Belly Button Babies & Bakery Daycare at Copper Mountain

"Great ski resort daycare"

The Copper Mountain Daycare is divided into several areas – the lily pad room for infants and young toddlers for playing, a crib room so babies can nap undisturbed, a nursing room for visiting moms, and a large toddler side that doubles as their lunch room and nap area. The daycare is not a licensed daycare in the State of Colorado however it does adhere to the state rules and guidelines. This includes the child to adult ratio (which was actually better than what’s required by law), meal and nutrition guidelines, and cleanliness specifications (toys for this age group must be washed daily with bleach water).

The areas are filled with shelves of age appropriate activities and when the kids exhaust the shelf options, out come large tubs of toys for even more fun. The favorites in the room were the tricycles available for indoor driving, the large dollhouse, train table, and a terrific reading area filled with books and toddler-sized sofa chairs and ottomans. If children have special comfort items parents are encouraged to bring them in for their child. If your child isn’t particular about their blankets for nap, the daycare will provide them.

We stopped  by the daycare the afternoon before my son would be spending the day there so we knew where to go, he could meet his “teacher”, and we could find out if anything needed to be done in advance. The staff was upbeat and very engaging with the kids. His “teacher”, Miss Katie, made a special point to talk to my son and not just to the grown-ups. She told him about several of the activities and toys they offered and told him they were looking forward to playing with him the next day. I thought this introduction was super!

The day my two-year old visited the Belly Button Bakery, there were five children present ages two to four, and three caregivers. Upon arriving, I loaded his cubby with extra clothes (my son is potty training and has the daily accident or two), his cold weather gear, and sunscreen. After completing three papers and advising the staff on his little habits and translating some of his common misunderstood words, we moved into the back room to say goodbye. Drop off was a little rough for us, but that was because it was different from our normal daycare drop-off routine (usually he gets to take his sister to her room first, but today he had to go first). Miss Katie spent the first 30 minutes after drop off one on one with him to help ease the transition.  She comforted him and tried to get him engaged in various activities. After that, other children started to arrive and he found some friends to play with.

My son loved riding tricycles inside, making slime, and going for a tambourine parade up and down the hallway of the Copper Mountain Offices. The daycare has a fenced off area outside at the bottom of the ski run for the kids to play in. However, if the temperature is below 20 degrees, the kids will not go outside. On this particular day, the temperature never got above 20 degrees, so the kids had to stay inside the whole day. There were no infants in the center the day we were there, so the gates and doors  between rooms were open and the kids were allowed to move between the two play areas.

Lunch was a delicious meal of juice, chicken, rice, and yummy veggies. Snacks were simple, consisting of cookies, Goldfish crackers, or other finger foods and juice or water. Toddler naptime was scheduled to follow lunchtime, which was perfect for us since this is the same routine our normal daycare follows and was very familiar to my son. I arrived a little bit before 4pm to pick him up and was greeted by the caregiver who read me his daily report, which included what he had for lunch, how long he napped, the last time he went potty, how many accidents he had, how many times he successfully went potty, and his favorite activities that day. My son loved his day at the daycare. He kept saying goodbye to the teachers and his new friends and would have been perfectly happy staying longer. He did not return to the daycare the following day, but had that been the schedule, he would have happily returned.

The overall feeling of the daycare was very comfortable, friendly, and secure. I highly recommend dropping off your infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (that don’t want to ski) into the Belly Button Bakery. Outside of the daycare, there seemed to be very few indoor activities for this age group. The daycare is on the pricey side, but by far offers the best experience for the younger, non-skiing crowd.

Tips:
•The daycare does not serve milk – if you want your child to have milk for lunch you have to provide this. For infants you will need to provide enough pre-made bottles for the day. If your child is particular about sippy cups you are also asked to provide their favorites.
•For the three to six year old age group ski school is the other option for daytime activities. If your child is not interested in skiing or attends the first day and really doesn’t want to go back, reservations can still be made for the following day at the daycare at the reduced rate.
•A babysitting service is also available and a list of available babysitters can be picked up at the Belly Button Bakery.
•The following website is a fantastic resource to review prior to dropping kids off at the daycare. http://www.coppercolorado.com/winter/events_and_activities/childcare/BBB_Frequently_Asked_Questions_2008-2009.pdf
•Cancellations may be made outside of 24 hours with a 90% refund per child. Cancellations made within 24 hours will result in full charges.
•Children must be temperature and diarrhea free to attend the daycare. Parents will immediately be contacted for pick-up should children start to exhibit these symptoms while in care.