Kindercare-Dilemma Any Recommendations?

Don't know about Kindercare, but most park districts offer full day summer camps at reasonable prices.

I had a really really bad experience w/kindercare. We had both my kids enrolled in kindercare for 11 mos. My son who is now 5 was only a year and a half when we enrolled him into kindercare and at first I absolutely loved it but then one morning my husband dropped off our kids at the usual time and as I was getting ready to leave home to go to work no more than 10 mins. after he got home we get a call from kindercare asking us to come back b/c my son needs to be rushed to the hospital. When we got there I was told my son was running so he slipped, fell and now had a cut on his head. As I was rushing out w/my son in my hands and him bleeding all over his shirt and all over me, several other parents rushed to meet me outside only to tell me that the story I was given was not true. It appeared to be that kindercare never cleaned up after all the snow that was coming in and so the floors were real wet and slippery. I was told my son was walking towards the restroom when he slipped from the wet floors and into the corner of the kids sink which caused him to have a real deep cut. When I took him to the hospital the doctors shaved one side of his head after cleaning him up and put 4 staples on him. I had DCFS called on me b/c the doctors assumed I had beaten my son and when they confirmed w/kindercare of what had really happened I never received an apology from kindercare. Instead they offered my kids a week free at kindercare and offered to pay all hospital costs. Needless to say I never took my kids back. I'm sure that not every facility is dirty, this one in particular is located in the northern suburbs, I just don't trust or do I feel comftorable with kindercare in general. Good luck w/your search.

-M.

Fortunately not all Kindercares are like this (our son attends a different location).

That being said, cross it off your list. You saw the facility at the right time - during normal daily activities, not when they were giving you the official tour/dog and pony show where everything is perfect. This might have been a one-time occurrence but for me, one time of an absolutely filthy bathroom that did not receive proper and prompt attention is one time too many (let's be honest, kids learning how to potty train are messy but professionals who work with children know this and should be ready to clean immediately).

If they let the bathroom get that dirty, what else is being neglected? Trust your gut instinct.

My niece goes to the kindercare in Paramus, New Jersey and their program and teachers are great. But when I go to pick her up I just feel as if the teachers are over worked, most of the time it look as if there is to many children in one room. The turn over is terrible (management and staff). Just this week there was an outbreak of hfmd. everytime I went to pick up I saw the pour teachers with gloves on cleaning. Shouldn't they have a cleaning crew for the amount of money my brother pays!!!!!! Besides all this the children are well taken care of and learn alot. So i guess that's the price you pay to make sure you are okay and leave feeling your child is in good hands(you know that guilty feeling) would I go again to see the conditions and speak to the teacher try to feel out the other children see if they are happy.

We go to a different Kindercare and love it...but I'm with the other Moms --- you checked at the right time. When you aren't expected is when you really find out what's going on. If you get a bad vibe do not subject your kid to a "wait and see" approach. Someone I know went to Life Time Fitness for camp and thought it was great. Check out the Burr Ridge facility and see what's available there.

Over the course of a couple years i had some really bad experiences with Kinder Care.

clothes that were literally destroyed because the kids go SOOO dirty, and not notifying me of a couple cases of hand foot and mouth disease that was going thru the center, which both my kids ended up getting as well.

I had my complaints rectified by a free week - that's all fine and good but i really wanted an apology and an acknowledgment that my complaint was justified...

i still recall the one time picking up my kids and there they are sitting at the table having a snack... an apple... good choice on the whole, except the one minor detail... it's juicy and when it runs down the child's arm, it will reveal exactly how dirty they are. so there's my kid, chomping away, apple juices running down her FILTHY arm and dirt crammed under every finger nail... EATING with her hands! when i commented on it I got 'oh, did she forget to wash her hands?' - I took pictures, I called the regional office and once again, the solution was to throw a free week at me.

i would never put my kids in one of these centers again... and the cost was OUTRAGEOUS - i paid over 400 a week for two potty trained, self sufficient kids - when i compared cost to Chesterbrook Academy, they were about equal.

Good luck - i don't suspect the bathrooms will get much better, even with complaints... makes you wonder what the kitchen looks like...

I too worked for a different Kindercare a number of years ago.
Bathrooms often were messy and the center often had trouble
keeping enough good staff members. Don't ask for a scheduled
tour, as everything will look perfect if you are expecteed.

Personally, I wouldn't go there. I worked at that location and what you saw was very common. Then again, when I worked there it was 9yrs ago, but sounds like things didn't get any better. The cleanliness is one of the reasons why I left. Also, kindercare has a strict cleaning schedule, of middle of day, and end of day for the bathrooms. Sounds like this one doesn't comply. I have 3 boys, who miss sometimes, if bathrooms are cleaned regularly it would not smell as you have implied.

You might want to check out the Indian Boundary YMCA in Downers Grove. I don't know too much about the summer camp, but the facility is great and I've heard nothing but positive things about their programs.