Reply to We need to expect better from infant care providers

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[quote=Anonymous]Fellow PG residents - please, let's expect better from our infant care providers in our neighborhoods. I called over a dozen in our area and toured several. Not one had safe cribs, free of suffocation hazards, and not one had a cleared out clean space on the floor for tummy time or crawling. I know in reading this, some of you will think I'm anti-daycare or impossible to please, but that's not true - I loved the in-home provider I used in NOVA when I lived there and I love the preschool I found for my older child here in PG, but what I saw of infant care provided in the gateway is just awful. One in-home provider didn't even try to hide the fact that infants in her home spend the whole day jailed in the pack n play while watching older kids play in her cramped living room - the entire floor was covered in toys and chock hazards and the pack n plays were filled with duplo legos, so I'm not sure how the babies are supposed to sleep on top of that. The one center that was the best of options available, with a spot, had dogs roaming freely throughout the facility and lounging in the kitchen where the older children's lunch is prepared. When I called to report it, the office said that it's not a violation for pets to be on the premise and interacting with the children, although that rule is intended to apply to in-homes rather than an owner bringing her pets to work at a center; and that if this were a restaurant, the dogs in the kitchen would be violation but for centers, it's ill-advised but not a violation of anything. It was, however, a violation not to tell the parents ahead of time that there were pets as part of the facility, so they got dinged on that and the person I made the report to said this was the first she was hearing of it.

If you see dogs shedding on your child's lunch, why in the world would you not report it? Why would my report of the nap nannies in every crib be the first that the licensing office was hearing of this? Please, I know many of us are frustrated with the options available to us and choose to utilize care closer to our work, or hire a nanny, or an au pair because the daycare options out here are limited - this is not going to change so long as we all stay silent and accept that this is the best our neighborhood has to offer. Can we please expect and demand better? When you see horrible things on tour at an in-home or a center, please report it. These places don't get shut down, so don't let guilt hold you back. They just get a mark on their record and a time frame in which to fix it - and that's what should happen! It happens in every other municipality in the area - no daycare in NOVA has a completely clean record, why would places that don't even have a safe place for a baby to sleep have no violations on record? The only way this will change is by having some one tell these providers that it's illegal, which you can try to do yourself and I have - believe me, I have, but obviously it's a more powerful message when coming from the office that issues their license.

Also, I will be writing my state rep asking for review of the licensing standards and why in-homes in MD are allowed higher ratios than in other states; why animals are allowed in kitchen areas of centers and in-homes; and why there isn't an ongoing-training requirement like you have in other states. I encourage you to do the same. In the meantime, I do know of a number of high quality in-home providers who are in high demand, and we have at least one NAEYC accredited center that's not gov-affiliated, which I'll list below. If you have an excellent daycare, center or in-home, please recommend below. Let's give kuddos where it's deserved while also expecting better of our licensing agencies and our regulators. [/quote]

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