Getting worried

[innisfildaycare]

Hi Ladies,

I found this article on MSN today.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/lynettes-family-daycares-licence-suspended-after-toddler-found-half-kilometre-away/ar-AAad3wU?ocid=iehp

This is dissapointing. I know there are two sides to all stories, but this is scary. I think very soon, in home daycares will be coming to a halt and that scares me, as parent and a caregiver.

How could this happen?

[Suzie_Homemaker]

I heard about this.

Sadly, not uncommon.

I hear lot of things. One carer I know about but not know in person, was recently caught leaving kids unattended!! I just have parents side of story but parent finish work early, go to get daughter from carer, just been there few weeks. Little girl was trying put on snow pants to come home! The carer not there. Carer come back few minutes later with own children who she went to meet off school bus!! There were three young children left in house, this little 18 month old and two 3 years olds. Carer admitted it. Parent pulled child immediately and contacted agency. Agency said they will monitor carer. They not even pulled her registration status. Mom is contacting Child Services.

I not think all care homes will come to halt. I do think that agencies need kick in bottom. Too many sure of themselves and hiding things.

If it had been unregistered carer, then Community services/licensing would be contacted directly. It make me wonder what else go on in agencies.

[babydom]

That's why I ALWAYS keep my front door lock. Always worried a kid will sneak out yeep! Don't worry about daycares closing. Yes they are becoming more strict but as long as u follow the rules all is good :)

[Van]

always lock your doors and gates if outside and do head counts to check on the kids
it seems like a lot of children are ready to wondering off night and day
are the locks on doors lower than the use to be in our day or what is going on?

[Lee-Bee]

I get the sense there were other 'issues' with this daycare but it is so easy for a child to just decide to open the door and wander. Whether in group care or at home. As adults we are responsible to make sure they know it is NOT allowed. My 28 month old DCG likes to open locks and doors and I get the sense home allows her to (they allow many things). It bothers me. She's never made any motion to leave here, but when we are getting ready to go out and play the second she is dressed she goes and unlocks the door and starts to open it. I have to firmly remind her that NO she is not allowed to open the door, she is to wait until everyone is ready and I will open the door.

I used to babysit for a 3yr old boy. One day when the local fair was in town (up the road) he woke up early, left the house in his pj's while his parents slept and went to the fair. He walked past the ticket entrance and roamed around. When his parents woke and found him gone they panicked and the dad went running to the fair to look. They had told him the night before he could go to the fair when he woke in the morning. To THEM that meant with them after everyone woke. To the 3yr old child it meant "when I wake I can go" so off he went!! No one thought to stop this child roaming around in his pjs. His parents were by no means neglectful, they were average folks raising a young child that thought he was doing what his parents said he could do! How scary is that. Anyways, point being that I see stories about toddlers wandering alone quite often lately and I realize that it really could happen to one of us, it is not just neglectful parenting!

That said, we need to take the proper precautions.

[kindertime]

I have a couple of wanderers here too. They do their wandering at home, though, and not because they are being neglected. I have to say, though, the parent that takes the cake on this...
I have a child proof cover on my doorknobs. It's the round kind that you have to squeeze to grip the knob underneath. One day, I had a dcm start to explain to her 2yo how to work it. I stopped her and told her this is not allowed. She just laughed. AHH! We are required by law to have our doors locked so when I get my new front door this spring, I am going to get them to put the deadbolt up at 5ft.

[bright sparks]

I get the sense there were other 'issues' with this daycare but it is so easy for a child to just decide to open the door and wander. Whether in group care or at home. As adults we are responsible to make sure they know it is NOT allowed. My 28 month old DCG likes to open locks and doors and I get the sense home allows her to (they allow many things). It bothers me. She's never made any motion to leave here, but when we are getting ready to go out and play the second she is dressed she goes and unlocks the door and starts to open it. I have to firmly remind her that NO she is not allowed to open the door, she is to wait until everyone is ready and I will open the door.

I used to babysit for a 3yr old boy. One day when the local fair was in town (up the road) he woke up early, left the house in his pj's while his parents slept and went to the fair. He walked past the ticket entrance and roamed around. When his parents woke and found him gone they panicked and the dad went running to the fair to look. They had told him the night before he could go to the fair when he woke in the morning. To THEM that meant with them after everyone woke. To the 3yr old child it meant "when I wake I can go" so off he went!! No one thought to stop this child roaming around in his pjs. His parents were by no means neglectful, they were average folks raising a young child that thought he was doing what his parents said he could do! How scary is that. Anyways, point being that I see stories about toddlers wandering alone quite often lately and I realize that it really could happen to one of us, it is not just neglectful parenting!

