Because daycare costs are incredibly steep, parents want to know they’re getting the best possible care and information, so a daily report sheet for daycare is a great way to keep them up to date.
As a daycare owner, there are several ways you can add value to your services. One way to do this is a daily report sheet. By providing this information, you can build better relationships with the parents of the children in your care.
Keep reading for our guide to using daily report sheets for daycare, plus daycare daily report sheets for infants.
Table of Contents
What Is a Daily Report Sheet?
Daily daycare reports are forms you can use to update parents on various aspects of their child. As the name suggests, you complete these sheets daily and give them to parents at the end of the day.
Benefits of a Daily Report Sheet for Daycare
As a daycare owner, you can gain several benefits by using a daily daycare report, such as:
- Reassuring parents: When parents receive daily reports on their children, they're assured their child is getting personalized attention daily.
- Daily ongoings: This report also gives parents an idea of what went on in the daycare during the day.
- See a bigger picture: Using a daily report sheet for your daycare means you can get an overall picture of each child's behavior, health and developmental progress.
What Should Be on the Daily Report Sheet?
While a daily report sheet for daycare can contain the information you want to provide, you should try to include as much information as possible. Include things such as:
- Child Identifying Information: Leave a space to capture the child's full name and the date.
- Daycare Identifying Information: Include the name of the caregiver and provide a contact number for the daycare.
- Space for Parents' Notes to You: If parents need to update you on anything, they can use this space.
- Meals: Record what times the child ate and how much they ate.
- Snacks: Record any snacks and times.
- Nap Times: Record each nap time and the length of each one.
- Diaper Changes/Potty Times: Note any and all times the child went to the toilet or had a diaper change (depending on age).
- Learning and Daily Activities: Record any activities the child completed during the day and their progress.
- Mood: Use this space to leave an honest review of their child's behavior for the parents.
- Incident Reports: Record any incidents that occurred, for example, biting.
- Space for Notes to Parents: Leave room in case the caregiver needs to elaborate on the report.
- Child Care Needs for Parents Account: Note any daycare supplies parents must replace.
Daily Report Sheet Templates
Daycare report sheets, especially for infants, should include a lot of information. Feel free to use our daily report sheet templates to get started. Add, change or remove information as you see fit for your daycare’s needs. You can use the editable PDFs (linked from the images) or copy and paste the text below to design your own daily report sheets.
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Daycare Daily Report Sheet for Toddlers Template Text
Daily Report Sheet for Toddlers (6-48 mos.)
Child’s Name: __________________________
Date: _______________________________
Daycare Caregiver: _____________________
Daycare Contact Number: _______________
Feeding:
- Time: _____:_____
- Qty: ____________
- Meal: ___________
- Time: _____:_____
- Qty: ____________
- Meal: ___________
- Time: _____:_____
- Qty: ____________
- Meal: ___________
Diapers/Potty:
- Time: _____:_____
- Time: _____:_____
- Time: _____:_____
- Time: _____:_____
- Time: _____:_____
Medicine:
- Med: ____________
- Time: _____:_____
- Dose: ___________
- Med: ____________
- Time: _____:_____
- Dose: ___________
Naps:
- Time: _____:_____
- Length: _________
- Time: _____:_____
- Length: _________
- Time: _____:_____
- Length: _________
Supplies Needing Replenishing:
- Diapers
- Wipes
- Formula/Milk
- Cream
- Medicine: _______
- Clothes: ________
- Other: _________
Health and Mood
- Gassy
- Fussy
- Diaper Rash
- Fever
- Cold/Flu
- Vomiting
- Extra Tired
- Teething
- Sickness: _________
- Today's Overall Mood: __________
_____________ [Leave enough space for a substantial message]
Daycare Daily Report Sheet for Infants Template Text
Daily Report Sheet for Infants (0-6 mos.)
Child's Name: __________________________
Date: __________________________
Today I Felt: [Check/circle which is appropriate]
- Happy
- Irritable
- Fussy
- Tired
- Curious
- Sick
Feeding: [Include a list]
- What I ate
- When I ate it
- How much I ate
Diapers: [Include a list]
- Time of each diaper change
- Whether the diaper was dry, wet or included a bowel movement
Sleep: [List the start and end time(s) of any naps throughout the day]
Today I Played and Learned: [Activities done during the day]
Notes: [Any additional notes about the child that your staff noticed during the day. For example, concerns they have, friendships your child is forming or food they enjoyed eating.]
Please Bring More: [Check/circle items your daycare needs parents to bring in more of]
- Diapers
- Wipes
- Ointment
- Clothes
- Blankets
- Jars of food
- Formula
This format gives each parent a comprehensive view of their child's day at daycare and ensures they have everything they need.
Why Are Daycare Daily Report Sheets for Infants Important?
42% of children under the age of 1 spend at least one day a week in nonparental care. The majority of these infants attend daycare.
Looking after anyone's children is a huge responsibility; however, infants in particular require a lot of additional care. Letting parents know what happened during the day helps them care for their babies once they get home.
Every child care business has a legal duty of care to its infants and your report sheets show that you take this seriously. They also create a paper trail of infant care in your business in case a parent has a question.
However, these sheets don't just cover you legally. They also support the relationship of trust that you have with your daycare parents. They help your staff and parents communicate so everyone can work together to meet each child's needs.
It can be difficult to communicate all this information in a short space of time. Parents might not hear everything they need during pickup or drop-off, so your report sheets ensure that parents receive all the information they need.
Using daily report sheets for daycare effectively will help the children in your daycare grow, develop and (most importantly) enjoy themselves.
Sharing Infant Report Sheets
Staff at your daycare should fill out their daycare daily report sheets for infants throughout the day and make sure they are completed by the end of the day.
They can hand these to parents when they collect their children and answer any questions. If a staff member forgets to give a report sheet, they should send this digitally as soon as possible.
Alternatively, you can create digital report sheets to send to parents at the end of the day.
It is also a good idea to store digital copies of your daily report sheets for each child. That way, if a parent has a question in the future, you’ll have all the information you need.
Get 70+ Editable Daycare Templates for Almost Every Situation
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