WWYD about special diapers?

[mickeyboat]

As a parent of a child on a somewhat restricted diet, I would NEVER expect anyone else to provide an alternate meal or treat for my child. It would be a wonderfully nice gesture, but I wouldn't expect it!

I cannot imagine expecting a daycare to pay for diapers other than the standard ones provided as a courtesy. Whatever happened to being responsible for one's child, first and foremost?

As I said, if she said I provide X diapers as a courtesy and if you don't like X, you are free to provide your own, I would have no problem. But she switches all the time, and it would not put the day care person out any expense or time to save a few of the non-pampers diapers - only a little space in her diaper storage area.

This is a day care provider who has been contracted to care for a child on a long term basis, not an occasional provider. Over the long haul, this person will get to know the child's likes, dislikes, personality, and unfortunately allergies. And if she wants happy children and happy parents, she will cater to those needs and desires, as long as it does not interfere with her schedule/budget, etc. No day care provider I know would require a parent to supply all meals because of a minor allergy. Now if the child was allergic to all dairy or wheat gluetin and required a very specialized diet, absolutely the parent should provide suitable foods. But for an occasional issue, I think most day care people would adapt.

 

[DisneyPhD]

As a parent of a child on a somewhat restricted diet, I would NEVER expect anyone else to provide an alternate meal or treat for my child. It would be a wonderfully nice gesture, but I wouldn't expect it!

Me too.

When my oldest went to day care (just part time) and I noticed she was getting rash often I looked at the wipes at the center (home based) and noticed they were the cost co kind. We stopped using them at home on bums because it caused a rash. I sent a package of the kind we used with her (and we sent our own diapers and lunch.)

My 2nd child is (was) allergic to milk. I did not expect any center to accommodate her besides not given her food she couldn't have. I would offer special treats in case everyone was having something, and DD couldn't eat it.

When I worked at a preschool, and kids were allergic to foods, we were only expect not to give it to them and be careful what they eat. Not provide special foods. For example. If the hot dogs had dairy in them, don't give it to the dairy allergic child. If the mom wanted them to have hot dogs with the class she sent some along. That is also what I would do as a parent.

 

[Disney Doll]

If I had a child in daycare who needed any sort of special equipment/supplies, I would consider it my responsibility to provide it.

 

[boysmom5150]

My kids are allergic to many many things (food/fabrics ect..). I would NEVER expect anyone to go out of their way to provide for him. I provide anything/everything for him wherever he goes. He has never been in daycare. When he was in preschool last year I bought snack for the entire class everyday as not put others out finding snacks that were safe for him to be around(he is contact allergic).
IMO it is the parents respons to provide for their child.

 

[mickeyboat]

I guess the difference as far as I am concerned, is that I don't think it is putting the day care out in this situation to provide different diapers for this child.

If the day care won a contest and was supplied with Pampers for life, I would definitely think differently because it would have to really go out of its way to provide something different for this child - same with a difficult food allergy or specialty equipment.

But here, it isn't a big deal. They are going to have to put a different diaper on this child anyway - whether they have the parent provide it, or it has been saved out from the box they used last week. No added expense, no added trouble - just a little extra planning, and probably no more planning than having to remember to tell the mother to bring in dipaers every time they are going to use Pampers.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I guess the difference as far as I am concerned, is that I don't think it is putting the day care out in this situation to provide different diapers for this child.

If the day care won a contest and was supplied with Pampers for life, I would definitely think differently because it would have to really go out of its way to provide something different for this child - same with a difficult food allergy or specialty equipment.

But here, it isn't a big deal. They are going to have to put a different diaper on this child anyway - whether they have the parent provide it, or it has been saved out from the box they used last week. No added expense, no added trouble - just a little extra planning, and probably no more planning than having to remember to tell the mother to bring in dipaers every time they are going to use Pampers.

My only thought was that if other families found out that one particular family was able to request different brands of diapers, then all of them potentially could start requesting different brands for various reasons. Next thing you know, diapering in general gets a lot more complicated. Not saying that would necessarily happen, but that it opens up the possibility.

Then again, we've only gone to one preschool and they didn't provide diapers or wipes, we provided them for our boys.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I cannot imagine expecting a daycare to pay for diapers other than the standard ones provided as a courtesy. Whatever happened to being responsible for one's child, first and foremost?

well - diaper providing in daycare is done and has been done for years.