That said, we need to take the proper precautions.

When my son was 2, he opened the front door and wandered down the drive way. The only thing that stopped him in time for me to realize he was gone was that his dads tools were on the drive. This all happened in less than a minute that I took my eyes off him. He had never fiddled with door handles before and my older child had never tried to wander so I guess I'd just never thought that he might. Needless to say from that point on, we added bolts at the top of our main doors until he was old enough to comprehend that he wasn't allowed out the house without adult supervision. This was the first and only incident thank goodness but it became apparent very quickly that he was a wanderer till he was about 4!

I'm not sure reading anything in the media these days is going to give us a true and factual picture from all sides on an incident like this or any other. Clearly this shouldn't have happened, and there's more going on if she has been shut down, but it also happens really easily to those who are giving 100% and are not neglectful.

I am always amazed at how many people do not lock their doors. I understand I am coming from a different place where safety is more of an issue, but regardless, when in a job where you are liable for the wellbeing of others, even more so a higher risk sector such as children, why wouldn't you lock your doors?? One of my families back up provider keeps her door unlocked and has an open doors policy, a real open doors policy, not the kind where parents are free to come and go as they please but they have to ring the doorbell and granted access to the property, but come on in whenever you feel like it unbeknownst to me kinda setup. I actually have a clause that nobody shall enter my home without being let in. If on an occasion my door is unlocked, which is even rare on the weekends because it is auto pilot for me to lock it behind me now, they are not allowed to enter. This would only happen say if I have just nipped out to the car for something and there are no children here yet. I absolutely hate when a grandparent who doesn't know my policy comes to pick up and they knock on the door and then immediately I see the door handle going vigorously. You don't know me, why the hell would you think it's okay to just walk on up into my house even if it were unlocked. I think this is the height of rudeness.

[ebhappydc]

Not totally relevant but another thing to watch for most likely with your own children, if you pop outside for a second they may lock you out... I popped out front door to get a flyer on my front porch and my then 22 mnth old turned the deadbolt...I had water on stove coming to the boil for supper. . I sprinted to neighbour's holding my 8 mnth pregnant belly to call my husband home from work which was luckily 5 min away to come and open.

[Fun&care]

As scary as it is, this stuff happens ALL THE TIME, especially to parents. Less often to caregivers but when it does happen in a daycare setting it is all over the news, maybe rightfully so, I don't know.

When my sister was a toddler she opened the door at my grandmas, and walked across the busy street where they lived. A nice lady brought her back. They didn't even know she was gone, it all happened within minutes.

When I was a kid i would "collect" ladybugs. Our house backed onto a huge field. One day my parents lost track of me in the field because the grass was taller than me. They eventually found me (obviously!) but they were pretty freaked out!

Kids wander! It happens all the time. Most of the time everything turns out ok but unfortunately there are some sad instances where that isn't the case.

Like the one where there was an alcoholic dad watching his two toddlers. Dad passed out and toddlers wandered outside wearing nothing but a diaper and shirt, in -30-40 or something weather. They were found dead.

I think there was one just this winter who also went wandering in the middle of the night unbeknownst to his parents and I think the was found dead also.

just saying that this stuff happens to parents all the time, it just doesn't get splashed all over the media like it does when it happens at daycare. Which I kinda understand because we are held to a higher standard.

[AmandaKDT]

Not totally relevant but another thing to watch for most likely with your own children, if you pop outside for a second they may lock you out... I popped out front door to get a flyer on my front porch and my then 22 mnth old turned the deadbolt...I had water on stove coming to the boil for supper. . I sprinted to neighbour's holding my 8 mnth pregnant belly to call my husband home from work which was luckily 5 min away to come and open.

We keep a key hidden in our backyard for reasons like that. I have locked myself out of the house several times, just from being absent minded about grabbing my keys before leaving the house (often I just turn the door knob lock if I am just going to be in the backyard).

[AmandaKDT]

There have been daycare centres in Winnipeg that have had kids leave the daycare centre without the staff realizing it - so it isn't just a home daycare problem.