Why don't daycares require seats at pick up?

jacqui276

New member
My daughter has gone to two daycares and neither do car seat checks. One was an amazing daycare that I loved (at one of the universities here) where all of the staff was fantastic. She was there from age 2 to 5. I went in to pick her up though, no one ever came out with me to ensure she was in a proper car seat. The teachers couldn't leave the daycare center or it would mess up their ratios. From age 5 to 7 she went to a daycare for before and after school care which I wasn't a big fan of but it was the only option. This daycare was the same way, I would park then walk in to get her and sign her out. Nobody would follow me out. I was appalled a few times seeing kids that were 3, 4, 5 years old getting into the front seat of a vehicle with just a seat belt.
I am a nurse and work on a couple of pediatric units here and on one of the units where we get tons of babies, we do a brief car seat check before they are discharged to make sure that the kids are buckled in appropriately and that the straps are tight enough (it is SCARY to see how some people strap their kids in!). If they are not in an appropriate car seat (i.e. it is expired), we are not allowed to refuse to discharge the infant, but we can recommend that they do not use that seat, tell them why, and offer to allow the baby to stay on the unit longer while they get a suitable car seat. I have never had parents refuse to get a seat that is safe for their baby if I tell them why their car seat is not safe. I also frequently get asked for help getting babies into the car seats (a lot of them were admitted at birth so have never used a car seat before) and I am not allowed to physically do it for them because of liability issues but can walk them through it.

For the person who mentioned that the teachers put the kids in the car seats, I'm surprised that they are allowed to. Legally if the parents get into an accident on their way home and their child is injured in any way, the parents can blame the teacher for not appropriately putting the child in the seat.
 
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emandbri

Well-known member
For the person who mentioned that the teachers put the kids in the car seats, I'm surprised that they are allowed to. Legally if the parents get into an accident on their way home and their child is injured in any way, the parents can blame the teacher for not appropriately putting the child in the seat.

I know. I did do a training for some of the teachers to teach them how to put the kids in but it wasn't mandatory and only some of the teachers took the class.

The straps on the kids' seats were frequently twisted which bugged me. I moved Benjamin to the center seat of the middle row so I could buckle him in myself but when Elizabeth went she was still rear-facing. I thought about it and decided twisted straps on a rear-facing seat was safer than turning her forward.
 

Malka

New member
At my son's school, the teachers buckle the kids in. They don't usually loosen the straps, so it's still as tight as I had it. I'm lucky that my britax's straps don't twist much, so that hasn't been a problem. Although I did have one of the teachers tell me to turn my 2 year old DS around FF. I told her that it's much safer to have a child RF and that since he wasn't complaining or car sick, there was absolutely no reason to turn him. She probably still thinks I'm crazy, but she buckles him in and doesn't say anything :)
 

KaysKidz

Senior Community Member
I know it's not feasible for all daycares/schools to monitor use. But ours doesn't even address it. I've done a seat check once for them and the parents were less than enthusiastic. They truly don't want to be bothered to transport their kids even remotely correct. I'm not asking for rf'ing 2yrs old...or harnessed 4yr olds. Heck, at this point I would be happy if they had a non-expired seat of SOME kind and quit putting their kids in the front seat.

I wish they would at least put it in the manual and maybe have a few posters up...but no...they can't even do that. :( Maybe I'll make up a flyer for them and they can at least put it in the cubbies.
 

keri1292

Well-known member
I worked at a daycare that was open until 11pm. We had to give children to parents even if they were visibly intoxicated. And then we called 911. That was all that we were legally allowed to do. :(
 

oliviacw

New member
keri1292 said:
I worked at a daycare that was open until 11pm. We had to give children to parents even if they were visibly intoxicated. And then we called 911. That was all that we were legally allowed to do. :(

Oh wow! Our daycare center paperwork explicitly states that they will not give a child to someone who is intoxicated. And they are only open til 6:30 pm!
 

jacqui276

New member
I worked at a daycare that was open until 11pm. We had to give children to parents even if they were visibly intoxicated. And then we called 911. That was all that we were legally allowed to do. :(

Wow that is terrible! At least in my line of work at the hospital, we don't allow intoxicated parents to take their children home... we call security and social work and in some cases, the kids get apprehended! Then again, the same type of resources aren't available in a day care setting. I would feel sick allowing a child to get in the car and go home with an intoxicated parent.
 

Kobain's Mommy

Well-known member
The center's I worked at closed at 6 and we weren't allowed to hand children over to an intoxicated parent. At that point the parent could call the cops but would end up in jail anyways. Only once did we not allow a parent, intoxicated mom, to take the child. She stormed out we call the cops and then dad(they were divorced) to come pick up.
 

KaiLing

New member
Day care licensing laws do cover transportation, so if there are transportation issues involved in field trips or other situations where the center is in charge of the children (and we're talking about a licensed facility), you can always call the state agency in charge and make a complaint. I have found those social workers to be wonderful, generally speaking (though that's just one experience), very concerned about parents' concerns and very thankful that a parent took the time to call (it seems that here they don't get enough feedback, rather than the opposite).

That said, signing students out to other parents to put in their cars seems to be the norm here, rather than having a van or bus to do transportation, and then they've given your child over to someone else (with your permission on the permission sheet), and they're not transporting, so the licensing rules aren't enforced or enforcable.

But I do encourage parents to look up the state rules and take advantage of these civil servants. Worst case you're out a single phone call. Best case you help a kid.
 

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