Transporting Without Booster Seat

[Persephone]

I called mom this morning. Since I don't know when is a good time to call her since she works nights and seems to sleep at different times on different days. She said she forgot to bring on by over the weekend. She's really good about forgetting to do things.

She said she had an extra one at the house that she could leave with me. But she wasn't able to bring one today. Since I had a booster for the other little girls I watch was able to pick him up with a seat. My husband is home and was able to watch the others while I ran to get him.

She didn't act like she had a problem at all with it.

[MarinaVanessa]

I feel it's up to you to provide proper restraints for each age of child. If you don't have them, you shouldn't be transporting kids in your vehicle.

Hmm ... I guess I feel that parent's put way too much and expect way too much from their child care providers. I feel that it is the parent's responsibility to have the appropriate carseats/boosters for their own children and leave them at daycare. I take my daycare kids to parks and community events and regularly take them on short firld trips. If the child isn't dropped off with a child seat then I won't accept the child. I won't risk driving around with a child in my car without a carseat and if one child doesn't have a carseat ... why should we have to cancel an outing and have the rest of the kids be punished.:confused:

[Lucy]

Obviously there are different schools of thought on this. I respect your opinion and it is entirely valid for you. I just think it's such a hassle to have to install all the carseats when you get ready to leave. Some of them are a pain in the butt and take a few minutes EACH. What are the kids doing while you're outside tangling with seatbelts in your vehicle? And, if the parents provide the carseat each day, this means they have to take it out of their car every morning and put it back in at night. Even if they provide you one when you first start caring for their child, that means they had to purchase an extra carseat, which they take back when their child leaves your care. Why have numerous parents buy numerous carseats when you can have your own on hand and use them for each kid as they come along?

Another thought is.. undoubtedly you'd have a parent who would say they couldn't afford an extra - they have one for their car, one for dad's car, and maybe even one for grandma's car - they just can't manage buying another. You say you would turn them down. Well, I don't know about you, but unless the family is undesirable in some other fashion, I can't afford to turn people away for something like lack of a carseat.

Also, assuming the parent brings the carseat on a daily basis, you'd never be ready to leave your house quickly in case of emergency. I had a situation where the house behind me was leaking gas and the fire dept. banged on my door and said to leave NOW. If I didn't have carseats already installed, it would've taken me 10 minutes to get ready. Instead it took me about 2 at the most to buckle everyone in.

Again, it's just a matter of viewpoint.

[Lucy]

In re-reading your post, I realize you do have them bring carseats each day. Again, that sounds like a huge hassle for you and for the parents. My other thought is that if they don't have one to leave with you that day, that means they came without one, and you should report them.

I fully agree that the other kids should not suffer because one kid can't go on a trip. That's why it's best - for me, anyway - to have various sizes of carseats available for them. And the proper carseats remain strapped in my van according to what kids I currently watch. I didn't buy these carseats brand new... a couple were at garage sales, a couple were passed on to me when kids grew out of them, etc. It's a good investment, in my opinion.

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.

Oh, and yes, I watch for recalls and number of years I keep them. I know somebody would've mentioned that if I didn't point it out.

[gbcc]

Ideally it would be nice to have all the carseats strapped in due to an emergency but for most that is just not feasible. I have a van but I also have 2 children that do not use car seats and don't want to be sandwitched between them. Not only that, my van will seat 3 in the back and 3 in the middle but that doesn't get me far since I am licensed for 12 and including my 2 that equals 14 children.

I do have an assistant that will help me supervise and transport on field trips. Over the years I have car seats that I have gotten along side the road for free. For the most part I prefer to use mine because I have learned how they work and can get them adjusted rather quickly now compared to one I have never used. I do ask parents that if I have a lot of children and not enough seats to supply one at drop off. I do have one parent that feels more comfortable with me using her car seat vs. my own and I can understad that and accomodate for her.

I think it is very much personal preference though. For me, my family comes first so I wont keep the van filled with car seats and daycare items. My child should be free to sit where he wants outside of business hours. I also wont waste my family time unhooking and rehooking up car seats everytime I want to go somewhere. Over the years I have learned that come 5:30 that is family time and I refuse to do anything daycare related. They give up enough time when they share me with other families.