Update in the OP.

They had a pizza party Friday. My son has an egg allergy so I packed a lunch in case the pizza dough had egg in it.

Hope the meeting goes well!

Hope the meeting goes well! That's messed up what they did.

So how did the meeting go?!???

Finally getting a meeting with the daycare's owner!

that's awful sorry to hear that I would be fuming

Yaya.. you certainly need to call the health dept...

Yeah....if that were my baby I would be pissed OP! Tell them to eat a sandwich that's been sitting in a counter for 3 damn days!

Whoah... Wait. So he ate a sandwich that wasn't refrigerated for three days????? Wtf that's neglect. I don't see how they don't think that's wrong!! Was she aware it wasn't refrigerated? I'd find a new daycare ASAP

Omg!!! Yeah momma I'd be pissed too!!!

It's a health issue if they gave him a sandwich that hadn't been refrigerated for THREE days. Call the health department, or at least threaten too. Can't stand by the teachers if they're breaking health code!

I would call child services on them and have them checked out. That's just being lazy. ?

At my daughters old daycare every child had their own labelled basket in the fridge we put all of their lunch into. Maybe they could look at something like that? That way they don't have to be going through leftover food at the end of the day and if someone did forget to take it home one day they would see it there the next day. I would feel sick if that happened to one of my children but mistakes do happen, maybe the director could put something in place so it doesn't happen again. Hope he feels better!

@tickle toes, we have to go though all that as well, everything labeled, as well as refrigerators and bathrooms access and wash stations in every room. A lot of parents however if they chose to opt out of the refrigerator, choose to bring the lunch boxes with the thermos or ice pack.

I just woke up and as your response OP, I hope your children feel better. When my toddler gets sniffles I go into panic mode myself. Just being in the child care profession has made my first time mom senses go into over drive. I hope they do get to the bottom of it, it's always possible they were negligent.

Not at all ma'am i didnt think you were rude at all. I didn't mean to come off as rude either, I was simply giving the point of view from the other side of the fence, if you will. I apologize.

Seems pretty shabby to me. They could at least accept part of the blame and day sorry. I wouldnt be happy.

I teach preschool in NC and the regulations surrounding food handling and storage are strict. My center doesn't have food service and the children bring their food from home. But all the food is required to be refrigerated. We wouldn't be allowed to operate it we didn't have refrigerators in our classrooms.

In addition to refrigeration, everything must be labeled with the child's name and date. The parents are asked to do this, but ultimately it is my job as a caregiver to make sure it happens. Unlabeled food and containers have to be thrown away and lunch boxes that get left behind need to be emptied.

I know firsthand how crazy-busy mealtimes are with a group of little ones. In the 30 minutes we have to eat, I'm lucky if I get half that to eat my own meal. That said, I am always able to monitor what the kids are eating.

I think the center was very negligent to allow your child to eat old, unrefrigerated food. And while I know that Childcare and sanitation laws vary from state to state, I'm shocked that they can legally keep food out on the counter instead of refrigerating it. I would definitely report them... To both their licensing consultant and the health department.

That's absolutely disgusting!! I would've complained too... It's not hard to tell the difference between an old and a new sandwich!

My DH didn't label it so they didn't know whose lunch it was. They just left it there and didn't think to question the fact that they had an extra lunch box. And yes, my husband also left the old one there Monday morning as well. He had two opportunities to prevent this and he didn't. I didn't have to say anything to him. He feels terrible enough on his own and swears he will never let it happen again.

What happened to the sandwich you packed on Monday? Where did they put that?

I really hope you didn't take offense Messeely. I appreciate your insight and I will update tomorrow after I speak to the director again and decide what to do. Thank you all for your responses and support. You are helping me see things more objectively.

Mrsseely, I don't mean to be rude and I hope it doesn't come off that way. But I felt like you have several excuses for the teachers just as the director of my center did. I would much rather my child have a fresh lunch than the toys put back on the shelves. The lunches are left on a counter as soon as you walk in the door. It would not take more than 30 seconds to put it in their cubby at the end of the day rather than leave it on the counter to be mistaken for a fresh lunch. If my son stays at the center I will definitely be labeling each sandwich and snack bag with the date. I plan to go in and personally speak to the director tomorrow. I'm hoping I can do it calmly and eloquently and not sound like the blubbering mess that I currently am.

My son had diarrhea for two days that seems to be clearing up. I took my 3 week old I to the ER on Sunday for breathing problems. He has an upper respiratory infection so I've been trying to juggle both boys while not completely neglecting my 5 year old. It's certainly not the center's fault that I have so much on my plate, but there absolutely was a better way for the director to handle this.

Most importantly: is your son ok? Did he get sick?

i don't have any advice that hasn't been said but just wondering how your lo is feeling after that? hopefully wasn't sick

Did your son get sick from it? If so, you should definitely speak to someone higher in charge. That is appalling. At the same time, it could have also just been a mistake - they are only human too. But, I guess working anywhere that involves caring for others ie daycare centres, hospitals, nursing homes etc they should be EXTRA vigilant.

Im gonna ask my director if health department can be called for this, but i fairly certain you would need to call the schools licensing rep and report it to her but it's prob their jurisdiction due to the fact that it was a home lunch brought and not a school lunch provided. Look by the parent board and his/her number will be posted. Sorry in totally lurking on this post, in interested to see what happens.

To ms Lawrence, you're completely right, it's not unreasonable, but sometimes, if the teacher is on overtime, the opener of the daycare is going to want to get that person off the clock ASAP, and sometimes sanitizing and cleaning to make sure the toys and rest room areas and play areas are clean and safe will trump certain other duties such as checking cubbies, I'm not saying its right, but I've seen it happen in other centers while doing tours before I chose a center to work in. Mine has a strict set of rules to abide by and a teacher can't leave their room without getting permission from myself or the director after we do an inspection of the room.

that's gross call the health dept.

