Advice from you lovely ladies please

[puppie]

My DS (14 months) has been going to Childminder for 2 months now. She is lovely lady, has assistant and looks after 4-5 babies plus after school kids. My concern is that sometimes his day book is not finished and sometimes I'm a little at what its written in it. I dont know if I am just paranoid parent which is why I havent said anything yet or if I should say something. Sometimes DS comes home shattered although in book says he has had a lot of sleep and vice versa. Likewise with food. On some days he is starving when book says has eaten loads and vice versa! (Obviously I'm comparing his appetite with days he has at home). Yesterday he was picked up early and book said he was asleep for 1.30 mins AFTER been picked up?? Hence my concern.

Any advice would be appreciated. I know the obvious thing to do would be to mention to childminder but I HATE confrontation and she is lovely so dont want to upset her. Is it common to make mistakes in day book?

if those children she has are ALL abbies then you may want to check her ratios even if she does have an assistant?

However re not getting time to fill in diary's..i do it allt he time, i either dont get time to complete at end of day if we've been busy/someones had accident and needed clearing up etc?, i tell parents what theyve been doing and fill in once theyve gone so they can re-read it next day..BUT..if shes writing things down that happend AFTER your LO has gone, shes either got mixed up or 'could' be jotting things down ad hoc which havent happend????

You DO need to speak to her though, it doesnt need to be confrontation, you could take the diary and arrive early one night and havea flick through while sat there and say oh did he do x today, i didnt know he could do that..and oh has he slept for x time?, he still looks tired etc..you will then get you answers without being confrontational..but dont assume things arent as she says because book isnt complete, she will be busy with all those children and should maybe re[think how she records things for you..good luck.

Hmmm...sounds to me like the day book is being filled in in advance. I used to work in a day nursery where we were always having to clamp down on the staff for doing things like this - they'd write down what the child had had for lunch going by what was on the menu for that day and then it was me who had to deal with parents pointing out that that was something their child NEVER ate etc.

Personally I'd be quite upfront that you know what's in there isn't accurate so if there's a problem with finding time to fill in the book could she give you a detailed verbal report instead - or an even gentler approach - suggest that maybe they're getting your DS mixed up with another child. Hopefully then they'll be more accurate in future.

PinkChick Thanks for letting me know that sometimes you do it after child has gone home. I am understanding of not having the time but I just want to make sure what IS written is not made up as I now will be sceptical of everything else written IYSWIM.

Weddingcake 'suggest that maybe they're getting your DS mixed up with another child. Hopefully then they'll be more accurate in future' is a good idea, I may go down that line. I have had instances as well with food like you mentioned e.g. things he NEVER eats (or never used to eat).

but im honest about not having time and why, i wouldnt just make something up so i could scribble something in 5 mins before the end, its important for YOU to know what your baby is doing ESP at that age..def have a chat and bring up when your ds wasnt there etc..if weddingcake is right, then thats awful..i do write in "we are going to go to x today"..but after that, when we've been i write in what we did there, what the mindee thouhgt/did etc..i sometimes if pushed for time fill in diary while baby mindees asleep and write " x had her dinner at and she.."so i can fill in the blanks as soon as theyve eaten and if parents come early or we're late finishing off, i can quicky jot it down

I am a childminder, and I also can end up having to do the diary at the end of the day....I refuse to let paperwork get in the way of my care giving! So I'm sure that I may sometimes get the details a little sketchy, or slightly of course with the timings.

"I have had instances as well with food like you mentioned e.g. things he NEVER eats (or never used to eat)"
I see this all the time... I had a 1 year old who loved banana's at home but hated them at my house. And I currently have a 4 year old who refuses mashed potato and spag bol at home.... but wolfs it down here!
Peer pressure is a great thing, he see's all the other children eating it and joins in. Or it could just be because my cooking is nicer