My middle son went to one place, and it was a national chain, where the parents had a choice of using a Cloth Diaper service ... for an added fee, Daycare provided disposables, for an added fee, or providing their own diapers ... in which case the weekly fee was LESS than what the parents who chose the Diaper options paid.

It had nothing at all with whether or not "parents not being responsible for their children first and foremost" It was simply a service you could pay for, the same way you could sign your child up for Kindermusic or Tumblebears.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

As a parent of a child on a somewhat restricted diet, I would NEVER expect anyone else to provide an alternate meal or treat for my child. It would be a wonderfully nice gesture, but I wouldn't expect it!

I cannot imagine expecting a daycare to pay for diapers other than the standard ones provided as a courtesy. Whatever happened to being responsible for one's child, first and foremost?

 

[disykat]

If you are supposed to provide diapers, I think having a second choice on hand makes the most sense. If that is not satisfactory, then you can work out a "provide your own diapers" cost. Of course you don't want to get into everyone wanting the best diapers and different brands, but keeping generic on hand to use when someone is allergic to Pampers is not a big deal IMO.

This is not comparable to a minor food allergy where the child may not get one part of one meal, this is comparable to if the parent had to provide all food. In that case, as the parent, I would easily do so, but expect to pay a slightly lower cost.

I have to add, I'M allergic to pampers. I don't know if they bothered my kids or not because I couldn't have them in my house! I can tell if a baby is wearing pampers from about 3 feet away. I've never had trouble with any other brands. If I had kids in a daycare that only used Pampers, I'd be finding another daycare.

 

[DisneyPhD]

This thread has gotten me thinking. When my oldest started day care it was an in home place. She has some government program that provided formula though. My DD was breast milk only. I provided it () Anyway there was no discounted price for breast feed babies, or ones that used a different brand of formula.

I guess it might come down to how many kids you have. Providing special can open a whole can of worms. Then again if you have 5 kids total, just getting a package of generic wouldn't be so hard. I know the larger center I worked for provided there own. Mostly because it was easier to have them all in one place instead of running to grab diapers for each kid.

 

[Nanu57v]

So do I understand it's something you provide for all the babies in your care? Was it part of the agreement, that you would provide the diapers and that is worked into your charges? Next month, if Huggies are on sale again, then you'll switch to that? If you provided Huggies or Luv's to this baby, why would any other parent have to know? I'm just curious.

Yes, we provide diapers and wipes for all infants and one-year-olds. I tell the parents we will switch between Huggies, Luvs and Pampers, dependant on coupons and sales. I'm just saying for the center, it wouldn't be fair for me to spend $5 a week on all the other children and $8 a week on this kid.

 

[Nanu57v]

Wow, I've never heard of daycare providing diapers. If my dd had a problem with what was provided, I'd bring our own from home.

I started it to provide an "edge" over the other centers. Kids got through about one pack of diapers a week, so for a parent that costs between $10 and $12 a week if they don't shop sales. For me, buying in bulk with coupons/sales, I do it for about $3-$4 a week per child. Plus, we don't have to worry about that parent who never has enough diapers for their child.

 

[Nanu57v]

I would agree with you if the contract said "I will provide Pampers." But it says "I will provide diapers." If the sitter switches off and on depending on what is on sale that week, I guess I don't see what inconvenience it would be to the sitter to stick a few in the closet that are not pampers for the times when Pampers are on sale.

We only go shopping once a month, which is the problem, and I when I discovered Pampers were the cheapest, I gathered all the Luvs in the center for this one child. We just ran out, and we don't get another Walmart check until July. I can do interim shopping at the local grocery store, but its much more expensive than walmart.

 

[Nanu57v]

I am curious about cloth diapers...would you use those for a child in your care? A lot of my friends cloth diaper and said they had trouble finding daycare where they could use the cloth, even if there was a medical reason for it. Just wondering. We used cloth diapers as well but never used daycare so I wasn't sure how prevalent that is.

Per state law, we are not aloud to discriminate against a parent who chooses to cloth diaper. However, all we need to do is take the soiled diaper (poop and everything) and put it in a bag to send home. We do not need to rinse it out or anything. Fortunately, any of our parents who choose to cloth diaper do so part-time at home.

