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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>After Reading This Article, if I Ever Have a No Call / No Show..
Breezy 02:18 PM 03-23-2012
I will always call them to double check that everything is okay.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...701549_pf.html (WARNING: Child death mentioned; reader beware!--Mod)
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JenNJ 03:07 PM 03-23-2012
That article was very powerful. Thanks for sharing.

I always call 30 minutes after an expected arrival for this reason alone.
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SilverSabre25 03:14 PM 03-23-2012
This made me cry several times reading it and I had to take a break in the middle.

I will always call 30 minutes after an expected drop-off.
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Michael 03:17 PM 03-23-2012
Awful and tragic. A company needs to create a device in the car for parents that can monitor heat, oxegen and carbon dioxide. It should set off the car alarm if it reaches a critical level.
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daycare 03:29 PM 03-23-2012
OMG that is so sad. It was too long for me to read all the way down, but I am on board with the rest of you...

Good thing I am so annul and I always call parents just after being 15 min late...lol See me being a pain in the you know what would have paid off for this family...

I feel so bad for that father...................I would want to die too
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Heidi 03:49 PM 03-23-2012
This is what I meant the other day when someone asked our policy. I think I will save this article and email to the next parent who shows up an hour late without a phone call!

no...maybe I wont. But, I'll want to...just can't be that mean...
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Zoe 04:08 PM 03-23-2012
I had a dcd drive all the way to work, then see his son in the backseat and had to drive back. Thank God he did! How scary! He was a little bit flustered. I do always call or text if parents are late and am a bit of a pest about it until I get an answer.

Thanks for sharing!
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Mary Poppins 05:03 PM 03-23-2012
Originally Posted by SilverSabre25:
This made me cry several times reading it and I had to take a break in the middle.

I will always call 30 minutes after an expected drop-off.
Me too!! I bawled at the part about the girl pulling her hair out. I am tearing up just thinking about her. Ugh!!!!
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PitterPatter 05:26 PM 03-23-2012
Originally Posted by Breezy:
I will always call them to double check that everything is okay.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...701549_pf.html (WARNING: Child death mentioned; reader beware!--Mod)
OMG I can't even read it all, just the few stories..

I just wanted to say thank you for sharing it. I didn't want to read it because I hate getting that deep sorrow state of mind but what grabbed me was the No call no show. I had a couple parents do this a lot in the past. I finally stopped calling and started charging fees. I will call from now on because it could be the difference in a childs life. Thank you Breezy!!
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Breezy 05:36 PM 03-23-2012
Originally Posted by Breezy:
I will always call them to double check that everything is okay.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...701549_pf.html (WARNING: Child death mentioned; reader beware!--Mod)
Thank you for adding the warning, Silver. I thought about it right after posting but my tablet hates editing.
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MyAngels 08:13 PM 03-23-2012
This article makes me want to go out and buy one of these for my new granddaughter:

http://www.babyalert.info/index.php?...somng9teuuik76
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Breezy 08:18 PM 03-23-2012
I think that should be a must have for all parents
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Heidi 06:23 AM 03-24-2012
Originally Posted by MyAngels:
This article makes me want to go out and buy one of these for my new granddaughter:

http://www.babyalert.info/index.php?...somng9teuuik76
In WI, dcps' are required to have an alarm system installed in our vehicle if there is a 3rd row seat (actually, and vehicle over 6 passenger, so that translates to 3rd row). I wonder if this sytem (it's available as multi) could be used?

The systems most people have a really impractical, IMO. You have to open the back hatch and push a button to deactivate it once all the children are out, which means you are NOT watching the kids while you're messing with the hatch & button. If you don't all the car alarms and lights go on... Freaking out the kids, while most adults walk by rolling their eyes.

