Attending Directly After A Flight

[Baby Beluga]

This has not happened to me before and I am unsure how I want to handle it moving forward. Advice?

DCB (2.5) is flying 2 states over with his family for vacation. His return flight lands at 7:30am our time. DCF is taking a shuttle from the airport to their home and are planning on dropping off DCB with me around 9:30am. Mom said because the flight is so early "DCB will probably be tired."

I am not sure how I feel about this.

DCB is going to be very tired and I don't feel like it is fair for him to expect to be here and participating in care while mom, dad and sister are home.

So...how do I handle this? Allow DCB to come and if he is too out of sorts, send home? I do have a policy that states children will be sent home for lethargy, or the inability to participate in the day's activities but I do not have a policy on children getting off a plane and coming directly to my house.

[storybookending]

Are mom dad and sister going to be home for sure? Or are they going back to school/work?

[Baby Beluga]

Are mom dad and sister going to be home for sure? Or are they going back to school/work?

Sister is on spring break the entire week. So she will be home.

Mom is off work on Wednesday (the day he is supposed to attend after his flight.) I am unsure of dad, but I am guessing he is going to be off as well.

[Blackcat31]

"Dear DCP

In order for children to participate in our regular daily activities, it is extremely important for children to be fully rested and emotionally able to participate. After giving it some thought, I think it would be best that DCB spend Wednesday at home so that he can rest and adjust from being on vacation time back to regular daily life. Thank you! We'll see you on Thursday!

~Daycare Provider"

[storybookending]

What BC said then. Just state that you require kids be able to participate fully and a child just back from vacation does not fit that criteria.

[Baby Beluga]

"Dear DCP

In order for children to participate in our regular daily activities, it is extremely important for children to be fully rested and emotionally able to participate. After giving it some thought, I think it would be best that DCB spend Wednesday at home so that he can rest and adjust from being on vacation time back to regular daily life. Thank you! We'll see you on Thursday!

~Daycare Provider"

I like this wording, thank you.

[amberrose3dg]

I like this wording, thank you.

So they are all going to be home and sending him anyways right after a flight.

[boy_mom]

I had a family bring their kids to daycare right after a flight. Both parents went right back to work as well.

Both kids were great sleepers and spent most of the morning catching up on rest, which was ok with me. They were also out of town for a funeral, not vacation, so it wasn't like they had been going crazy off schedule for a week.

If you do take them, I would prep parents ahead of time, saying if DCB can't keep up or is out of sort you'll call for pick up.

[Unregistered]

Cut off time

Drop off cut off time would solve this issue. If he isn't in attendance by 8:30 or 9:00 which ever works better than they forfeit their day.

[Mom2Two]

My eyebrows would definitely be going up on this one. If I was in this position for the first time, I would probably say nothing then send home if it "wasn't working" due to dcb being "not himself" and "too tired to be here."

I find that when I've actually lived an experience a few times and found that it didn't go well, I feel more comfortable telling parents "no" the next time a similar situation comes up. When I've found that it hasn't worked in the past, I'm usually more confident in telling parents right away that their plan is not a good one.

But kudos to you if you are able to say "no" without having tried it a few times. I'm just not very confident without having actually experienced it.

[Baby Beluga]

My eyebrows would definitely be going up on this one. If I was in this position for the first time, I would probably say nothing then send home if it "wasn't working" due to dcb being "not himself" and "too tired to be here."

I find that when I've actually lived an experience a few times and found that it didn't go well, I feel more comfortable telling parents "no" the next time a similar situation comes up. When I've found that it hasn't worked in the past, I'm usually more confident in telling parents right away that their plan is not a good one.

But kudos to you if you are able to say "no" without having tried it a few times. I'm just not very confident without having actually experienced it.

If I knew he would sleep on the plane, not be a cranky, tired mess and be able to participate in our activities I would absolutely be okay with him coming directly after his flight.

Mom keeps saying "DCB will probably be tired...."

I just don't think it's fair for DCM to impose that on a child so young. He is 2.5 for crying out loud. He has a hard enough time managing his emotions on a regular day, let alone adding in saying goodbye to family, traveling and being tired on top of it. Hell, I even need a break after flying because it stresses me out.

What makes this situation worse? DCM has 5 vacation days she can use where DCB can be absent and she doesn't have to pay tuition. She could very well keep him home on Wed and not have to pay for that absence...

[ColorfulSunburst]

1. A child isn't sick
2. Parents pay for service
3. it is not my business what they did all time before bring a child to me.
4. I would appreciate that parents share with me this kind of specific information.
5. I just would let them know that if a child is not able to follow our routine they must come and pick him up.

[DaveA]

I'd be Ok with taking them (minus the severe when not around the parents) but I would let DCPs know that if the child isn't able to participate normally I'd be calling for immediate pickup.

[Mom2Two]

BTW I do totally agree with you about not packing little kids around when it's rough on them. I didn't take DS to Australia til he was nine. But my brother and SIL have hauled toddlers everywhere, including Australia. How do they even make it work? Dope them?

[Baby Beluga]

BTW I do totally agree with you about not packing little kids around when it's rough on them. I didn't take DS to Australia til he was nine. But my brother and SIL have hauled toddlers everywhere, including Australia. How do they even make it work? Dope them?

TBH, I'm not sure. I flew with DD when she was 6 months, but it was a 45 minute flight she had her own seat and sat in her car seat the whole time, so she fell asleep.

DD and I used to take road trips to a neighboring state to visit family and a 7-8 hour drive would take us 11 or so hours because we would stop so frequently. Those stops made our trip enjoyable though and she was a dream to travel with. Those trips were promptly put to a stop when DS was born though. Because of his reflux, he has a hard time being in a car seat. Even a convertible one.

When we traveled I always made sure we had a day upon arriving to our destination and a day upon arriving home to rest and get back on schedule. But that is just me and I am one of those moms who is like "scheduled sleep is the most important thing for little ones" so...yeah

I'm still on the fence on this situation. I just feel like it's a lot to impose on a little one. And the way mom is warning me of DCB's likely tiredness makes me feel like she knows he will be a hot mess and is preparing me for it. Not fair to him. Plus, we all know when littles are tired and run down their immune systems suffer. Exhaustion + being exposed to germs on a plane....I bet DCB is sick within the week.