Policies & Enrollment

Baby Blossom Daycare is licensed and complies with all applicable licensing regulations and standards. These standards relate to my home, staff, health, safety procedures, nutrition, provider to child ratios, and record keeping. I believe that these standards are in the best interest of the children. My home is subject to inspection by state and city health, fire, and licensing officials.

This is my home as well as my business, so please be respectful of my family and home by adhering to the policies and procedures outlined in this parent handbook. I realize this is a lot of information to absorb. Because of this, please keep your parent handbook accessible so you can periodically review my policies and procedures as necessary. I reserve the right to amend any portion of the Parent-Provider Contract/Enrollment Application, and Parent Handbook at any time. If and when I do make any changes you will be given a copy.

A non-refundable deposit equal to two weeks of childcare costs is due at time of enrollment. Your child's spot is not secured until I have received both the deposit. The deposit will be credited towards the last two weeks of your child's enrollment. Please make checks payable to Baby Blossom Daycare. Cash, Venmo and Zelle are also accepted.

The first two weeks will be regarded as a "trial period", in which case either party may terminate the contract without notice. After the first two weeks of enrollment, a two week written notice from parent or provider is required to terminate the contract, with the exception of gross misconduct on part of the provider, parent, or child. This is grounds for immediate discontinuation of service. In cases of non-payment, legal action may be taken, and the parents will pay all legal fees incurred.

At least a two week written termination of childcare services needs to be given when you no longer need childcare services. This helps me tremendously. Reason being, unlike childcare centers I can only care for a limited amount of children. So when I am full I am forced to say NO to all incoming requests for childcare. If I have advance notice of termination of care it is possible for me to make future arrangements with new families inquiring about daycare for their child. This helps to keep my open spot fluctuation to a minimum, and helps me be able to focus more on being the best childcare provider I can be, instead of worrying about "the bills", and putting food on the table.

$80 Daily (up to 9.5 hours)
$120 Overnight care (up to 12 hours)
$20 per hour for Saturday and Sunday Daytime Care

Payments are due every Friday. Drop-in payments are due the day of care. Failure to make payment will result in forfeit of deposits and the child will be unenrolled. A $40 late fee will be charged if payment is late. It must be understood that to hold your child's space, payment must be paid whether your child attends or not. Payment is based on contract, not attendance.

Due to the inconvenience of NSF checks, a $50 fee will be charged for NSF checks.

If your child is picked up late or dropped off early a fee will be charged. The fee is $10 for every 10 minutes the parent is late for contracted pickup or early for contracted drop off (unless prior arrangements have been made). Please be courteous and arrive on time as after hours is my time with my own family. If your child needs to be picked up early for an appointment please arrange for pick up and drop off outside of our nap time (usually 12:00-2:30).

Baby Blossom Daycare is open Monday through Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm and 8:00pm-5:00am. "Drop-ins" are welcome if space is available. Please call or text (707)-393-1051 to make sure there is space available before bringing your child to the daycare.

• New Years Day
• Martin Luther King Jr Day
• President's Day
• Easter Monday
• Memorial Day
• Juneteenth
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Indigenous People's Day
• Veterans Day
• Day before Thanksgiving
• Thanksgiving Day
• Day After Thanksgiving
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• Day After Christmas
• New Years Eve

My family is a family just like yours and as you know things can arise without notice. In the event that I am sick, have an emergency or need to attend continuing education classes (CPR, Pediatric First Aid, Mandatory Reporter Training, etc.) in order to keep my childcare license in good standing. Every effort will be made to line up a substitute. I will give as much of an advance notice as possible should the need arise.

Although I truly enjoy my daycare kiddos I still need one on one time with my own kids and family. With that said I will take 1 week of summer vacation and 1 week of spring vacation per year. The dates of our vacations will be posted at least one month in advance. Regular payment rates WILL apply to mine as well as your child's vacations, sick/personal days or holidays.

If your child will not be attending daycare due to illness or any other reason, please let me know as soon as possible so the day's activities won't be held up waiting for your child to arrive. Also, I need to know how many children I need to prepare meals for. No discounts will be given for your child's absences. If your child will not be attending daycare for whatever reason, you are still required to pay your contracted fees. Parents are responsible for finding back-up care for their children during provider vacations, holidays, and sick/personal days in the event the daycare needs to close.

For the health and safety of my family, your family and all of the children in daycare, please do not bring your child to daycare sick.

PLEASE KEEP ME HOME IF…

• I have a temperature of 100 or higher (must be fever free for 24 hours to return).
• I have diarrhea (must be diarrhea free for 24 hours to return).
• I have thick green mucus coming from my nose or throat.
• I have head lice.
• I am vomiting (must be vomit free for 24 hours).
• I have an undiagnosed rash (must bring a doctor's note to return).
• I am positive for Covid (must remain home for 5 days).
• I have a bad cough that won't stop.
• I am generally unwell and unable to participate in the day's activities.
• I have a red eye that is oozing yellow or green discharge

I can only care for children with mild cold-like symptoms that are otherwise feeling and acting well. Mild cold-like symptoms are a clear runny nose, slight cough, and no fever. If you are not sure if your child should be brought to daycare, then please call and check with me. If a child becomes ill during daycare hours the parents will be contacted to pick up their child. Parents need to pick up their children within one hour of being notified. If parents are not available, the emergency contact person will be notified.

I do not give medications to the children without authorization on file. If your child needs to be medicated in order to get through the day, and be able to comfortably participate in our activities, then it is quite possible he or she may be too sick to attend daycare. I will however give certain doctor prescribed medications to the children, of course given that they are no longer contagious, and only if the medication consent form has been signed. Examples of these would be; antibiotics for ear infections etc or Tylenol for teething. If you're not sure if I will administer a certain medication or not, please feel free to ask.

