Little Swans Child Care

My son is autistic and can be resistive/aggressive. He has been with Vanessa for 5-6yrs now. They have always been so good with him. They understand his needs and that he cannot always help the way he feels. They take him for walks, to the store, car rides etc for one on one time for him to calm down. Vanessa is a problem solver, anytime we’ve had problems with our son and his behaviors or really anything she always comes up with a solution when he’s there that always seems effective. There have been multiple instances where we’ve had issues with the schools that Vanessa had noticed and she helped advocate for him. They have a required rest time but my son doesn’t always agree to do so, so they allow him to lay down with his tablet (per our request, that boy loves his tablet) instead of making him nap. It truly is my son’s second home. I trust Vanessa %1000 with my son’s well being. She always has and continues to treat my child like she does her own kids and I will forever be indebted to her because we struggled to find a good daycare for him and we definitely hit the jackpot

I have been taking my daughter to Little Swans since August of 2023. My daughter is special needs and taking her to little Swans has helped her improve so much. She is doing better with signing, listening, and her attitude has just been way better since going there. I have never had an issue with communication. They always tell me how her day went, any issues she had that day, what she ate, what she drank and anything else I ask them. They are always honest and caring with the kids. I would recommend them over and over again!

After what I thought was a great interview, I looked past their overcrowded and messy looking environment. Vanessa was open and friendly with us during the interview. We were excited for our daughter to start at Little Swans. Unfortunately, it turns out Anthony and Vanessa were to become extremely difficult to communicate with about our baby. It was my 6 month olds first time in daycare, and the entire first week when we asked either one about her day, or how her milk supply was doing, we were met with one word answers. Good. And good. Any other attempts to start polite conversation, or discuss the care of my child, were not returned by them. My first text to Vanessa in an attempt to discuss Jade's nap time with her was never returned. I finally sent Vanessa a text simply asking if there was something I had done to upset her, because I sensed tension between us. She finally said no, "No tension, everything is perfect. Jade is adjusting to the program and doing so good." So we continued care with them and they slowly started to talk to us a little bit, and even sometimes told me things about her day. Until one day, she mentioned that they had finally started using the sleep sack I had provided. We had discussed use of the sleep sack during the interview. Vanessa tells me it's been helping with her naps, that usually, she wakes up crying during nap time. I was distressed about both: A. Just now finding this out about her naps and B. That she waited two months to see if the sleep sack would help. I muttered "that's why it's been in her drawer this whole time". I clearly do not have the best relationship management skills, but the passive aggressive behavior my partner and I dealt with from then on was overwhelmingly distressing. During pick up and drop off, we were either met with cold stares by Anthony and/or were entirely ignored by both adults. At first, her bottles were cleaned and they informed us about them in her drawer. Then after the sleep sack scenario, they left them in her drawer dirty and by the time we realized it and washed them, the stench wouldn't come out. After Christmas break, I had brought in bottles again instead of coming in to nurse her because my baby was taking the bottle fine when she was with my mom, just days before. (And I felt extremely uncomfortable around them) Mainly because, it was so painful to just leave my daughter screaming in their pack and play each day. They do not seem to believe that infants need soothing and nurturing. Besides of course through the over used, yet sorely invalidating "you are ok". When I'd try to hand her to them before I'd leave, assuming they'd of course want to comfort an infant, they'd refuse. They just let her cry it out. Same with other babies, they would be just crying by themselves endlessly. They refused to use the sleep sack at all and refused to even give her her stuffy/homemade soothie sleeve. When I went to pick her up, I learned she wouldn't take the bottle from them at all. She wouldn't let them feed her purees either. My grandmother also fed her puree just fine days before that. It's not hard to figure out why she won't let them feed her. We treat our baby with love and respect, and so our baby knows that's what she deserves. What I also observed on nearly a daily basis was Vanessa yelling at the children for being too loud during "dance party", and also consistently sending kids to timeout for non-violent offenses. That is not the conscious type style of discipline she described to us in our interview. During our interview, she claimed they "re-direct" the children's behavior unless its physically aggressive. Not once did I see a redirection of behavior. A lot of yelling, and a lot of shaming the kids for being too loud.
At our new daycare, our daughter eats and drinks plentifully!! Another child's speech therapist recognized her from Little Swans, saying she had never even seen my daughter laugh before!! They had only ever seen her crying, as Vanessa and Anthony left her to "sleep" all day.
I am majoring in Psych and know all too well what this sort of neglect does to babies brains and how it affects them later in life.
I am deeply ashamed of myself for leaving our baby at Little Swans for as long as we did. (4 months)