Blankets After Naptime

[Britt507]

I know there is another thread about storing blankets but I work at a daycare center in Iowa that is DHS licensed and we got told about two months ago that we couldn't keep our kids' blankets on the cots because it contaminates the one on top of it. So we were told to find another way to store them, so we've been using giant Ziploc bags to store them in but as you can imagine, that takes a LOT of time to get the blankets folded and stored away.

Is there any other suggestions on where to put these blankets? Our lockers & cubbies are not in the classroom because there is no room.

[AmyKidsCo]

Does the storage need to be airtight? I know of providers who use pillowcases.

Seriously - contaminate the cot above? Because the children sleep on the bottoms of the cots? And we know they never touch each other while playing...

PS- Were you shown where the licensing rules say that the blankets need to be stored separately?

[Ariana]

Are these blankets carrying hazardous waste? so many rules!

When I worked in a centre we stored the cots upright next to each other and folded the blanket over the top of each individual cot. Would that work?

[Gemma]

Each child here, has his/her own personal blanket stored in their cubby. blankets are washed every Friday

[Britt507]

We had a lady from DHS come and she told us that they were not allowed to stay on the cots because of contamination to the bottom of the cot that was stacked on top of it.

And we don't have enough room to store the cots so that they're standing up. We are based in a school and we don't have a storage space outside of our room for them.

I was just curious to see if there was any other solution. Because as you can imagine, folding 10+ blankets and putting them in a ziploc baggy takes a LOT of time and for 3, 4, and 5 year olds that's too long to wait. I was thinking about drawstring cinch bags that could be hung up in their locker/cubby but I don't know about that because we're supposed to limit the amount of time the kids spend in the hallway.

[racemom]

Can you eliminate blankets all together? That's what our center did when we switched from cots to nap mats. I was worried not having them might affect their sleep, but it has not mad at difference.

[Britt507]

We cannot eliminate blankets because it is cold in the room where we nap. And we don't have room temperature control because we are in a school.

If we tell them to turn it up, they roast us out.

[Cat Herder]

https://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-Clothes-Closet-Wardrobe-Blue/dp/B005KC69WG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489000098&sr=8-1&keywords=portable+closet

Portable closet $20.00.

Hanging boot bags $7.00 ea. (garment or draw string bags would work as well)

https://www.amazon.com/Boot-Bag-Storage-Protector-Organizer/dp/B008VG7XHS/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1489000282&sr=8-17&keywords=boot+storage

[Britt507]

We were looking into drawstring bags but can't seem to find affordable ones that come in multicolors.

[Ariana]

We had a lady from DHS come and she told us that they were not allowed to stay on the cots because of contamination to the bottom of the cot that was stacked on top of it.

And we don't have enough room to store the cots so that they're standing up. We are based in a school and we don't have a storage space outside of our room for them.
.

I am confused. Where are the cots now? You said they are stacked on top of eachother so why can you not just stack them side by side so they are standing upright? To me it takes ip a similar amount of space.

Another idea would be to have each child put their own blanket in their own ziploc after nap time. This eliminates one person doing it all. Place the ziploc with the blanket on each childs cot, they remove the blanket, place ziploc under their cot and then put the blanket back in at wakeup time.

[Cat Herder]

We were looking into drawstring bags but can't seem to find affordable ones that come in multicolors.

Oriental trading company. Hands down.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/party-supplies/costumes-accessories-and-jewelry/tote-bags-and-backpacks/drawstring-bags-a1-551140.fltr?categoryFromSearch=true&rd=drawstring%20bags

[Britt507]

I am confused. Where are the cots now? You said they are stacked on top of eachother so why can you not just stack them side by side so they are standing upright? To me it takes ip a similar amount of space.

Another idea would be to have each child put their own blanket in their own ziploc after nap time. This eliminates one person doing it all. Place the ziploc with the blanket on each childs cot, they remove the blanket, place ziploc under their cot and then put the blanket back in at wakeup time.

They are in a corner behind the door stacked on top of one another. There is too many of them 20+ to be stacked up and down.

DHS says the kids are not to handle the ziploc bags.

[Meeko]

Crazy, isn't it?!! These kids cough all over each other all day. They are head to head while playing with blocks etc. Eating dirt and dust while playing outside...

But heaven forbid their blankets touch!!!!!

We have the same rules here. I keep their blankets in their cubbies. What makes me smile and get irritated at the same time is that even though they say the blankets must not touch....they don't say that I have to take each blanket, one by one, from the playroom to the front where they are put in cubbies. I grab them all in a pile and take the whole dang pile with me in one trip.

OH NO!!!! Blankets touching!!!!!!!

[Ariana]

They are in a corner behind the door stacked on top of one another. There is too many of them 20+ to be stacked up and down.

DHS says the kids are not to handle the ziploc bags.

WTF?! :confused: oh man that is just too much to deal with. So they can handle their own blankets but not the bags they go in? Makes perfect sense. Not! I give up!

[Josiegirl]

Do the cots have sheets on them, and do they need to be stripped and washed every day? If not, aren't the sheets possibly contaminating the other cots too???
These are all over the top rules they expect us to adhere to.
I use the big bags too but I don't bother folding the blankets. I just stuff them in. And have a coat rack up high enough on the wall so the kids cannot reach them.