SHINN'S PRESCHOOL & NURSERY

I was excited to start my family's journey with a daycare like Shinns because they were voted the best daycare facility in the area for 2 years in a row. I took a tour and made sure that I signed up early to be on the waiting list. When the day finally arrived for me to drop my child off, I thought that she was going to be safe and well taken care of due to the many praise that others had shared with me. When I called to check up on my daughter during work, I would receive a short "she's fine" response or "yes or no." They never acknowledged her condition whether it was a cough that she was struggling with, how her diaper rash was, or whether she was eating ok . Even with me asking specific questions, I always just received a short unconvincing answer. I explained this away as the providers being busy with other children or that the she just didn't conversate well over the phone.
     I always made sure my child had a dry diaper on and a full stomach prior to her arrival to daycare every morning. We live 10 mins away from the facility. I knew that the morning was the busies time of the day for the providers and I didn't want to make their job difficult. Having a job with odd hours allowed me to pick up my child anytime during the day.  I arrived unannounced one day and happen to walk in as they were starting to change my child's diaper. I consoled my child as she cried like most babies do during diaper changes and noticed something unacceptable. The staff was only using one wipe (I provided my own wipes) and was rubbing extremely hard. She proceeded to dab on a little of diaper rash cream without drying the area first. My baby cried harder as her butt was already raw. As much as I didn't want to be the controlling daycare mom, I calmly and nicely educated the staff member on the spot. When we arrived home, I removed my child's diaper to give her a bath and noticed speckles of blood that had seep through the cream onto her diaper. I shared my experience with the owner, not to get anybody in trouble, but just so that she was aware of the incident. I had wondered why my child had frequent diaper rashes after she started at Shinns. The owner assured me that they were going to work to fix the problem. This helped me feel at ease. 
      Things seem to go well after that until I walked in unannounced again. I walked my way through the daycare and towards the area where my child was kept. The first thing I heard was Kelly tell me " I swear she was just on her blanket." I was confused and walked closer. As I walked closer, I was able to look over the divider and there was my daughter crying on the ground with another child lying below her crying too. Her cry was a tired cry, as if she's been crying for a while. Its ok I told myself because they can't hold every crying baby at one time. I knelt by my child and picked her up to console her. I noticed that she had spit up running behind her ear. Kelly replies, " she hadn't been there very long." " Its ok" I replied, but when I asked about the thing behind my child's ear, she responds "no she didn't spit up, if she did I didn't notice." 
     I consoled my child for a few minutes til the tears stopped then we headed home. The other child on the ground was still crying alone when we left. We arrived home 10 mins later. And just as our daily routine, I immediately got her undressed for her bath. To my surprise, she had pooped. It wasn't stinky but It was dry and had seeped up from her bottoms to the shirt that was tucked in. I couldn't believe it, we had just left daycare 10 mins ago. There was not an explanation out there that would make this acceptable. I got her cleaned up and scrambled to find another daycare before closing time.
     We started another daycare the very next morning. It was originally our second pick of daycares from the beginning. After dropping my child off, I made a stop to Shinns. I took the owner aside privately and shared my experience with her. She replied "babies do poop on the way home." I just couldn't believe her response especially since it was dry and old poop and especially since I had shown her the picture. I offered to pay for the rest of the week even though my daughter was only there for 2 days. The owner took the entire $ and wrote me a receipt. There was no remorse or apology.
      Shinn's may be the # 1 choice for many, but it just wasn't the place for us. My child is a lot happier at her new daycare. She has not had a single diaper rash and greets me with a smile every time I pick her up and gives me a smile every time I drop her off.
      I hesitated to write a review, but wished someone would have shared their experiences with me, both bad and good. There are not many reviews completed in this area and I hope that it will one day change.