And whoever licences child care centers in your state.

Request random inspections from both.

But I will say this, maybe it might be time to find another center, just due to the fact that maybe the ratio in your child's room is too much and maybe find a center that has lower student to teacher ratio, it might be pricier but in the end if you have more peace of mind, then your money is well spent.

I'm sorry I have to disagree. As an assistant director and teacher in the 2 year old room at a private preschool in Texas, state min standards allowed as much as 11 kids in my care by myself. And I didn't always notice what the parents brought in when they dropped off their children because I was either doing diaper changes, curriculum, or we were outside playing. The teacher might have figured you saved it in your fridge over the weekend and you wanted your child to finish it for lunch. While trying to feed 11 hungry and cranky 2 year olds we can't always notice if something is bad unless there is a exp date or mold or looks or smells funny, if we did, we would of course tell the director and make arrangements for the child to have a school lunch prepared for them and charge you for it, or call you and tell you it's bad and bring them a lunch. As for the director she could have been a little more tactful In talking to you, but if a director feels it was of no fault of the teachers ( which I see why) then a good director will always back up a good teacher. Let this be a yucky lesson, always make sure everything is taken home, if not send a new lunch with instructions at the front desk that you left a lunch box at the center and this is to be eaten instead. Sorry op but the customer is not always right.

I thought so. And I agree they should have apologized and agreed to make sure it didn't happen again. I have a hard time believing that if they would have paid attention, they wouldn't have noticed a three day old sandwich. It's just as much about how they handled it, as what actually happened. I understand daycare worker are often overloaded, but that's no excuse for that. I would switch daycares.

i agree it was probably just a mistake and mistakes happen

but after talking to them and them not willing to do anything to prevent it in future is inexcusable to me.it would take 30 seconds to put a lunchbox in a cubby.id be finding a new daycare.

I agree you're both at fault, as you have said.

I'm sure it was a mistake and at this point you can't go back and undo it.

I would be very upset that the daycare won't consider any options to prevent this type of thing from happening in the future. It sounds like they are being defensive, instead of proactive!

Ew, if it had been in the fridge I'd say it wasn't as big of a deal, but on the counter?!? It had to have been spoiled. I'd be upset as well.

No fridge. It was out on the counter and they don't run the a/c on the weekends either. I'm in central Texas and it gets hot!

That daycare should be shut down. Can't have irresponsible people taking care if my child. What do u plan to do? Ur baby still attends?

I'll never get over that. Comparing Amanda bynes and Johnny Depp. Pure comedy.

Chill out, Johnny depp.

Lol I'm jk.

But really, I got food poisoning from a sammich that had been left out for like..18 hrs and then put in the fridge by someone. (Why did I eat it, you ask? I was stupid and half asleep...I know, I'm an idiot)

I think you and the daycare are both at fault. I'm surprised they're not more apologetic though. You didn't notice his lunch box was missing for three days? Maybe next time call and give them a heads up on what one to use.

They were wrong for that. They should have looked and checked and if you sent him with a new lunch then duh they should have gave it to them. He could have gotten really sick I would be hella pissed.

I work in food service and a 3 day shelf life is standard for refrigerated items. I agree that you want them to have fresh things but you should be safe as far as food born illness goes. I hope that puts your mind to ease.

I guess if the sandwich wasn't completely rancid smelling and super discolored then I can see how a teacher would open a lunch box pull it out then move on quickly to the next kid. They assume that the lunch that was given was packed to the parents standards. I just think this was a huge error on both parts. The sandwich should not have been sent any more than it should have been fed.

We can't say human error means they don't care because ops husband made an error too and I'm sure he cares very much. Mistakes happen.

And unless there are other issues with this daycare I'd write it off. Mistakes were made on both ends. I don't feel anyone is more at fault. The ball was dropped. Unfortunate but certainly happens.

Guesswho, I'm sorry but I disagree. I would be furious that the teacher didn't notice something was up with that sandwich. And if it was questionable at all, they could have given him something fresh just to be safe. It sounds like they didn't care at all about him.

Op I'd be finding a new school for my child to attend. Unacceptable.

I could be thinking of a deferent user but I believe you have had trouble with them in the past right?

Either way I would look for a deferent daycare. That's not something the just happens. If they don't notice handing a child a three day old sandwich then what else are they not paying attention too?!?

Did you send lunch in a different lunch box? If so they should have given him that. Why would you waste time sending new lunch in a different box for him to be given old food. Id contact the health department. Poor baby!

Honestly I'd write this one off completely. With all those kids I can see missing that it was bad. They relied on you to send food he could eat. You relied on them to thoroughly check the food you sent. Sounds like this was just a misfortunate situation and I'd leave it as such.

Panda it sounds like she sends the food daily not that they daycare keeps it there. I'm assuming they took it out of the lunch box she sent and gave it without paying mind to it

Wow. My daycare makes me label everything with a date. They send home the carton of milk if it reaches the "sell by" date. They have to toss out or send home food at the end of the day. I can't imagine them feeding her 3 day old food. If they made a mistake like that they should at least admit it. I might look for a new daycare center if I were you. Your child can get sick from that. That is inexcusable.

I'm not asking this to be a smartass, I'm asking bc I'm curious...it had not been in a fridge, correct?

That could make him sick. You should be able to do something about that.

Gross! I would be furious! I'd contact the health department and let them know that that happened