This is a throwaway since there are specific details that are recognizable.My daughter is 8 months old and has been in daycare since 4 months old. We toured a lot of centers and the one we chose came highly recommended and I know a lot of co-workers and friends who used them and were happy. My LO goes part time and has adjusted really well to it.Recently she moved into the next room for older infants and we've had some issues. Most of them have been minor things but yesterday we had a day from hell and now I'm re-assessing everything.I picked my LO up early yesterday at an odd time - 1:30pm versus the usual 4pm. I've never done that before and just wanted to pop in unexpectedly to make sure everything was going well. Well, when I picked her up she was kind of quarantined away from all of the other babies who were playing on the mat and she was stuck in a corner by herself. One of the lead teachers was on the floor with the other kids and didn't seem fazed that I was there to pick up my LO, but one of the floater teachers covering a lunch break was visibly flustered. Before I even said anything she said, "Oh, I just put your LO over there because she really prefers to play by herself."First of all, that's not true - my LO is social like most babies and loves playing with others. I see it all the time at playgroups and whatnot. Secondly, it was odd she even offered up the reason why she put my LO over there because otherwise I would have assumed she crawled over there on her own or something. But no, it was clear that she was put over there away from the rest of the group on purpose for some reason and the teacher was very eager to try to justify why.So anyway, I went to pick her up and the stench hit me before I even got to her. She was COVERED in vomit juice. It wasn't her own, I don't think - her shirt was clean and didn't smell but her socks and the butt of her pants were soaked in it, and she had somehow gotten it on her face and in her hair (I think she rubbed her hands on her face and head after crawling through it or something). I said, "What's that smell?" and the floater teacher quickly said, "Oh I just changed her diaper, it's not her, she's good to go!" in a really fake sing-songy voice and then tried to rush me out. The whole thing felt really, really off - I can't really describe it but I realized then that this floater teacher KNEW that my daughter was covered in vomit and stuck her over in this corner away from other babies instead of cleaning her up. According to the log the floater teacher had changed her diaper 10 minutes before I got there (which is probably true because her diaper was clean), so I think what happened is that she realized at that time that my LO had somehow crawled through nasty shit and gotten it everywhere. Instead of cleaning her up though she just stuck her in this kitchenette thing in the corner away from everyone, probably with the mindset that she's just covering a lunch break and the lead teacher could deal with the clean up when she got back. I tried to give the floater teacher the benefit of the doubt - like maybe my LO crawled through the nasty shit right before I got there and neither teacher knew? - but there were comments made by the floater teacher that just didn't fit with that, like the fact that she quickly said unprompted that she put my LO over there because "she likes to play alone", and she seemed really anxious and tried to rush me out when I mentioned the smell. I think she didn't want me to mention the smell to the other teacher because she would have pieced it together that the floater just changed my LO's diaper, knew she was covered head to toe in vomit, and intentionally put her in a corner for someone else to deal with later instead of cleaning her up.The problem is that when I walked in, both teachers (the floater who stuck my LO over in the corner and the other regular teacher) were just chilling on the floor. I don't mind that, but they were NOT busy - no baby was crying, the room was quiet, they were very clearly not busy and they were having some downtime. In addition to being covered in vomit, there was the following:-My LO hadn't had lunch yet and it was 1:30pm. Usually lunch is at 12pm. I get that some days you fall behind because it's so crazy, but they weren't busy at all when I went in and yet my LO kept doing her little fuss cry she does when really hungry.-My LO was exhausted and kept tripping and falling down while she played totally alone on some kitchenette thing. I mentioned that she looked tired and the floater said, "Yeah, she only took a cat nap today and didn't take a real nap. She's exhausted." Okay if that's true then why aren't you fucking feeding her and putting her to sleep??? Why is she stuck in a corner covered in vomit clothes, rubbing her eyes and babbling deliriously from exhaustion as she occasionally cries for food?-She was wearing someone else's diaper in a size too small. Not a big deal on a normal day but it just added to the whole WTFness going on.-When my LO turned around and saw me, her entire face crumbled and she let out the saddest wail as she scrambled towards me. That has never happened before - usually she grins at me and will come see me, but also keeps playing or acting normal. This time she acted like I was rescuing her and I could tell by her swollen eyes and red face that she was very unhappy.I was shaking I was so angry and I just grabbed her and left. I wish I would have taken her straight to the director's office but instead I cleaned her up myself in the car with baby wipes, changed her clothes, fed her lunch, soothed her, and then took deep breaths and went and talked to the director. I had to fight to maintain my composure and stay borderline cordial and polite, and I'm sure I'm on their list of crazy parents now lol. She was apologetic but also seemed to doubt that my LO was covered in vomit at all - I should have volunteered to go get her bag of soiled clothes but it didn't occur to me. She said she'll talk to the teachers but I could tell she kind of thinks I'm just overreacting and reading too much into it. (Sidenote: my husband is the most laidback guy in the entire world and when he got home and smelled the vomit-soaked clothes our LO was sitting in, he was so angry and wanted to pull LO out of daycare altogether. That's when I knew for sure that this was a huge fucking deal because my husband lets sooo many things go and never overreacts.)Anyway ... today I took her back and will be picking her up at an odd hour again. The assistant director was in there this morning to "help" and I am positive it's because of my rant yesterday about how they're not paying enough attention. I don't really know what else to do because this is probably one of the best daycares in this area, and yet I've lost a lot of confidence in them. So much so that I'm considering staying home with my LO even though I love my job and am not happy being a full-time SAHM. Is this just something that is normal with daycare? Are other parents dealing with this too? Or maybe they just never know about it because they pick up at 5pm?Please let me know how you would react and handle this. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2BuDvva
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