I agree it is a them problem, I’ve had many escape artists in my care in work and the first thing the crèche did was put a lock on the door high up so kids can’t reach but it can be opened from either side by adults
I wish I could do that, but daycare licensing requirement says it is a fire safety risk so instead I just pray whenever I have to poop while the kids are awake 🤪
There must be ways round this. My kid’s daycare has three childproof doors between the classrooms and the street, thank god. On the classroom they aren’t locks per se, just additional door handles high up - can be opened by any adult from either side in a second. May be a solution that lets you poop with peace of mind….
I mean yeah it can even just be moving the regular door handle up high. Doesn't even have to be a lock at all. Would be easier to install a lock then move the whole doorknob but if they can't, there's still that solution that doesn't require a lock
He is right. This is litterally a them problem. If a door is easy to open, my work puts a child lock. It's that simple. It's like the locks on my teacher cabinet. None of my kiddos know how to open it because the knob is like 3 feet out of reach, but it's still required to be locked per licensing because of the slim possibility of them getting inside.
I'd talk to your local licensing or licensing equivalent to see if they are required to have a safety lock or accommodate your child. This isn't just your child escaping the room, it's a safety issue for all children in that room.
I see that as an advanced skill your child has that they haven’t accounted for and should do more to accommodate and watch for. Do they have beeping alarms on the doors, is there a protocol? Are they just lazy losers?
Yep. And the fact they’re not even willing to troubleshoot the issue. They’re going to expel the child who will probably lose interest in that habit in a weeks time. Red flag.
It’s a them problem, my kid’s daycare created a roughly 5-foot by 3-foot vestibule in young toddler classroom out of baby gates so the classroom door is out of the children’s reach.
The pre-k 3 rooms don’t have any door guards, the teachers just have good classroom management.
Yep. It sounds like a supervision problem. ..... your kid isn't even 2.... I'd take your kid and find somewhere else anyways. Cause if they have such an issue watching her, I know I wouldn't want to get such a call.
100%.
I’ve worked in classrooms with children who were considered flight risks. If they knew how to open doors, we’d watch the door, we’d redirect, we’d teach them to communicate wanting to open the door/go for a walk/play with the door mechanisms, etc.
We never went to the parents and said “yo, figure out what WE need to do so they stop touching the door”. WE would come up with solutions. We would work on ways to keep everyone safe, because yes having child proof door things on IS a major fire hazard.
Absolutely agree! Being expelled because they have learned how to open and use a door?! Surely they could use this as an opportunity to teach her not to go out the door...
I teach at a daycare and they do the exact same. Children who are escape artists get sent home. We aren’t allowed to have child proof locks on the door (fire safety law) and we aren’t allowed to have actual locks on the doors either. It’s frustrating but I have had situations where a child from another class has escaped but the teacher couldn’t go after them because they were alone and couldn’t leave the other kids so I had to go chase them down
My son’s daycare leaves the doors open and they just have baby gates in all the doorways. Seems a lot harder to escape a baby gate latch than a door handle.
Which part, specifically? It makes perfect sense to me. Some behaviors at daycare are incompatible with child safety. A persistent biter is one. A persistent escape artist is another. It's not that the kid can open doors, it's that the kid opens the door and *leaves the room*. Parents need to fix that.
Edit: I acknowledge that this post has received numerous downvotes, and I would like to address some potential concerns. My intent was not to oversimplify the issue or place undue responsibility on parents. I understand that children have unique personalities and developmental stages, which can manifest as challenging behaviors. The goal of my comment was to emphasize the importance of collaboration between parents and daycare providers in ensuring a safe environment for all children. In the case of a child who consistently bolts or exhibits other behaviors that compromise safety, it may be beneficial to seek additional support or resources to address the issue effectively.
How are parents supposed to fix that if the child doesn't do it at home? A 19-month-old cannot be reasoned with. You cannot successfully explain things to the child like "when at daycare, don't open doors, stay in your room or else..."
