A-Z Child Care

Our baby was in this provider's care for about 4 months. The provider was a poor communicator. She only ever told us our baby had an "okay" or "good" day when we asked. One day, she did mention our baby cries when she leaves the room, but not in a manner that made me believe it was a major problem. Rather than discussing my child's day, she chose to talk about the other children's shortcomings or annoyances, other parents' personal lives or just made small talk. There was ample opportunity for her to express concern or have a heart-to-heart conversation. Upon termination (which she unprofessionally did via text message under the guise that she wouldn't have time in the afternoon), she did not say anything to us when we picked up that final day. However, she sent us a long letter in which she stated that our baby (9 months old to 1 year old) was awful to be around and makes everyone else around her miserable. She stated we are bad parents, that we make our daughter that way, and need to take parenting classes. I am not under-stating that nor reading between the lines of her letter. It is what she stated. In sum, she needs to work on her communication skills or you may find her to be a better fit if you have an infant (<5 months old) she can train to accommodate the way she prefers to care for them. She told me she likes to put infants in another room at various times throughout the day so they get used to her not being around all the time. That's simply not the kind of care we want our child to have and that's not the care our child could thrive under as exemplified by her separation anxiety, which is also developmentally normal for this age. The provider also mentioned she felt my husband spoke in a condescending tone to her when he made two requests regarding our child's care, so perhaps that animosity was projected toward how she viewed my child. A professional would have stated that it is not working out because our child needs a different kind of care than what she can provide. She could have even told us that she did not like my husband's tone with her. There was no reason to say the cruel things about our daughter that she did in the letter. She would not be a good fit for anyone who does some attachment parenting or is more modern in their parenting style. We have had our daughter evaluated by a professional and she is not high needs nor overly unusual in her behavior for her age, in case you were wondering. Please do talk to her other references though to get a more complete picture as ours is but one experience.