Little Friends Nursery & Day Care Center

As a parent, I’ve been really happy with this daycare. The staff treats the kids with genuine care and patience, and you can tell they know what they’re doing. My child comes home excited, talking about the activities they did, and that kind of spark is hard to fake. The routines are steady, communication is clear, and the environment feels safe and well-organized. Drop-off and pick-up run smoothly, and I always feel like I’m leaving my child with people who actually pay attention — not just supervising, but engaging. If you’re looking for a place that feels warm, reliable, and structured the way a good daycare should be, this is the one. My child has grown a lot here, and I’m grateful for that. Feel kind of.

Our experience with Little Friends Daycare has been amazing! The caring and friendly staff create a warm, nurturing environment. We love receiving daily pictures of our kids and appreciate the thoughtful lesson planning and creative artwork they bring home. Events like the Christmas concert are a wonderful touch, making special memories for us. We’re so grateful for the dedication and effort put into making each day fun and enriching!

I am writing this review to share my personal experience with Little Friends Daycare, in hopes that it may be helpful for other families seeking consistent and professional childcare. When I enrolled my child, I was informed that the facility opened at 7:00 AM for drop-off (and is the facility’s advertised opening time). However, on several occasions, staff did not arrive until 7:15 AM or later. This pattern caused delays that impacted my work schedule. On one occasion, I was told by a staff member that I needed to “give her time to open” before bringing my child in—even after the stated drop-off time—despite this conflicting with the original agreement. There were also challenges related to the daycare’s illness policy. For example, my child was sent home due to hand, foot, and mouth disease. Although I provided a doctor’s note clearing him to return, he was not permitted to return, which extended his absence unnecessarily and created scheduling difficulties. Additionally, the daycare had a number of early and unscheduled closures, sometimes with limited notice. These closures made it difficult to arrange alternate care on short notice and caused disruptions to my work responsibilities. What’s most concerning is that I was still required to pay for care during these times, even when services weren't being provided. The lack of flexibility or reimbursement for missed days placed an unfair burden on me as a single mother while also having to find short-notice alternative care. Care concerns also arose. My child frequently came home with diaper rash, which led me to question the frequency and attentiveness of diaper changes during the day. I was concerned about my child's hygiene at this daycare, as he would often come home smelling like feces, which led me to question whether the staff were properly wiping him after diaper changes. On one occasion, my child bit another child—a behavior that is not uncommon in toddlers—but the response from staff was concerning. I was told that my child was placed in a crib following the incident, and an incident report was completed. I was contacted and told to pick up my son after this incident. When I arrived he was still in his crib. I expected a more developmentally appropriate and supportive approach to behavior guidance from a facility that’s been operating since 1988. I also encountered communication issues that I found troubling. During a phone conversation, I was told by a senior staff member that my child should not return, as the program was "clearly not meeting [my] needs." This was unexpected and left me uncertain about the security of my child's placement. Furthermore, I was informed that my account was past due, despite having records showing payment for the full month. The owner was extremely difficult to get a hold of and was not present in the facility unless there was a holiday event happening. Rather than engaging in a constructive dialogue to address ongoing concerns—such as repeated late openings, inconsistencies in the illness policy, frequent unexpected closures, and the resulting impact on working parents—the owner often responded with explanations that felt more like excuses than solutions. Instead of acknowledging the challenges these issues created for families and discussing ways to improve communication or reliability, the focus was frequently shifted toward justifying the circumstances, leaving little room for meaningful resolution or accountability. Additionally, the fact that the owner is one of the five-star reviewers for this daycare raises concerns about the authenticity of the reviews and the transparency of the facility's reputation. While I understand that no daycare is perfect and unexpected situations do arise, the cumulative impact of these issues—delayed openings, inconsistent policies, unpredictable closures, and breakdowns in communication—significantly affected my family. I hope this feedback is taken constructively and encourages improvements in transparency, consistency, and professional communication moving forward.

I gave one star as there was one teacher there that was nice to my daughter. However, we left Little Friends after 5 days of "care". The director, Ashley, was incredibly rude, unprofessional and did not have any customer service skills. My infant daughter was there for 8 hours, and was only given 1 diaper change. I would absolutely not recommend sending my child here.

I love having my children attend Little Friends Springfield the staff is very courteous and the daycare center is very clean