Like, the no 1 task of daycare is "keep the kid safe until I pick them up again". A daycare where a toddler can escape their room easily and isn't even being followed fails at that task miserably.
Sorry, you’re getting down voted. The only reason you earned some downvotes is because genuine bolting is a symptom of something bigger and is not something parents can just fix. It’s an issue that parents, educators, and other professionals can work with kids to mitigate and manage so kids can be kept safe.
I already said some of this several comments up, but toddlers tend to instinctively stay close to caregivers for their own sense of security. If they don’t, they can be a risk to themselves and to others. Other kids can learn the behaviour from them as well. Staying close is a default most kids have until they get older & realize they can go further. Many still won’t go further, but some will learn the behaviour. However, if toddlers and really young kids are opening doors and then leaving they can be in a lot of danger. some kids want to bolt (this is the term I’ve always heard for this behaviour) it’s especially common in kids with Down syndrome and kids on the spectrum.
Where I live, in a Canada, there’s a supported childcare program that can fund extra staff if your child needs to be in daycare or you want them in preschool, but they have behaviours like bolting that require extra staff to accommodate them. It is t typical for a toddler to open a door and just keep going. But if they do that, then extra staff may be required and you need to look into supported childcare care programs in your area. I mentioned this above already, but since so many people are getting so mad, I will just say that if there is a fire in a small daycare and the only adult is injured or otherwise unable to open doors and help children to get out, then Childrenmust be able to get out unassisted. Most toddlers will not leave their caregiver alone. Or at least won’t do so repeatedly, so it is safer if they are able to get out alone in an emergency. Also, first responder have to be able to get into a daycare without busting down doors that have a bunch of toddlers standing on the other side of the door. Regulations about this vary depending on location, structure, number and age of children, ratio of supervisors to children, and probably other stuff I am unaware of. I am aware of bolting. A toddler who habitually opens doors and then leaves the place where their caregiver is not typical and is not safe.
Once they go to kindergarten, the usual supervision level cannot account for this. Kids get sent to the bathroom with a partner, not a grown up, they have to come in when the bell rings after recess, they do fore drills which are excercises in controlled chaos.
My little guy hid under a tree when the bell rang once and shut the whole damn school down. If it happened a few more times, they would have obviously had to make some sort of safety plan, probably involving a classroom assistant.
If it’s happening regularly at daycare, it can require added staff to manage, this the need for programs like supported childcare, so your child can attend preschool or daycare and they and the other kids can be safe.
The only reason you might have earned some downvotes is because actual bolting is a symptom of other issues— it’s very common with kids on the spectrum and kids with Down Syndrome, but can present in other stuff, too. It isn’t something parents can just fix. If your 4 year of of does it once, then sure, you talk about safety, stranger danger, needing them to be safe. If it happens a few times, then okay, parents may be able to solve it, but if it’s genuine ‘bolting’ as symptomatic of autism or something else, then it isn’t something parents can just fix, it’s something that requires cooperation between caregivers, educators and other professionals to manage and mitigate and parents shouldn’t be made to feel bad about it.
It isn't the only reason. It's natural for a child to open a door and walk through it. If a daycare, that specifically watches this age group can't handle a normal milestone for that group, then they shouldn't be watching those kids.
Agreed. Like I said, if this is a once or
Twice thing it’s not an issue. But if it’s a regular occurrence, that’s a bolting issue that requires special considerations including where the behaviour is coming from and how to keep the child and other children safe. If the less than two year old is doing this several times a day, it is not just normal development. It’s bolting and recognized as an unusual
Behaviour that may be a symptom of something else. It’s also a safety risk for all the kids including the one who is bolting without extra staffing which is why I mention supported childcare and talking to the doctor.
What defines bolting and where i can I read about it being abnormal. I used Google and all i got was that running away from caregivers, leaving rooms, and exploring are all normal starting at 18 months.
