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  1. #1
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    Posting anonymously for a user

    I recently went to see a home daycare provider and she told me that she needed to leave her front door unlocked for emergency purposes. What emergency? Will my child walk out the front door? There wasn't even one of those child proof locks on the handle!

  2. #2
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    Did you ask what emergency purposes she is speaking of? I always lock my door, I don't want strangers walking in or kids walking out.

    Very weird in my book, the only time my door is unlocked is when we are out front playing and kids can run in go use the washroom but I'm close to the door.

  3. #3
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    I am a person who always locks my doors, windows, everything! That's how I was raised. But I know other people who never bother to lock their doors regularly, so it sounds like you have met someone who thinks that way.

    As a home daycare provider, I have my eyes and ears on my 5 daycare children at all times. There may be older ones who are able to go to the bathroom by themselves and come back to the toyroom but otherwise we are all together in the toyroom, naproom or dining room or outside as a group. I have to make bathroom trips and prepare and clean up crafts & meals but the children are never out of my line of vision for very long. That's why my work days are so long, because I have food and craft prep at night along with all my housework.

    If I were you I would be questioning the HDCP's you interview about their systems and routines and daily methods about how they do these things I mentioned. If the locks on the doors are your only concern with the caregiver then talk to her honestly about how you feel. You have to find the caregiver who matches your needs and you have to trust her completely with your child. There are so many issues to cover, this is only one small area.
    Frederick Douglass
    It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

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  5. #4
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    I am also one that always keeps my doors locked as I feel it is safer, but it isn't so much to keep the kids in because, like Momof4, they are never unsupervised and would never have access to the door at any time. It's more to keep strangers out...I know it's paranoid, but you can never be sure! I wonder what kind of emergency this provider is talking about...maybe she feels safer knowing that firefighters or police would be able to quickly and easily get in through the door if need be? Or maybe she wants the kids to be able to get out in the event of fire if she is unable to get out herself? I am just guessing, but I think if you like the provider when it comes ot everything else, these are questions worth asking.

  6. #5
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    Ladies come on give me a break, mine are never un supervised as well but how do you go to the bathroom. When putting down kids for a nap etc... It only takes a few seconds for someone to unlock a door.

    My DD answered the door once when she was 3 and I was on the john, it was a daycare Dad and boy was my face red.

  7. #6
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    Skysue, my daycare is in the basement and the gate is across the stairs. There is no door in my basement, so literally, the kids have no way to get to a door in the first place even if I am in the bathroom. For my own kids' safety, we actually have chain locks installed at the tops of our outside doors so that they cannot open the doors when people ring the bells etc. as my own kids do have free run of the house, especially during non-daycare hours. But, the daycare kids NEVER have any chance to open those doors because they are not on the mainfloor except for when we go out and then I am with them and we all go together.

  8. #7
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    If you consistently leave your front door unlocked it is only a matter of time before one of the daycare kids manages to find their way out. Unsafe and irresponsible.
    "The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice." - Peggy O'Mara

  9. #8
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    Not sure about the rules in other provinces but I do know from my yahoo chat groups that the rules for many US licensed home daycares is that the doors are to remain unlocked with the idea that athorities could enter unannounced at any time and so can parents meaning they have immediate access to their children. A locked door means a caregiver could be hiding something or doing something and make it right just before answering the door.

    Now having said that my door is locked except during the drop off and pickups that happen close together but there is a gate between the children and the door that is closed at all times. I expect parents to ring the bell and me to answer it. I think it is rude just to walk in. This is my home first and a daycare second. The child belongs in my daycare but the parent is a guest in my home.

  10. #9
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    If I'm home my doors are not locked.

  11. #10
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    My doors are always locked. Still I have an "open door policy". If parents show up they are welcomed anytime. When there is an emergency and 911 has to be called usually fire fighters are coming too. They are capable to push the door out if needed in an emergency.
    Last edited by Artsand crafts; 04-20-2013 at 07:53 PM.

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