I am an infant teacher at a local daycare and I am having issues at work. I LOVE what I do...for the first time ever, I have a job that makes me feel like I am doing something meaningful. However, we have a new director and while she is a sweetheart she doesn't stand up to corporate for her staff the way our fomer director did. (BTW, former director was not fired...they switched all the directors around with 6 hours of notice and NO explanation as to why) The Powers That Be have come down had on the new director about taking care of the maximum number of kids with the minimal amount of staff. The center I work at has 1 infant-only room (mine - 6wk to 15mo) and 2 rooms licensed as infant-toddler rooms (usually for 15 - 24mo, and 2yr to 2.9yr but technically allowed to have 6wk to 2.9yr) and I have 3 infants, ranging from 8 months to a special needs child who is 16mo (she can say with me until 18mo, per mom request).
I used to be in my room, all day every day, which allowed me to keep to he individualized feeding/napping schedules supplied by parents...this is a company policy stated clearly for the parents that infants will be allowed unique scheduling to suit their individual needs. However, since the new diector started my babies and I have been comined with the older toddlers and I am now dealing with VERY unhappy parents. The babes don't get their naps when needed because the toddlers have a rigid schedule of outside time, snacks, naps, etc. If the toddlers are outside, I have to bring the babies outside anytime I am in their room n order to maintain the teacher-child ratio that the MA EEC law regulates. My babies get trampled, hit, tripped over, lose out on much needed naptime...you name it. Today one of my babies hit his head on a table (NO tables in my room) and has a 3/4in gash in his eyebrow...his mom's facebook states:
"So what do you say when you pick up your one year old from daycare and he has a HUGE gash above his eye and it's 6 hours later and it is still bleeding??? Love his teache...HATE the school now..."
Talked to Dad immediately after the incident and Mom assures me she doesn't blame me but they are both REALLY upset about the situation because their son was enrolled in the Infant Only room but has only been in ther one day in the past 4 weeks. I hate being put in with the toddlers an adamently argued my feelings on the (un)safety of such rooms but was told that my license states I am an Infant-Toddler teacher (true, no such certification for JUST infants) and that the rooms are "developmentally appropriate" for children ranging from 6weeks to 2.9years....how on earth would want their newborn in with an almost 3 year old? How is that safe???
UGH