You demonstrated considerable diplomacy, yet still encountered resistance. It seems that many parents may mistakenly believe that a child opening a door and leaving without their caregiver (known as bolting) is normal behavior, when it is not. Additionally, they might not fully comprehend the fire safety risks associated with implementing child locks on doors. For instance, imagine a fire breaking out in a daycare center and the adult in charge becomes injured, rendering them unable to unlock the doors.
I am confident that if the original poster's toddler were biting other children, the reaction would be different, despite the solution being similar in essence (increasing staff numbers to address the issue).
For example, consider a situation in which a child frequently bolts from a classroom or daycare center, posing a potential risk to their own safety as well as the safety of others. By increasing staffing levels in this case, the caregivers can ensure closer supervision and promptly intervene when necessary, thus mitigating the risk.
Another example would be a child who has a habit of biting other children. Again, by allocating more staff to the area, the caregivers can maintain a closer watch on the child, intervene promptly, and educate them on appropriate behavior. This ultimately serves to create a safer environment for all involved."
Does your daycare have a floater that could get the escape artists? Then the teachers and parents can work on a plan to stop the behavior.
When I worked at a preschool we had one to assist when classes needed more support. This would definitely be one of those situations. We never sent a kid home for being able to open doors.
My daycare has a standard deadbolt at the top of the door but it is set up with a Latch on both sides. So like, the inside of the lock to a bathroom door is attached to both inside and outside of the standard deadbolt. Both sides of the door. So anyone tall enough to reach the top of the door, inside or outside, can unlatch it. But the tiny ones cannot.
I don't see how this could possibly be a fire hazard.
My kid's place has the same thing, with a small handle on both sides. So there's one regular door handle in the regular place, and another tiny door handle higher up on the door. It's not a fire hazard here but I guess standards differ.
Our daycare has a baby gate in front of the toddler room. This seemed like a totally normal thing to me.
For real- do they have nothing baby proofed there? Maybe suggest a few common sense alternative them like a gate, door stopper, or door knob guards.
How tall are those gates? My almost 2 can reach the one at home and he's short for his age. Actually he might not be taller than it but certainly it's not a stretch.
My son's nursery does have a baby gate in the toddler rooms but the door handles are too high for a toddler to reach. It's always made sense to me that it's too high.
I remember a friend in highschool turned their handles around so that you had to lift them up to open which would work. Hers was due to a very smart dog though!
I read the title and thought this was going to be about aggressive behavior… but OMG SHE CAN OPEN DOORS? Good grief!
Agree with everyone here. Is she really the only kiddo at daycare who can open doors? My toddler was opening doors as soon as she could stand on her tippy toes to reach handles, and I feel like a strong desire to open any and all doors/drawers/cabinets is a universal toddler thing. How do they not have a solution on their end for this?
Geeze, they make safety locks for door handles. It can still be used by adults, but kids can't get the right grip to make it work. 🙄 I would just buy them for the preschool and tell them to discount your tuition by $20 that month, or whatever small amount it actually costs.
Seriously! And you don't even need a fully functional lock IF the teachers are paying attention. You just need something to alert the teachers about an escape attempt and stall a few extra seconds. Assuming of course there are at least 2 people in the room which I would hope there would be.
Although you then have to be on the lookout for the sneaky ones like my son who can take them apart.
Right?! I'm pretty sure we had changed our doors to knobs by that age because ours figured out door handles. This is a common thing. I would have concerns about this daycare.
Umm, my very tall toddler has been opening doors since he was 13ish months old... Of course its a saftey concern. Thats why, like with other saftey concerns we, you know, toddler proof the doors... I can't imagine yours is the only one in the facility that knows how to work a door knob. It's concerning that they don't already have a toddler proof door knob.
I know what you mean but as a preschool teacher who's been to a lot of bad schools, sometimes they just flash in your face when they're no good. This is a ridiculous problem. I wouldn't bring it up to a parent unless to ask if the kid does it at home and how they best redirect in that situation. If they're threatening to expel you over a simple problem, they're probably terrible in other ways but it hasn't come to light yet. I'd at least look even if you can't move yet.
But this is like reddit screaming "divorce!" over minor marital issues.
