Help me understand childcare ratios!

[Anonymous]

We are first-time parents with our six-month-old in daycare for the first time, and I'm trying to figure out if what we're experiencing is par for the course for center-based care, or if I should be looking for other options. (I am a worrier by nature, so if this seems fine to veteran daycare parents, I'd prefer to keep my son where he is rather than shuffling him!)

We chose our center largely because it had a 1:3 infant ratio (our state is 1:4, though I understand that MD and DC are 1:3, I think?) It is nine babies with three care providers. We like all three care providers and after observing the room often, find that they have good coverage of the room when all three are present. My concern is how breaks are handled. Typically, one will go on break mid-day, and then will return and the next will go, etc. (We are half-day, which is the main reason I've observed this.) During that time, only two providers will be with the nine babies. This seems to be out of ratio per our state standards, but when I brought this up with the director, she assured me that the standard accommodates breaks. (For some of these breaks, babies are sleeping, but for some of them they are all awake.) I had always thought that aides or other support were used to keep rooms in ratio during breaks, but now I don't know what to make of it.

Can anyone share what their center does for breaks (and where you are in case it affects what your mandated ratios are)? I really do like the center otherwise, but this concerns me because almost all of the babies are mobile---so, for instance, if there are only two providers and one is changing a diaper, that leaves only one provider with the remaining eight children. We're not paying that much less than a nanny share would be, and the main reason we chose to do center-based care was because the ratio was only slightly higher. This really worries me, despite the fact that whenever we've observed the room with two providers for all of the babies, things are very much in control, no one is crying, etc.

What do you think? Is this indeed normal (and do state standards accommodate breaks)? If not, is this something we should be pushing with the director, or is that a losing battle? We hope to keep DS at this center through age three (when he will move to a different preschool program) so I'm reluctant to jump from program to program...but at the same time, I want to ensure that he's safe and cared for. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

....someone else should come in during the break to maintain at least 1/4 ratio.

[Anonymous]

No, the standard doesn't include breaks. So if there are 2 providers and 9 babies at any point then they are out of compliance with a 1:4 ratio.

However it does count all the providers who are within the same room as the babies. So one provider watching 7 babies while the second provider changes a diaper in the same room is still a 1:4 ratio.

[Anonymous]

My center is in Maryland, with 1:3 ratio, and they have "floaters" come in when regular staff take breaks. So the ratio is never broken. Not sure if this is Maryland law or not.

A quick google search shows Virginia allows the ratios to double during a designated "rest" period, as long as certain staffing requirements are met (enough staff on site to evaculate children in an emergency, or within sight of children).

http://daycare.com/virginia/center.html

page 40

[Anonymous]

OP here---thanks. So 15:43 is how I thought it worked...but possibly 15:47 is what the director is talking about. However, it still seems that this doesn't apply when the babies aren't asleep...correct? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here---thanks. So 15:43 is how I thought it worked...but possibly 15:47 is what the director is talking about. However, it still seems that this doesn't apply when the babies aren't asleep...correct? Thanks!

Asleep or not, the ratio should still be in compliance, which the daycare center is not. If there are 9 infants in the room, there should always be 3 providers (4 kids per provider). If they have 8 kids, they need only 2 providers in VA.

[rweather]

Agree with what's been written. At our daycare I've seen floaters come in the infant room to let another caregiver take a break. And they sometimes will shift some of the older infants into the 1-2 yr old room or vice versa to accomodate schedules/breaks as well. But regardless they ALWAYS maintain the ratio. The other night when I was picking up my son, the teacher from the 1-2 yr old room was pestering the woman in charge of my kid to come and relieve her. She had to remind her that while mommy was here they still had 4 babies and she couldn't leave. That's how seriously they take it.

[Anonymous]

It's my understanding that ratios can double while children are sleeping -- for children 2 and up. With most infants not being on the same schedule, this does not hold true for those younger than 2 and awake ratios must be maintained.

[Anonymous]

Our daycare had 4 caregivers for a room that legally required 3. (1:4 ratios with 12 babies.) The schedules were staggered for breaks. They also had floaters, and occasionally the director would fill in where needed for short periods. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon, they'd often have two rooms merged until they were fully staffed up, to keep ratios within compliance. I also noticed that it was pretty rare for the room to be full - they generally averaged 9 or 10 babies instead of the enrolled 12.