 

[Nanu57v]

But here, it isn't a big deal. They are going to have to put a different diaper on this child anyway - whether they have the parent provide it, or it has been saved out from the box they used last week. No added expense, no added trouble - just a little extra planning, and probably no more planning than having to remember to tell the mother to bring in dipaers every time they are going to use Pampers.

It is an added expense...that's the problem. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have asked. I just felt like it wasn't in the best interests of ALL the families to have to spend more on this one child.

 

[Nanu57v]

If you are supposed to provide diapers, I think having a second choice on hand makes the most sense. If that is not satisfactory, then you can work out a "provide your own diapers" cost. Of course you don't want to get into everyone wanting the best diapers and different brands, but keeping generic on hand to use when someone is allergic to Pampers is not a big deal IMO.

This is not comparable to a minor food allergy where the child may not get one part of one meal, this is comparable to if the parent had to provide all food. In that case, as the parent, I would easily do so, but expect to pay a slightly lower cost.

I have to add, I'M allergic to pampers. I don't know if they bothered my kids or not because I couldn't have them in my house! I can tell if a baby is wearing pampers from about 3 feet away. I've never had trouble with any other brands. If I had kids in a daycare that only used Pampers, I'd be finding another daycare.

Per state law, we must charge each parent the same rate based on child's age, or face removal from the state subsidy system.

 

[Beth76]

I used to work in a Montessori school in the infant room. We provided generic wipes (each parent had to supply thier own diapers). If they didn't like the wipes they were free to bring in their own. We kept them in a special place with their name clearly labled. You can not be taking special requests for something like this. You will end up buying 10 different kinds a diapers. You are providing a service. The parents either use it or they don't.

 

[Nanu57v]

This thread has gotten me thinking. When my oldest started day care it was an in home place. She has some government program that provided formula though. My DD was breast milk only. I provided it () Anyway there was no discounted price for breast feed babies, or ones that used a different brand of formula.

I guess it might come down to how many kids you have. Providing special can open a whole can of worms. Then again if you have 5 kids total, just getting a package of generic wouldn't be so hard. I know the larger center I worked for provided there own. Mostly because it was easier to have them all in one place instead of running to grab diapers for each kid.

Actually, that's where my line of thinking was from. When I applied for the USDA food program we were told we had to choose one type of formula (say for example, Similac with Iron), and provide ONLY that type of formula. If a child was on another formula (say Enfimil) they would have to provide it themselves, but amazingly, we would still get the USDA food subsidy for that child since we took the time to feed the child the parent-provided formula.

We have 60 children.

 

[KariC]

Well, based on your replies, I would think that you would need to supply another brand for this child. If it's in the contract that you provide the diapers and the wipes until they're one, and you knew ahead of time that he had an allergy to Pampers...then you should go ahead and either buy a pack of Huggies or Luvs for the child, or discount the parents' bill for the weeks that they will need to provide diapers.

And, I am not getting your numbers. You said why should you pay an extra $8/week for this one child instead of $5/week on everyone else. Then you said the cost to your center is $3-4/week per child. And, yes, the grocery store IS more costly than any other place to get diapers. But, can't you go to WallyWorld or Target before July? If someone at the center is going for their own family needs, can't they pick up a package (or two) for this little punkin and be reimbursed by the center?

If you want to keep this little one (and have his parents be satisfied with your service and give you good "word of mouth" advertising), provide the diapers the sensitive fanny needs. Or give them a discount for each week they provide their own diapers based on the cost of Huggies at Walmart. Using the $3 difference you mentioned first, you really only have about one more week of June....it'll only cost you $3-6 dollars more than what you're spending on the other children. Then, just try to stock the other brand better for the next time you purchase Pampers.

If you don't need this child as a client, don't provide what he needs according to your contract. It's a business decision.

 

[Nanu57v]

Thanks everyone for the responses. To get through today (I was a little pissed when the teacher told me "we have no more diapers for XX" instead of "we only have five more diapers for XX" so I had time to do something, we swapped one of the older kids diapers with mom's permission with the pampers (he had luvs). Then Monday I'll go to the grocery store and get their generics, unless they have a sale that makes the diapers less than .18 each.