Do You Allow Unannounced Visits and/or Pick Up?

[AmyKidsCo]

I have an open door policy also and let parents know they can stop by anytime, but I do ask them to LMK if they're picking up early or planning to stop by so I can let their child know. Children don't do well with surprises.

[thrivingchildcarecom]

During a tour I will state that we have an open door policy. However, if a child gets upset and thinks that they are going to be leaving with the parent the parent will have to take them. I also advise them to avoid naptimes and to be respectful of the other children in care by not interrupting our schedule.

To be honest, in 13 years I have rarely had a parent follow-thru and take advantage of the open door policy.

[Meeko]

Unless a provider is willing to do a full background check on every parent, and have someone to supervise the parent every. single. second.....they are playing russian roulette with the safety of the kids in their care.

After having a registered sex offender (rape of a child) coming to my daycare daily to "hang out" with his daughter (who we found out later he was abusing)..I learned my lesson.

I was proud of my open door policy and invited parents to come and spend time with us, help out etc. All rainbows and unicorns.....

My "open door" policy allowed this monster to be around a bunch of kids. The man was well spoken and well educated. He gave no signs of being dangerous until his daughter starting opening up to us.

An investigation showed no apparent harm to any of the other children, but it sickened me to think of them hugging him etc. He was having a REAL good time with them hanging all over him.

My other daycare parents were very supportive and understanding of the situation and completely understood why I did a 180 on having a revolving door for parents.

But I have always wondered what would have happened if one of the kids had told their parents that Becca's dad "touched" them. These parents placed these kids in MY care. MY job to protect them. What if the parents had been out for blood and targeted me, because I happily let this guy be close to their kids???

I won't ever put myself or the kids in my care in that situation again.

I explain to interviewing parents that open door means they can drop off and pick up any time they like (I discourage nap time) but they NEVER get to hang out. They can do that at home.

[Ariana]

Unless a provider is willing to do a full background check on every parent, and have someone to supervise the parent every. single. second.....they are playing russian roulette with the safety of the kids in their care.

After having a registered sex offender (rape of a child) coming to my daycare daily to "hang out" with his daughter (who we found out later he was abusing)..I learned my lesson.

I was proud of my open door policy and invited parents to come and spend time with us, help out etc. All rainbows and unicorns.....

My "open door" policy allowed this monster to be around a bunch of kids. The man was well spoken and well educated. He gave no signs of being dangerous until his daughter starting opening up to us.

An investigation showed no apparent harm to any of the other children, but it sickened me to think of them hugging him etc. He was having a REAL good time with them hanging all over him.

My other daycare parents were very supportive and understanding of the situation and completely understood why I did a 180 on having a revolving door for parents.

But I have always wondered what would have happened if one of the kids had told their parents that Becca's dad "touched" them. These parents placed these kids in MY care. MY job to protect them. What if the parents had been out for blood and targeted me, because I happily let this guy be close to their kids???

I won't ever put myself or the kids in my care in that situation again.

I explain to interviewing parents that open door means they can drop off and pick up any time they like (I discourage nap time) but they NEVER get to hang out. They can do that at home.

I agree with this entirely! To me an open door policy means they can come and get their child at any time but I do not allow any parent to hang out unless invited by me to do so (maybe a parent has a special talent to share with the group like drawing or music). It is just way too risky.

On another note is this a common request for everyone to have people come and hang out? I have never had a parent request it before!

[Pepperth]

They can stop by early any time to pick up. They text me if it's at naptime because I'll have them use a different door. It makes my day easier and I like transparency.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

They may pick up at any time. But, if they are coming during nap time, I need to know so I can "sneak them out" without waking anyone else up.
I do not encourage them to drop in and leave. Although I did have a mom come up for lunch one day. She was having a rough time- had just lost a baby and wanted to see her daughter who was 3. I explained mom wanted to come have lunch with us (thankfully I had a lunch that day we could easily share with mom) when it was over her daughter told her it was naptime and that she had to go lay down. It worked well. I guess what I am saying is that I have policies but sometimes there is special. The kids LOVED having mom here that day but since 95% of the time our days are not with interruptions, they are not thrown off schedule when we do get interrupted.
My parents are at work and I am 20 minutes out of town so popping in really isn't practical for them!
I encourage early pick ups. I do ask though for a time frame if they know so their kids know. I hate to say we are going outside and have Johnny upset that mom got here. I also ask if someone else is picking up that I know so I can be sure Johnny knows and doesn't get upset.

[sharlan]

Parents may pick up at any time, but may not hang out.

[daycare]

Parents are always welcome to come at any time.

When they pick up they will do it like any other time. Get kids things and go.

Parents only have access to the walk in foyer also known as the parent area. I will get those child and they will be brought to the foyer where they will quickly gather Thjngs and go.

I discourage pick ups during nap time, would never with hold a child, but if you keep doing it you're gonna find new care. Don't disrupt our naps.

I allow parents to volunteer in the class room one at a time when possible. I have to basically babysit them 100% of the time and only allow about 30-45 min for them to come in.

It's not only for the child's safety, but the parents too.

I tell a parent what would you do if little billy goes home and tells his mom you hit him or worse?? This is why I have to be able to watch the parent while they are volunteering.

I also had a similar experience like Meeks, but sadly it was someone on my extended family.

[Josiegirl]

If parents want to come and hang out, create some family involvement times for all the dcfs to get together. I don't like it when a parent stays and stays, whether it's at d/o or p/u times. It disrupts our entire flow of the day. We're not on any strict schedule but if we start breakfast 30 minutes late, there goes our lengthy outside morning time. Plus I feel like I have to pay attention to the dcf while they're here so that means I'm not everywhere else that I should be. And you know how kids can be when a different person comes or the routine is flipped around a bit.
I can remember one potential dcm stayed and stayed one day, played outside with us and everything. I felt very uneasy about the whole thing and try to discourage that these days.
Now when a prospective dcf wants to stay 'awhile', I'll let them but I try to limit it to maybe 15 minutes to help their child get settled in. Or we start off care by doing just a couple hours or half a day to see how it goes, without mom here, then add on from there, to ease the child into our dc.
I still have 1 dcf who really plays into the whole 'my dds are crying so I need them to be happy before I can leave them' and I just feed the others on schedule. I hate it but deal with it. Very permissive parents and I'm sick of struggling with every rule with them. They're leaving for the summer very soon anyways and only have 1 more year here. They're not all bad and that's why I've kept them. Anyways......

Meeko's story scares me. And although we think we know our dcps, I guess ya never know.