[Anonymous]

The exception in the code for the "rest" period only applies to children 2 and over. It doesn't apply to infants. The director of the center we recently left told us something similar to what your director told you--that ratios I observed were compliant. After our child was injured a bunch of times I double checked with the state and the state sent someone to inspect the center and found that they were in fact out of ratio.

[Anonymous]

If you haven't observed or experienced any neglect, harm, or unhappiness....what are you complaining about? I think just the fact that they DON'T max out should make you happy. Not many programs will sacrifice profit potential to keep their ratios down like that. I care for children and do exactly that, take less kids to keep everyone happy. I see that as a true sign of concern for the overall well-being and happiness of the children. We are in a home, not a center but we go to the bathroom...get food, and cleaning supplies from the kitchen area.
Even with all the required caregivers in the room if the children are biters, fighters, climbers, throwers etc.stuff is going to happen. If nothing bad is happening-you are very lucky to have a great group of playmates for your child. Nanny-shares have way less accountability than a center and are less reliable-nanny gets sick, car breaks down, other family quits sticking you with more of a bill. If the place was understaffed regularly like only two all day-that would be cause for concern. As is...this sounds nit picky. But hey, rules are rules and the children should be properly supervised. I'm not going to argue with that.

[Anonymous]

OP here---thanks all! We are going to address it with the director. For the last poster, I don't feel this is "nit picky" at all---they are breaking the law! That's like saying "well, he ran that red light, but he didn't hit the kid in the crosswalk, so why complain?" Thus far, all is well---but the ratios and associated laws are there for a reason. I don't think it's reasonable to wait for something bad to happen to call a care provider out on breaking the law. And no, I don't think it is unusual for centers to provide the mandated number of staff for a room---those are minimums, so I would hope that *any* center would staff its rooms accordingly. We'll see how the conversation goes, but I do feel much better going into it knowing that I do in fact understand the ratios and the law. Thanks PPs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you haven't observed or experienced any neglect, harm, or unhappiness....what are you complaining about? I think just the fact that they DON'T max out should make you happy. Not many programs will sacrifice profit potential to keep their ratios down like that. I care for children and do exactly that, take less kids to keep everyone happy. I see that as a true sign of concern for the overall well-being and happiness of the children. We are in a home, not a center but we go to the bathroom...get food, and cleaning supplies from the kitchen area.
Even with all the required caregivers in the room if the children are biters, fighters, climbers, throwers etc.stuff is going to happen. If nothing bad is happening-you are very lucky to have a great group of playmates for your child. Nanny-shares have way less accountability than a center and are less reliable-nanny gets sick, car breaks down, other family quits sticking you with more of a bill. If the place was understaffed regularly like only two all day-that would be cause for concern. As is...this sounds nit picky. But hey, rules are rules and the children should be properly supervised. I'm not going to argue with that.

Not PP but it sounds like she is paying a lot for daycare and she has a right to expect more than no neglect, harm, or unhappiness. I've been in situations with smaller and larger ratios and the big difference is that with smaller ratios your child gets more direct interaction and specialized care. For example, I really love being able to hear about my child's day from someone who actually had enough time to pay attention to my child and notice what he did, what funny things happened what he liked, disliked, what new words/skills he showed, how he is developing, etc. With higher ratios that disappears.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, this was one of the issues that bothered us about our daycare situation 2 years ago. We left for a few reasons, but it ws one of them and the director gave us a similar story and I just doubted her (perhaps the same place.... it is not a downtown federally connected daycare). my biggest fear was--what if there was a sudden emergency and all kids needed to be evacuated? Babies can't walk, so the fewer providers there are the longer it would take to get the kids out safely. Plus, you know, stuff happens. When you try to watch 5 kids at once, the likelihood of missing something (a fall, picking up something that one shouldn't) is higher.

[Anonymous]

The exception in the code for the "rest" period only applies to children 2 and over.

This makes sense to me. For kids 2 and over, I don't really see why they need to keep the full number of teachers there if most of the kids are asleep. But for younger kids, who don't all sleep on the same schedule, it makes sense that they'd always want to keep the ratio.