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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>How Much Time Would You Allow?
EntropyControlSpecialist 12:06 PM 04-25-2013
I'm thinking about when I go into labor now (I still have a ways to go). If I go into labor during business hours, how much time do I give the parents to arrive at the daycare?

They are permitted 45 minutes to come and get their child if they are called due to the child being ill and are then charged $1.00/minute late fee after that point in time. Would 45 minutes be fair for this?

What happens if a family is magically stuck in traffic (I have a repeat offender who uses this excuse) for a long while? I don't transport the children while they're here so I do not have carseats.
It will take me 30 minutes to get to the birthing center I am going to.
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TheGoodLife 12:41 PM 04-25-2013
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
I'm thinking about when I go into labor now (I still have a ways to go). If I go into labor during business hours, how much time do I give the parents to arrive at the daycare?

They are permitted 45 minutes to come and get their child if they are called due to the child being ill and are then charged $1.00/minute late fee after that point in time. Would 45 minutes be fair for this?

What happens if a family is magically stuck in traffic (I have a repeat offender who uses this excuse) for a long while? I don't transport the children while they're here so I do not have carseats.
It will take me 30 minutes to get to the birthing center I am going to.
Do you have a close neighbor/ friend/ family member that could get there really quickly? Or more than one, that way you have an emergency plan.

Either way, I would have a discussion one-on-one with each family, and explain that they should be thinking of a back-up plan for themselves, to get someone to the house to PU kids very quickly if an emergency arose. I've been induced with all 3 of my girls, but my last 2 both come within 30 minutes of my water breaking, so I have a HUGE fear of giving birth quickly if my water ever broke on its own. It usually doesn't happen that fast, but you never know! It's best to have a Plan A (B, C, ...)
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EntropyControlSpecialist 12:46 PM 04-25-2013
I have a huge fear of labor progressing extremely quickly as well ... especially since I'll be taking a special tonic during the last 5 weeks of my pregnancy and the fact that everyone in my life has had a VERY speedy labor this year (whether it be their first child or fifth).

My Mom could get here within 35-40 minutes, which is about as good as having the parents get here.

Unfortunately, the last person two people to sub for me very likely WON'T be available once I go into labor due to their own jobs. They might, but it's likely they won't as they haven't been for the past 6+ months.

I wonder if I could ask one of the parents (that is a rule follower and trustworthy) if they could watch the other children until the other parents arrived and I would discount their tuition by a day for their next payment??? Money is not a huge incentive for who I am thinking of as that family gifts me things on a regular basis (food, items, etc.) but it's the only thing I can think of giving. The big issue would be training. In order to leave the children with someone else they HAVE to have CPR and First Aid certification which I don't think that parent has. Insert panicy pregnant lady here...

Hmmm. For those that work far away, I wonder if I could talk to them about asking ANOTHER daycare family who is able to pick up quickly if they would be willing to watch their child until they were able to arrive (naturally, that family would have to be on their emergency contacts/pick-up list for this). I feel like I need for them to arrive within 15-30 minutes, but wonder if that is just plain unreasonable.
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butterfly 12:48 PM 04-25-2013
I agree to Mama2bella. See if you can have a back up person come in during that time as children are getting picked up. Or even one of your dc parents, if you could trust them enough to stay the few minutes until everyone was picked up.

With my first son, my water broke while I was having lunch with my husband at a restuarant. It still took 12 hours after that before he was born.

My second son only took 3 hours, but I had to have my water broke.

45 minutes would have given me plenty of time, but I'd never depend upon the parents to be reliable enough to come on time/quick enough.

Especially with your first child, you just never know how quickly things will happen.
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Country Kids 12:49 PM 04-25-2013
Man, this is a hard one! Mine have all ranged in two day labor till one hour. My husband barely got home and me to the hospital before baby arrived!!!

Maybe tell all parents that when you need to make the call have their emergency back ups pick up.
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littlemissmuffet 12:56 PM 04-25-2013
I would tell parents they need to have someone (doesn't have to be the parent) pick their child up within 30 minutes. Period.

My daughter came very quickly.
My sister gave birth within a hour for all three of her children. The doctors all say she was "made for making babies".

It's best that you are as prepared as possible (having a back up person come in the event a parent is late picking up) and the parents are prepared as possible (have back ups to pick up children in the event they cannot get there on time).
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EntropyControlSpecialist 01:56 PM 04-25-2013
I am going to make a special sheet that states how much time they have (or someone on their emergency contacts list has) to pick up their child and it is their duty to notify the person on their emergency contacts list to pick up their child if they are unable to.
They will need to list what cell phone numbers they want me to text message upon going into labor (I cannot call 8 families as quickly as I can text message them) and sign it.

I need to think about what else to include (like, a late fee).

I'll make sure they look at their emergency contacts sheet to make sure it is as up to date as possible as I CANNOT release a child to someone who is not on that list.
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AmyKidsCo 02:00 PM 04-25-2013
Is this your first baby? My labor with #3 was 2 hours, and 1 hour with #4 so I arranged for my mom to sub when I was pregnant with #5 & #6. We ended up inducing though, because of my history of fast labor. I was afraid I'd give birth on the front lawn, LOL!
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mom2many 02:08 PM 04-25-2013
I would definitely try to have someone close by who could take over for you until all of the parents arrived or make sure that the parents have a reliable person who could come at a moments notice for your own peace of mind!

My middle child arrived 6 weeks early. My pregnancy had been totally normal and w/o warning my water broke after church on a Sunday afternoon, so thankfully I had no daycare kids that day!

My last child had to be induced and was 2 weeks overdue. That was easy and stress free having it scheduled!

In both cases, the parents were advised that they would have to come immediately to pick up if I went into labor, but I did have my neighbor on stand by just in case I needed her to take over. (This was also before licensing had the CPR & first aid requirement, so this wasn't an issue) I think it is always smart to have several contingency plans!
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AfterSchoolMom 05:47 PM 04-25-2013
I'd make the late fee super high - like, three times your normal one. That way maybe they'll think twice before trying to pull "traffic" on you.

Does everyone work in the same general area? How long does it take them to get there? Now would be the time for them to tell their bosses that they may have to up and leave.
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Cradle2crayons 06:52 PM 04-25-2013
Question : do you know anyone who IS first aid and CPR certified that could come.

If not, would someone be willing to get that done for you? Maybe offer to pay for it? I say that because it's reasonably priced to get that done here.

If not, call licensing and ask them their opinion.

I don't have that issue here, although I am CPR first aid and so is my husband. My backup person isn't.
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rmc20021 07:09 PM 04-25-2013
In Michigan we have to have a letter signed by a person who would be our back up person in the event of an emergency...does not have to have cpr/first aid.

Check your rules as well. It's different here for an emergency backup than a sub or assistant.

Maybe you could get a signed letter from all families stating it would be ok for the first parent to arrive to stay with the other kids until their own pick up arrived??? That way you could leave as soon as ANYBODY showed up.
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