Oddly enough, the school bus drivers only need to check the bus after it is unloaded and put a placard (red sign) in the back window that says "this bus has been checked for sleeping children". But, then, at the moment (I think it's changing), we throw 60 kids in a tin-can without seat belts and call that safe, while a personal vehicle must have seat belts, car seats, booster seats until age 8...yeah...
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Crazy8 12:44 PM 03-24-2012
I do always call. Years ago I read on some daycare forums they were trying to institute the "kate boe" policy - in where you would ALWAYS call a parent if they did not arrive when scheduled. I remember printing it up and giving it to all my parents. Kate Boe was a baby girl who died in the back of her mom's minivan when she forgot to drop her off at daycare back in 2005 or 2006 I think. Had her daycare called to ask where Kate was she could possibly be alive today!

Such a sad tragedy!!
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MissK 08:43 AM 03-26-2012
Wow...thats really all I can say after reading that. I could never imagine how these parents feel. I will definitely be making it a priority to call parents if they do not drop off at scheduled time. So sad...
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MrsB 10:04 AM 03-26-2012
Oh this is just so sad. I totally empathize with these parents. I dont think there is any amount of punishment that society can inflict on these parents that is any worse than the guilt they already feel.

A similar situation happened to me one time. When I worked outside the home, I always dropped the baby off at daycare and my husband dropped the older 2 off at school. My husband was out of town that week so Monday I dropped baby off and drove to work. My older 2 said Mom I thought we were going to school, why are we at your work? I was totally embarrassed. They were even talking and making noise in the back seat during the drive. I was just on auto pilot, I guess. From that point on, I always changed up my routine. Drove a different route, would take DD to the store first, or get gas first. Leave at different times, 5-10 minutes earlier just because. Every once in awhile I would change her carseat from one side of the car to the other. Just always switching up my routine so I never get complacent. A simple mistake can have such drastic consequences.
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gelbesonn 10:19 AM 03-26-2012
I didn't read the article, but I can imagine what it says based on the posts. I am pg and won't be an emotional mess! Though a year or so ago, there was an article in a parent mag about something similar. I will call or txt parents i they are late to make sure everything is ok. Luckily I have pretty diligent parents and they contact me before hand when their kid isn't coming.
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Hunni Bee 10:33 AM 03-26-2012
We had a case here a couple years back where the daycare van driver picked up the child from home but instead.of dropping the child off at daycare, he drove the van home and went inside, leaving the child to bake in the van all day. They only realized what happened when the child's mother called late that evening looking for.the boy.

It was a horrible situation. But it was soo preventable. The driver, who was.the owners son, never checked the van to see was anyone left on it...the daycare staff never called to see why had the van gone out and not come back, and whether the child was coming or not. They were dealt with....daycare shut down and both imprisoned.

The positive thing is they bumped up training for van drivers and the rest of us on how to prevent tragedies like that.
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Childminder 10:58 AM 03-26-2012
Originally Posted by Michael:
Awful and tragic. A company needs to create a device in the car for parents that can monitor heat, oxegen and carbon dioxide. It should set off the car alarm if it reaches a critical level.
You could do this Michael. Invent it and make millions!
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Mommy2One 11:58 AM 03-26-2012
Originally Posted by MrsB:
A similar situation happened to me one time. When I worked outside the home, I always dropped the baby off at daycare and my husband dropped the older 2 off at school. My husband was out of town that week so Monday I dropped baby off and drove to work. My older 2 said Mom I thought we were going to school, why are we at your work? I was totally embarrassed. They were even talking and making noise in the back seat during the drive. I was just on auto pilot, I guess.
I almost did the same thing, but I didn't make it all the way to work. Our daughter is only in care 3 days/wk and we had just switched from a babysitter coming to our house to me dropping her off at the provider's. It'd been a rough morning plus I was tired and my daughter who normally talks non-stop was being super quiet in the backseat. It was our 4th or 5th day with the new arrangment so I wasn't hyper aware of the change but it wasn't yet routine and I totally went in auto pilot mode and missed the highway exit for her provider's house by a mile or two. I immediately felt terrible because I read a similar story in a parenting magazine, and at the time, wondered how anyone could forget their child was in the car.

I've heard that it's a good idea to put something of your child's in the front seat with you until you drop them off. Or to put something that you need for the work day (purse, briefcase, office keys) in the backseat with the child.
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Tags:article, carbon dioxide, safety
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