Children can be a handful, especially when they turn about eight to nine-months-old. That’s when the toddler days begin and your child is recognising you and the things around him.
It’s also the reason why some kids (and parents too) have separation anxiety when they start attending a daycare away from the mum or dad from this age onwards. During this time, the child may cry a lot, refuse or throw food, have social anxiety in the new surroundings or may just generally find it difficult to adjust to the new space.
It’s pretty common and daycare centres prepare themselves to handle such situations. It takes some time but children do adjust to the new space eventually.
However, not all daycare centres may be the most patient when it comes to cooperating with a baby as we found out from one Reddit mum.
In a bizarre incident, the management decided to have a 13-month-old child kicked out of daycare because he refused to eat food.
We’d understand if the issue was the daycare centre literally shutting down, but this is just weird.
What Happened…
The Reddit user who goes by the name ‘conservio’ shared the incident.
She wrote, “He’s 13 months and has been at this daycare for a month. Apparently, he just throws the food on the floor and won’t take a bottle. I’m glad I live in a city where I have a lot of options but damn is this frustrating.”
The user later updated the post saying, “Edit: my SO (Significant Other) talked to them and they talked that he wants to be held or sit by the caretaker.”
This does not take away from the fact that refusing food was a reason to get a child kicked out of daycare.
The move did not go down with other Reddit users either. The post got a 93 percent upvote on the community website and a number of comments from parents and different daycare centre employees.
It’s interesting to note that that the views were polarising on this one.
What Other Parents Has To Say
One mum wrote, “If daycares kicked out kids for throwing food/not eating/not taking bottles there wouldn’t be any kids in daycare. It sounds like your daycare isn’t being honest with you."
A daycare teacher sided with the concerned mum and wrote, “This sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. I am a daycare teacher. We have kids and babies that refuse to eat. I request that the parents send in their own food from home to see if they will eat that instead of the school food. Usually, this works. However, I still have a child in my class that won’t eat anything besides Cheetos while she’s here. This is definitely not a reason to kick a child out of daycare."
The mum who shared her concern wrote responded to this by saying, “I can try them but I have a feeling the daycare might not want to watch him. When we initially contacted them they gave me vibes that made it seem like they didn’t.”
One user commented, “This sounds ridiculous... A 13 months old wanting a caretaker sitting with him, or holding him is not absurd, or too much. It's a shame you had to deal with this. I hope you find a better place for him!”
Parents Reason Why The Child Was Kicked Out Of Daycare!
A user wrote, “It could just be that he’s throwing food/wanting the caregivers to be by him because he’s used to having family eat by him or be right there/easily assessable. And the throwing of food/demanding of the caregiver could be him trying to express that. If the daycare hasn’t brought this up before until now where they’re saying “he has to go” then I’d say f*ck it and find a new daycare."
One user suggested moving the child to an in-home daycare.
Siding with the daycare on this, she wrote, “If he’s been doing it for a month with no changes, and it’s disrupting the day, most places would do the same. I’m assuming it’s more to do with him throwing the food and then probably being grumpy and hungry all day.
Daycares watch more than one child. And if one of the children causes the entire day to be difficult then something needs to be done, especially if it’s been going on for a month. If he does it at a new place, you might want to look into in-home daycare where he’s the only child or one of the two-three kids so he can have more attention to get him to eat and not throw things.”
Daycares are also responsible for the child’s overall wellbeing. If the child isn’t eating, his health may deteriorate.
Explaining this, a daycare employee and a user wrote, “Daycares can't have kids that won't eat or drink. It's not healthy for the kid. I've worked in childcare centres for 10+ years. We've had to ask multiple families to remove their kid from our centres, bc they were starving themselves. Sorry, that happened though. It's a pain to find quality care.”
The Child Is Healthy and Meeting Milestones, Mum Says
The mum also elaborated that the child is healthy and in the 97 percentile for weight and 70 percent for height. She also explained that the baby eats fine at home when fed by the mother or grandmother.
She also wrote that she thinks the daycare centre is offering this explanation as an excuse without revealing the actual reason.
Nevertheless, the mum also explained that there were abundant daycare centres where she lived, so finding an alternative wasn't a problem.
5 Things To Look Out For In A Daycare Centre
Before you sign-up, here are some of the things you need to look out for in a daycare.
1. Daycare centre meets ECDA guidelines
All daycare centres in Singapore need to follow the guidelines laid out by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA).
This includes rules and regulations around premises, legal approvals, meals, types of courses, safety and sanitary requirements and more.
2. Infrastructure of the daycare
You also need to factor in the infrastructure of the daycare. This includes the layout of the centre and distribution of space for activities and naps, access to toys and books and safety of the children.
3. Staff to student ratio
Before signing up, do ask about the staff to student ratio. This ensures that your child is getting enough attention and care from the staff.
The ECDA guidelines state the staff-to-child ratio should be 1:5 for the age group between two and 18 months. This ratio goes up to 1:25 for children between five and seven years.
4. Staff qualification
Is the staff qualified to handle your child? Make sure you ask about this and even the ECDA mandates the same. The qualification requirements are around age, personality, work experience and knowledge.
It will also help to check how long the staff has been working at the centre. A low attrition rate speaks is a good sign for the centre.
5. Activities and meals
Make sure to ask about the timetable and all the activities that will be done during the day. Your child will now spend more time at the daycare and a healthy programme schedule will contribute to his physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. You should also ask about the meals provided at the centre, which need to be organic, healthy and not repetitive.
Having your child kicked out of daycare must be a harrowing experience for the parents, and we do hope they find a place that's a lot more accepting in comparison.
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