How to Manage Conflict with Your Child Care Provider Helpful tips on managing issues According to our annual survey, most of you are pretty happy with your child care providers, but when issues arise it can be hard to know just how to deal with them. Everything to do with our children is emotional. Particularly when they're little and combined with often suppressed feelings of guilt that many of us have with our children being in care in the first place can mean that small issues can be quite hard to deal with on an emotional level! Anything to do with our child and his or her education and upbringing is also completely subjective, so there are no hard and fast rules on how to deal with different issues, but there are procedures and best ways to deal with situations as and when they arise. Issues can be anything from how a child care provider deals with sickness, sleep, bad behaviour, eating habits, routines, bullying, safety, hygiene, condition of facilities, discipline and a host of other things. They're generally either on a personal level to do with the individual care of your child or concerned with specific incidents or breaches in procedure. All child care centres in Australia are required to develop and follow grievance and/or complaints handling procedures, but many parents are unaware of this and are unsure about the most effective way of dealing with their concerns. Most child care providers should also have carers who are trained in dealing with children in a variety of situations and facilities will often have quite strict procedures and measures on discipline, routine, biting and pinching and sleeping difficulties. However not all issues or situations can be anticipated or given a process with which they are dealt. Each child is completely different and with the best will in the world, while a child care provider may try its hardest to accommodate a parent's wishes or child's individual needs, at the end of the day the child care centre or family day care facility has to look at the best way to run an efficient and enjoyable service for the majority of children. Overly demanding requests from parents in terms of diet, sleeping routines and other individual needs can mean that the child care centre or family day care's routines cannot be adhered to properly, which can be to the detriment of the entire class and it may be better to reconsider the type of child care you have chosen for your child. Ultimately, in terms of dealing with issues, research and an understanding of the way the child care provider operates is key to avoiding conflict later down the line… It's important to choose the right type of child care for your child. Some children may respond well to a group situation with up to 20 kids in a class, others may need more individual care, in which case family day care or a nanny might be the best solution. When researching a child care provider, have a list of questions that are important to you as a parent in terms of how your child will be looked after, what sorts of processes are in place for sickness, difficulties with behaviour, eating or sleeping problems. Once you've listened to the centre's response, then you can make an informed decision as to whether that provider will be right for your child. Click here for our child care centre checklist. Make sure you check out the facilities, health and safety aspects, have a look at the age and condition of the centre/house and its toys, fixtures and fittings etc…The condition of a place can give a good insight into the type of care your child will receive. Situations of conflict can't always be avoided however, and when complaints need to be made, the importance of communication and the clear identification of a problem plus a readiness to have a proper, private discussion and willingness to listen to the other side is key. For complaints procedures and a full article on managing conflict, click here. On balance, most conflict can be avoided by having regular informal chats with your care provider when you pick up or drop off. A positive, open relationship should make it easier for you to avoid issues before they arise and address any concerns which do come up. You many never be 100% satisfied with a child care provider – when all's said and done, they're not your child's parent – but you can establish a comfort level so that you are able to leave your child at the centre each day without worrying!

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