with a director, or a home-based operation with only one caregiver?

If it's a center, I would talk to the director before I bailed. If he or she falls all over herself to apologize, facilitates a meeting with the room staff, etc., there may be some room to feel safe going forward. If it was a home-based operation, I'd report them and never show up again.

Thank you for finally answering the very important information about how old the baby is. For future reference, please provide all crucial details in your original post when you're asking for advice on a really significant matter.

Finally answering....after 20 minutes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baby is 6 months old. It was not a record-keeping error unless they offered a bottle and she refused it entirely because they sent home a completely full bottle. I have been calling other centers all day and may have a few options. None of the alternatives are ideal, but they will at least hopefully be able to feed my child regularly. I just wanted to make sure this issue isn't common enough that we're likely to encounter it everywhere before making a switch. DH and I may have to take some leave to fill in time before an opening becomes available.

You need to have a conversation as to why a full bottle was at home. Did they offer it and was it refused?

If it was an oversight, then that’s very bad. You need to go on record and speak with the Director or lead daycare provider.

[Anonymous]

Either does not matter if it’s a home daycare or a center. As long as it’s licensed, there are rules about how often food needs to be offered.

Even for toddlers, the rule is that they have to be offered food every three hours they’re there. That’s why sometimes it feels like daycares offer too much snacks and food and why there are things like the “take home” snack because some kids are there 3 hours after the last snack, so they have to offer it.

Technically for a 6 month old, a daycare should be asking you to send one bottle every 3 hours they’re there plus most will ask you to leave like a backup sealed ready to feed formula bottle for emergencies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WHAT
AGE
?

I want to know too, but honestly even if it's 18 months this is egregious. Five hours is a long time. It's worse if the baby is an infant, but it's not like I'd be cool if they just forgot to give my 18 mo old lunch either.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an infant or toddler. In Virginia the rule is something offered every three hours they’re in operation which is why the toddlers get AM and PM snack in addition to lunch.

[Anonymous]

Which daycare is it? I would want to warn other parents away from this place. 5 hours is absolutely unacceptable. I would withdraw and put my baby in a new daycare. I'm really sorry. I feel like daycare is so tough - there are absolutely good ones but it's hard to be away from our little ones and then when this happens - ugh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baby is 6 months old. It was not a record-keeping error unless they offered a bottle and she refused it entirely because they sent home a completely full bottle. I have been calling other centers all day and may have a few options. None of the alternatives are ideal, but they will at least hopefully be able to feed my child regularly. I just wanted to make sure this issue isn't common enough that we're likely to encounter it everywhere before making a switch. DH and I may have to take some leave to fill in time before an opening becomes available.

You can't just forget a 6 month old, because they make noise when they are hungry. When you asked them what did they say?

My guess is that either they fed her someone else's bottle (Obviously also a problem) or she didn't finish a bottle and they offered it again.

How do you know the baby wasn't sleeping?

[Anonymous]

That's not good. I would ask about it before making any decisions - maybe they tried and your babe refused the bottle? But even then, I would expect them to try again in an hour or so, not to miss a feeding altogether. Definitely seems like a red flag.

[Anonymous]

Thing is, will they really admit if it was an oversight? If I ask them what happened, they can easily say the bottle was refused, and there's no way to really know. And if nothing was documented, who's to say they will even remember what actually happened? We did write a message to the director as soon as the daily report posted last night to point out the missed feeding and to ask that she be fed at 2-3 hour intervals, and the director just responded and said of course they would do that. Perhaps I should be more aggressive about demanding an explanation.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes babies aren’t hungry if they are coming down with something. Check your app and make sure you didn’t miss a note. Talk to them directly about it as well.

Overall this in itself wouldn’t be a dealbreaker for me if it was a good center. Babies cry if they are hungry so presumably the kid was totally fine.

[Anonymous]

I am hoping this is more of a communication issue but I own a center and we notify parents if we have offered the bottle several times and the infant is not eating. Our teachers reach out and talk to the parents about things that may work at home etc. It is common for a baby to take some time to feel comfortable to eat during the first couple of days but parents must be notified. Depending on where you are there may be a licensing reg that requires it. I agree with the PP who said to call the director.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baby is 6 months old. It was not a record-keeping error unless they offered a bottle and she refused it entirely because they sent home a completely full bottle. I have been calling other centers all day and may have a few options. None of the alternatives are ideal, but they will at least hopefully be able to feed my child regularly. I just wanted to make sure this issue isn't common enough that we're likely to encounter it everywhere before making a switch. DH and I may have to take some leave to fill in time before an opening becomes available.

I would be livid. This is not normal daycare behavior.

[Anonymous]

If it was a baby’s first few days at a center, he or she often won’t drink much. Was your child brand new?

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter why. They should have reported it to you before you noticed.
Next time they might just pour out the bottle before you come to hide it I don't trust

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baby is 6 months old. It was not a record-keeping error unless they offered a bottle and she refused it entirely because they sent home a completely full bottle. I have been calling other centers all day and may have a few options. None of the alternatives are ideal, but they will at least hopefully be able to feed my child regularly. I just wanted to make sure this issue isn't common enough that we're likely to encounter it everywhere before making a switch. DH and I may have to take some leave to fill in time before an opening becomes available.

You can't just forget a 6 month old, because they make noise when they are hungry. When you asked them what did they say?

My guess is that either they fed her someone else's bottle (Obviously also a problem) or she didn't finish a bottle and they offered it again.

How do you know the baby wasn't sleeping?

+1. Did OP actually talk to the daycare about why a bottle was sent home? I’m confused how she knows it was 5 hours without food. At six months my kid would be raising holy hell if he hadn’t been fed for 5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Fair reason to leave, but just so you know, my DD was on a 4-hours-apart feeding schedule at that age. Occasionally it would stretch to 4.5-5 hours if she wasn't super hungry. (I was a SAHM at the time.)

It isn't good because they didn't follow your instructions but your baby will not starve.