Emergency information is kept on file at the daycare. In case of illness or injury this information will be used to notify you or the person designated by you, of your child's status. If your child is injured while at the daycare, first aid will be administered. If treatment by a doctor is necessary, we will make every effort to contact you or the doctor you have chosen to treat your child. In all cases, an injury report is completed, and a copy is given to the parents as well as the Department of Social Services. Authorization for emergency treatment must be signed at the time of enrollment to ensure that in the event of an emergency, we can make sure your child receives the necessary emergency treatment he or she needs. It is very important that all emergency contact information is kept up to date and correct. Please inform me immediately of any changes to keep your information current. Parents are responsible for all costs involved in emergency medical treatment, including emergency transportation if required.

Baby Blossom Daycare has written policies and procedures for dealing with emergencies and natural disasters. Evacuation plans are posted in the daycare. In the event daycare needs to be evacuated, the children will be evacuated to our emergency location, and you will be notified as soon as possible. Our first emergency location is 2013 San Miguel Rd., Santa Rosa. Our secondary location is 2449 Penbrooke Ave, Santa Rosa. A notice will be on the door of the daycare or the first emergency location if relocation is necessary. I do not transport any child by car or any moving vehicle, unless a medical emergency or disaster requires me to do so. Please know that your child's safety is my first priority. With that said if an emergency evacuation is required your child may be transported without a safety seat to ensure they are out of harm's way.

This schedule is meant to give you an idea of your child's day. Actual times and activities may vary depending on time of the year, weather, age and temperament of the children. Age appropriate activities are scheduled with the flexibility allowed to respond to the needs of each individual child and their various ages.

Each day I provide two nutritious and well balanced meals (breakfast and lunch) as well as three snacks. Water is offered throughout the day. The children are offered the food, but they will not be forced to eat. It is my goal to offer nutritious meals and snacks to the children in my care. With an occasional treat ;)

If your child has any particular dietary needs resulting from being a vegetarian, having allergies, religious/non religious beliefs, etc, please let me know. If the typical type of meals I serve do not meet your criteria for whatever reason, that's perfectly fine, let me know so arrangements can be made.

I strongly believe naps are vital to young children's well being, positive attitudes and good behavior. For this reason I offer infants and toddlers nap-time every day after lunch. Every effort will be made to ensure a proper rest time or at minimum, a restful quiet time. Children who no longer nap will have quiet time while others nap. Infants will be put down for regular naps and as often as they like. No child will ever be forced to sleep, however they are encouraged to remain quiet and on their mat during this time.

Parents are responsible for supplying the following items: formula, baby food, pacifier (if needed), bottle, diapers(no cloth diapers), pull-ups, 2 sets of weather appropriate clothing, jacket, shoes that lace-up or Velcro and/or stay on feet (no flip-flops please). There is a good possibility your child will get dirty throughout the day because of food, paint, markers, dirt, bubbles, potty accidents, diaper blowouts, etc. So please dress your child in clothes that are ok for play. Wet, dirty, and soiled clothes will be put in a plastic bag, labeled with the child's name and placed outside for the parent to take home and clean. I am not responsible for replacing stained or soiled clothing. Furthermore, as the weather changes throughout the year, so do your child's items needed at daycare. I greatly appreciate your attention to your child's cubby supply, as it helps me and the children's day run more smoothly to have all of their necessary items with them at daycare. This way I can focus on caring for your child in the best possible way. Donations of wipes, kleenex and shareable snacks are always welcome!

Please do not bring your child's toys to daycare. As much as I try to encourage sharing, this seldom works when it is the child's own personal toy. It only causes problems between them and the other children which disrupts our daily activities.

I believe that the discipline of a child is achieved through patience, consistency, and positive reinforcement. I also try to teach the children in my care manners, kindness, independence and to be respectful to others. One of the ways in which I do this is by the example I as providers set. I understand that my actions and reactions speak much louder than my words. The children are explained the rules of the daycare frequently, so they know what's expected of them. Once a child is old enough to understand the rules and disobeys them by exhibiting inappropriate behavior (hitting, aggression, hurting others, or property etc), the following developmentally appropriate guidance techniques will be used. These techniques are as follows:

• Positive Reinforcement: The child will be encouraged when he or she is demonstrating acceptable behavior.
• Redirection: The child is redirected to another activity and given an opportunity to try again at another time.
• Time out of one minute per one year of age will be given for extreme behavior like hurting a friend.
• Last Resort: When a child's behavior is continually upsetting or dangerous to others, a conference will be called with the parents. If the problems cannot be resolved, arrangements will have to be made for the child to go elsewhere for care.

Please make your goodbye brief (no more than a couple minutes): the longer you prolong departure the harder it gets for the provider, parent and especially for your child. Please be in control of your child during drop-off and pick-up times. No one other than the parent or person designated by you will be allowed to pick up your child without identification and advanced written permission indicating the person's name and relationship to your child. If there is a court order keeping one parent away from the child, I must have a written note from the custodial parent in my file to that effect along with the court order. Otherwise, I cannot prevent the non-custodial parent from picking up the child.

I am more than happy to encourage potty training as long as the child is ready (typically between 2 and 3 years old) and comes in pull ups . Children will be allowed to come to daycare in cotton training pants/underwear after they have spent a weekend at home in cotton underwear with some success using the potty. Communication between parents and the daycare provider is imperative for a successful transition from diapers to toilet.

So I can provide the best possible care, please feel free to communicate any needs, wants and/or concerns regarding your child. It is only through good parent/provider interaction that good quality nurturing care can be achieved.