Late Arrival Expecting to be Fed

[Guest]

I'm pretty sure I know what most of you will say but in case there's some other advice I haven't thought of, I'll go ahead and ask. What do you do when a child continuously arrives late to your home an hour or more past breakfast and complaining? In the past I have allowed a granola bar but then she wants another one, and then another one, and then another one. This particular child has a bottomless stomach. I also have problems with wanting a third helping sometimes a fourth helping at lunch. Not only that but when the other children see them with a granola bar then everybody else wants one which then obviously throws off meal times. Today I didn't allow it. I told her I'm sorry it's been an hour past breakfast. She said she didn't eat breakfast wasn't served. The mother is a good mom she just runs late a lot and I guess doesn't let dcg, Age 5, have something to eat for whatever reason. What would you do?

[Guest]

Not complaining so much just saying that they're hungry claiming they didn't eat anything

[Alwaysgreener]

Say ... Thank you for letting me know, snack in a little bit and you can eat then.

Depending on the situation I might give that child a little extra at snack as long as it wasn't noticable.

[Guest]

We have began (with it being summer) serving breakfast at 7:45-8am and they seem to eat here at our center and so far it's worked out well

[e.j.]

I'd speak with the parent to let her know this has become a problem for you. I'd let her know that she needs to feed her child before dropping her off at daycare. It's not fair to the child who is hungry, and it can be very disruptive for you and the other kids in your care. Hopefully she won't need to be reminded over and over again.

[girlmomma]

Like e.j. mentioned - talk to the parent about feeding her prior to arrival.

I do things differently. I serve breakfast to children as they come in. So my 7:45 DCK chooses what they want to eat (whole grain cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, muffins, etc.) and I serve it with a fruit that I choose. My 8:00 and 8:30 kids get the same options. They will eat and then go do free play. I have contracted hours so if a parent is 15 mins late without a heads up, the child is marked absent for the day. My meal cut off is 9:00. My last DCK arrives at 9:30. Snack is served at 10:15, lunch at 12:30 with an afternoon snack at 3:30.

[Alwaysgreener]

I serve similarly to girlmomma which is why I would just tell the child to wait. (see my post above).

[Blackcat31]

Exactly what E.J. posted, I’d clue mom in on what’s happening and tell her she MUST feed her prior to drop off as her (mom’s) lateness is causing issues for others. Most times if you just let a parent know how their actions affect others their perspective and behavior pattens change.