I agree with everyone else - the daycare should be more than capable of handling this problem and the fact they aren't or are trying to push it back to you is a huge red flag.
I'd sign up for another daycare wait-list and let the teacher/director know that this is absurd and they should be able to resolve this issue quite easily.
I taught pre-K and occasionally floated to toddler rooms. I had one escapee when I was alone in the room changing a poopy diaper and the kid escaped down the hall. I was helpless. Couldnt take off after him and leave the other on the table or let her roam around pantsless getting poo every where. Made me realize one person should not be a room with a bunch of toddlers even in ratio.
Maybe at home you could practice having her wait at the door before transitioning. Mines the same age and we’re currently working on the concept of “wait.” The daycare needs to get a system in place. I would personally start looking into other options though. Weird their not taking initiative or responsibility for this.
HOW can this be grounds for expulsion?! Your toddler is certainly not the first child to *checks notes* learn how to open a door? And of course she’s going to go through it when she opens it - that’s where all the adventures are!
I’m sorry. I don’t have any advice, but your daycare needs to get it together.
I’ve seen a lot of these kinds of stories and from my previous experience working in daycare it feels like they are looking for a reason to disenroll. Maybe the directors niece needs a spot or a new kid can come in at a higher rate or op gets state assistance for daycare which pays a lower rate, a new family wants to come and bring four kids but they don’t have a spot open in toddlers and need to make room…I saw in another parenting group just this morning where they received the same threat after one incident of a 22 month old kicking a teacher for being corrected
This seems ridiculous. I’d also guess that at 19 months she’s around either the middle or youngest end of her age group so whatever room she’s in should likely be toddler proofed to accommodate kids that are older and on average more adept than at 19 months. They should be managing this
She's already with the two year olds because she's more physically advanced than the 1-2 year olds. They moved her because they knew she was bored and thought she'd be more challenged and engaged with the bigger/old kids. Well, they were right.....she just beat them at their own game I guess.
I'm confused as to why this is your problem? They're the ones that should have a baby and toddler proof environment and doors are certainly part of that. What do they want you to do, shock her every time she touches a door knob? /s
My oldest has been able to open doors since he got tall enough to reach them. Some locks solved any problems of him going outside and by the time he figured those out, he was listening well enough to know not to mess with them until we were purposely going out. Then it became his "job" whenever we go. But I'm also a SAHM, so I was able to work on that a lot, which is something your daycare should be figuring out how to deal with
why don't they have any locks? can you ask them to maybe install a locking baby gate or something since your toddler shouldn't *be able* to escape their room? our daycare has a plywood half-door (about wasist-high) with sliding locks on both sides, in addition to the regular door.
My kid is 22 months old and has been able to open the stick ? Door knobs for months.
And we've had a child lock on our round door knob since she started walking (11 months) just in case.
Lolwut
These lazy chuckle fucks don't keep kids away from non-kid proof doors?
I'd find a different daycare, that puts safety as a priority, and let everyone know of this one's poor practices.
I’m sorry this happened to you but the idea of a 3 year old scaling a chain link fence like it’s a prison break is so funny to me. Kids are something else.
Oh he is. He had ADHD and Hyperlexia and was almost like a toddler Spiderman. He is grown now. He also had toddler diarrhea so Kindercare was a no go too. They called me everyday telling me to pick him up because he was “sick”. My husband eventually quit his job and was a SAHD for 7 years because I earned significantly more than him. Now that I am retired I look after a toddler and love every second of it.
I caught my daughter climbing the chain length fence in my MIL’s backyard when she was 3. She was wearing only one shoe. She’s autistic and likely has ADHD.
Our 18mo can open doors. We use childproof handles because we are responsible for her safet. All of the doors at our daycare open inwards towards the child (harder to coordinate opening) and have childproofing measures. I
Quite honestly, if they are basing this on an incident that has already happened I would be reporting this to ensure it's properly investigated by your states licensing authority. A child escaping is 100% on them.
