Early move up?

[k3am]

I just got a call from DC.. DD is turning 2 at the end of the month. Their policy is 2 weeks before they turn 2, they start to "visit" the next room up and out of the infant center. DD's bestie (remember DB?) is about 2 weeks older than her, and today was her first day out of the infant center for visits. 

Anyways, DC wants to know if it's okay if DD starts visiting early, and visits for the entire month of February. I'm assuming this means that one or both of them aren't handling the separation well. (ETA: It's not really an assumption. They said that after today, they think it's a good idea to reunite them.) I'm just not sure if it's something I'm fully on board with. I haven't toured the next room up yet, ratios are changing, what they provide is changing, etc. 

In some ways, I also feel like if I'm paying for infant center rates for February, I want to get the benefits of infant center rates for February. But I don't know if that's just me having a knee jerk reaction. 

Anyone have any thoughts?

[pitta12]

I would be OK with it, but my kids have done well with all their transitions and really loved exploring the next room up. I think it would depend on whether or not you think your DD would be upset or uneasy about the changes.

[mustardseed2007]

How much is the cost difference and how long per day is she going to be visiting? When DS visited, at first it was just an hour and then it gradually increased, so the cost never really occurred to me (honestly I forgot about the cost difference until we had our first month in the new room).

I agree that I would want to look at the room. I feel like whenever the kids change rooms I'm going to be re-evaluating everything I know about that center.

Bottom line on an early transition, I would be on board with it if it meant my kid was happy. Is it just the bestie who is freaking out or is it your daughter also? If my kid was miserable then the cost difference wouldn't matter to me that much.

[2chatter]

Tough call - DS was in a similar boat when his BFF moved up 4-5 months ago. DS will move up after March conferences.
This center is very by the book, so there was no early option, but they brought BFF and still bring BFF back to "visit" during some overlapping playtimes. It was ultimately good for both of them - DS now plays with a few other kids and BFF is doing well and has made new friends. Just a perspective of a side benefit you might not consider, in that not smoothing the way paid off and I never thought about it.

[k3am]

The cost difference between the two is ~$250. In our experience, someone "visiting" is usually explained as a couple hours a day, but in actuality is for most of the day.

I'm pretty sure my only hesitancy is that our friend's son is in the next room up and she is constantly complaining about the room. (But she constantly complains about everything DC related, so I take it with a grain of salt).

If she were just changing rooms in the infant center, I wouldn't think twice about it. DD actually had her last two move ups early because both her and DB were both inconsolable. But moving outside of the infant center has a lot more change.

[sandandsea]

Feb 3, 2015 17:21:16 GMT -5 k3am said:

I just got a call from DC.. DD is turning 2 at the end of the month. Their policy is 2 weeks before they turn 2, they start to "visit" the next room up and out of the infant center. DD's bestie (remember DB?) is about 2 weeks older than her, and today was her first day out of the infant center for visits. 

Anyways, DC wants to know if it's okay if DD starts visiting early, and visits for the entire month of February. I'm assuming this means that one or both of them aren't handling the separation well. (ETA: It's not really an assumption. They said that after today, they think it's a good idea to reunite them.) I'm just not sure if it's something I'm fully on board with. I haven't toured the next room up yet, ratios are changing, what they provide is changing, etc. 

In some ways, I also feel like if I'm paying for infant center rates for February, I want to get the benefits of infant center rates for February. But I don't know if that's just me having a knee jerk reaction. 

Anyone have any thoughts?

DS has always moved up about a month early.  He likes older kids and plays well with them.  When he starts getting bored, he starts acting a little more wild.  Also, the older kids in our centers are "doing" more and have more structure and curriculum and he generally strives with more activity.

[jmski]

I would do it. Can you ask to "move down" the payment scale early too?

[mtnmomma13]

Feb 3, 2015 21:12:20 GMT -5 jmski said:

I would do it. Can you ask to "move down" the payment scale early too?

I like this idea! If you think your dd is ok to move up, ask if you can pay that rate.

[shakinros]

Id do it. My DD has moved up early every time. She just doesn't like being the oldest. (Gets bored, acts out) however , they haven't been big progressions yet. It was all nbd to her.

[litzo27]

They really shouldn't be able to move her for "most of the day". This violates licensing requirements on kids under 2 being in a different ratio room. So I'm iffy about them planning to do that. However, for a couple of hours each day I would probably be ok with that. But I would like to tour the room and get all the details first.

[k3am]

I told them not to have her visit until I've had a chance to tour the room, which won't happen until Thursday afternoon.

Also, apparently the problem isn't DD, it's DB, who teachers in DD's room said they could hear her screaming for most of her time there from across the campus. DB's visits are only about an hour at a time until they've sent her back since it's going so poorly. So chances are, we'll have DD move up on Friday.

As far as ratios, I have to confirm, but I think they go from 1:4 to 1:6.

[sudokufan]

Ours handles this differently-there's a suggested age range, but they also have to meet specific milestones, and the toddler room is actually 1.5 to 2.5 with the same ratio as the infant rooms. That said, we let them move Bud early, and it turned out to be a very good thing for him. When they suggested it initially, he was only 15 months but their reasoning was that 5 of his "posse" were moving up in a one month span and he was going to be left as the oldest of the babies, none of whom were close matches in physical skills. They thought he'd be lonely and bored; we resisted initially but it was clear after a week that they were right. He didn't meet 2 of their stated milestones, so we asked that they hold him back for the rest of the month while we worked on that and then moved him at 16 months. Don't think I'd have moved him for another child's benefit unless I was confident he was ready.

[mustardseed2007]

I would tell them that if they want to do this, she could do the standard visiting for a couple weeks and then move up officially. Not visit for 4 weeks with you paying the old rate.

The more I'm thinking about it, and the more I read above posters, I wonder if they have a ratio problem if they just officially move her up early after the standard 2 week visitation.

[Deleted]

I just went through a transition from infant to early toddler room on Monday. C had some visits there, and she did well. My view is to trust their instincts at the center, if you like the center. I was hesitant for the change, but it turns out C is much happier b/c she is stimulated in different ways all day. I feel that the providers, for the most part, want the kids to be happy (and well behaved as well), so they will try to do what's best. I have to believe this, it's what gets me through the day. I decided at the beginning that I chose the center after touring and shadowing many centers. If they suggest something, I will give it a try (obviously unless it's a blatant disregard for my wishes or a safety issue)... I vote go for it.

[beevol]

Our center does the same thing and we ended up transitioning DD early because she needed to be around older kids developmentally. It worked out really well.

I really trust the teachers at our DC - they see how my kid is there and have seen it all before.

[k3am]

See, I mostly trust the teachers at our DC. But the director isn't the brightest. She mentioned today that both teachers in the current room suggested they wait to move DB until DD was ready to go also, and she didn't and regrets it. When DD put her tooth THROUGH her lip last year, a teacher told her she needed to go to the ER, but she failed to convey that message when I asked if it needed stitches.

I toured the next room up today. I'm fine with them moving her up early, it would happen one way or another and most of her friends that she talks about have already moved up. My bigger concern is that the woman who closes the room (3:30 an on) doesn't seem to speak English well. Our friends have complained about her in the past, that they can't understand what she's saying. We live in a really diverse area, so most of her teachers aren't native English speakers, but I could only understand about 1/5 of what she was saying. We didn't talk too much, so hopefully it's not as bad as it seems. If it gets to be an issue, we'll have to discuss with the director, and see if it's something we're willing to put up with long term.

[2chatter]

I had that afternooncloserESL issue. I found it was the accent - and over time I can totally understand her. Hope it's just a "learning curve"!