Daycare and oversight of 10-15 toddlers: what level of service to expect

We owned and ran a day care for similarly aged children [2-year-olds]. You should expect that the day care providers understand that kids will put anything that can fit in their mouth and that the people you pay to keep care of your children understand this and keep them safe from such an obvious threat. This is completely unacceptable. "Can a daycare really be expected to keep all possibly hazardous things out of the mouths of babes?" Yes. It's what they do for a living. Put the small things in a container and place it above reach. It's quite easy to prevent choking or poison or electrical hazards.

I mean... does this suck? Of course. But how in the world could they be expected to keep all hazardous things away from toddlers? One of many very plausible scenarios is that some other kid at the daycare had an older sibling at home doing some art project and was using some staples and glue, dropped a few, and they got stuck to that toddler's pant leg without that kid's parents noticing. Later, at daycare, they'd fallen off. Even later -- maybe 20 seconds before you showed up -- your kid found them and popped them into his mouth. Absent 100% attention on your toddler -- which you do not get either at daycare or anywhere else -- even under your care -- or constant sweeping of the floor for debris -- which is obviously unreasonable, you just have to see if you believe they're doing the best they can in the circumstances. It sounds to me like they were appropriately concerned -- your child was obviously in no immediate danger so there was no reason for the supervisor to have immediate alarm, and had obviously both looked into it with the teacher and developed a plan to address the immediate issue by the time you called them back not too much later, which seems good and responsive. It's a scary age, because kids put anything in their mouths, and you know that, and neither you nor anyone else can keep everything away from them. But if the daycare seems generally great, I think they responded to this issue well, and I wouldn't leave over this if you're happy about them in general.

I used to work at a place that was part of an organization that provided more daycare than any single entity in the United States. They were of a mind that if the staff could not get every child in the room out at one time that they were understaffed. (So, depending on how mobile some kids were the number could fluctuate). Usually that turned out to be about one adult for every 4 kids. Think about it, if the building catches fire do you really want to decide who you are coming BACK for? I realize that not all organizations can aspire to that level of attention, but like Zizzle I would not entertain the idea of more than 9 toddlers with two adults, and to me that is cutting it mighty thin.

Staples should not be accessible to the toddlers, period. This is a serious error. However, they seem to have reassured you that it was a momentary lapse and that steps have been taken (vacuuming) to prevent a recurrence. That's good. No need to find another daycare provider. I don't like to second-guess experts, but I would want another opinion on whether the "... kid should pass the staples without a problem." Staples have pointy tips that can get stuck on any soft surface.

I certainly understand the fear of swapping the known for the unknown, and of course toddlers put things in their mouths, but staples and no explanation? I understand that sometimes childcare space is used for other activities. I understand that sometimes the ratio isn't what one might wish. I worry that as these individually understandable situations collide, the less safe the daycare becomes. I don't think toddlers should live in bubbles, but I do think they should be watched more closely in areas not dedicated to toddler care. Every toddler's parent has retrieved things from their kid's mouth. Because that is the correct response. To notice and to help. (Prevention seems more appropriate for daycare situations if noticing is too difficult). Of course the supervisor was concerned (the doctor's response could have been very different). She should be shaking in her boots, as I see it. If you don't get an unsolicited and sincere apology from her and/or the teacher (separate from the initial discussion of the incident) I'd take that as her being more concerned about liability than about your comfort and your child's safety. If it's only a concern when you're calling them, they're not taking it seriously enough. Ultimately I agree with hush that you have to go with your gut, but to answer your question, yes, a daycare can be expected to keep children safe. I'm sorry; this sounds stressful. Hope your little guy stays well... and curious.

I work with 3-6 year olds, and a few younger kids, in an afterschool program. My immediate questions are: - Were they 10 individual staples, or were they still attached, like they are in the packaging? It's possible that a teacher was reloading a stapler and missed that 10 fell to the floor. Not an excuse, but an explanation. - Is the flooring in that room carpet or hardwood/linoleum? Staples can be a bitch to vacuum out of carpet. Actually, were they standard paper staples, or another kind? Maybe something in the room is falling apart/being picked at? - Do other classes of older children use that room during the day? That could explain individual staples. Staples with glue on them sound like they came off a craft project, and December will typically have eleventy-billion craft projects of all sorts. - Was the teacher/student ratio appropriate for the number of children and the age of the children? - Is flt jr. in the habit of chewing on non-food items in school/home or was this a one-off incident? - Were children having snack at the time, and could it have been reasonable for a teacher to assume he was chewing on snack, as you assumed? The key to me is that he was chewing on them when you picked him up. Since there was no blood, that says to me that he started chewing on them right before you picked him up, and it's possible there was not a reasonable amount of time for teachers to notice that he was chewing on something inappropriate. If he was chewing, he would have likely been sitting quietly, and therefore less likely to draw a teacher's attention. I know that my attention is more likely to be drawn to the crying/screaming/smelly/hitting kid than one sitting calmly. The response of the daycare seems reasonable to me, and you have otherwise been happy with them. In my opinion, it doesn't sound like you need to switch providers.

Former childcare worker and current parent here. In my opinion, yes that is not good. Staples should not be in the toddler room at all pretty much, or at least totally inaccessible. So my questions are: how did the staples get there? Are there other unsafe items in the room? How long had the staples been accessible by toddlers? Did any other toddlers find them? etc. etc. Basically you need to determine if this was just terrible bad luck, followed by good luck in that your kid seems okay, or Accident Waiting To Happen territory. Also, I am in Australia, but those ratios are way out of wack here as mentioned above. I dunno how much you are paying for your childcare, but this would fall firmly into Not Cool category for me, as a former carer, AND a parent.

The idea of 10-15 toddlers in a single room is what would send me running for the hills, never mind anything else. My acceptable ratio is one teacher to 5 toddlers, or 2 teachers to 8-9 toddlers. I'd be looking at a new daycare the minute the toddler numbers get to ten with two teachers......

In my short experience with daycare, I think the employees have a way of downplaying these situations to parents, in order to keep the parents from freaking out (or freaking out further than they already are). But if they are a reputable daycare, I'm sure they were pretty upset by it too. How is the daycare overall? Are the teachers generally upbeat? Do they engage your kid? Does your kid seem like he's getting enough stimulation, and enough attention? Those are the measures of a daycare. Yes, this situation is unacceptable, and if I were you I'd be looking hard at the room tomorrow to see that the staples had already been moved/contained. I'd expect the teacher to address me directly and explain what happened, even though they know I've already talked to the director. I think you can allow one such accident-type situation, as long as you see immediate correction (and that's not one per kid; that's one incident period, whether it's your kid or another kid). A second incident and I would pull my kid out immediately, no more chances.