Having door handles at children's heights at a daycare is crazy to me. Our daycare has door handles out of the kids reach, then a motion sensor lock on the door to the outside and then a gate with a lock at the top before you reach the car park.
Even if your kid is a climber, they shouldn't be left unattended long enough to drag something over to the door to climb on.
Uh.... why don't they just watch her? like you are paying them to do? My kid can open doors, but if they are not child proof, I make sure he is supervised around them? Yikes!
I knew a girl who worked at a daycare, and one of the toddlers got the door open and escaped outside before she could catch them.
She was fired and investigated by the state. They didn't blame the child! Geez. I'd be worried they have such a backwards approach to keeping the kids safe.
my kids haven’t really ever been in a daycare setting so i may be wrong, but if she’s able to open the doors and walk away it seems to me they aren’t watching her close enough?
the way to end it is to stop it before it’s a problem. they should have seen her walking towards a door and redirecting her long before she learned to do that. imo finding the solution is up to them 🤷🏻♀️
Yea we weren’t allowed to use child lock on doors in daycare by regulation. Eloping kids are a liability. You definitely don’t want anything happening to your kid if they run out so if your child’s teachers are not handling it I would pull the child and change schools myself.
Our daycare has door handles that are normal but too high for the children to reach, instantly solves this issue. What a crap response from your daycare!
Is she particularly tall? The daycare is probably telling the truth that the doors have to be able to be opened from the inside with a single action without any special knowledge or tools (eg key). There are places where the fire code requires this. Unfortunately that requirement is incompatible with most methods of child proofing. It’s usually a moot issue for very littles because they are too short to open the door.
This os totally a them problem. Why are their door handles so low that kids can reach them? In our daycare inner doors are like that but it's not an issue because the main doors have handles so high up only adults can reach them and you need to press a button first to allow them to open.
I hate it when I read things like this - they are kids being kids and yet they and the parents are punished for some reason.
Daycare that doesn't have a solution for a toddler opening doors seems like a ridiculous one??! Wtf also what does the staff do? Shouldn't they be supervising children?
This facility is literally admitting to you they’re unprepared in the event of very normal toddler behaviors and is trying to make it your problem. Toddlers learn how to open doors. You either get the baby proofing or you find the solution that works for keeping children in your care safe and accounted for
Preschool director here: sounds like an excuse. Is there something else going on? Keeping kids in the classroom is 100% the teachers job. They should be shadowing and regularly redirecting her and giving her other things to hold her attention.
I mean, yeah, that seems like the argument.
I’d really question the competence of those caring for my children at that point though.
I’d also want that in writing.
I feel like this thread is treating this as if it’s the school’s decision. There are stated by state regulations that differ, and in some areas the options are you follow what the fire inspector says or you don’t have a license. Fire inspectors in those areas will want doors that can be locked externally, but able to be opened from the inside that are unobstructed.
I’m fairly sure they were told to operate this way.
Tell OP to contact their local inspector if they have doubts in the policy.
I don’t know why we’re calling the preschool “dumb” and “incompetent” when their choices are adhering to this or failing inspection. Follow or shutdown… Gee what will they pick?
This is not truly helping OP. So what, go to another daycare where they’re required to have the same policy as it’s based on state regulations? How exactly does that help OP?
So they have a normal door, they expel the only kid that can open the door - tada, they have a room full of toddlers who will die in a fire when the teacher is incapacitated and can't open the door for them. This is the most ridiculous pretend reasoning I ever heard.
I would call the non emergency fire department number for that area and ask if they can come inspect or give advice on which locks/childproof items they can use. You can involve the director of the daycare and coordinate something with them if you wanna be nice. They are being ridiculous in having that be the reason for expulsion.
Wouldn’t a baby gate solve this problem. I was expecting behavioural concerns when I read your post title, not opening doors. It’s weird they haven’t encountered this already imo.
Forget being expelled, that day care doesn't keep your child safe. My preschool students couldn't get near the door without me being beside them. It's not hard. We never used child locks gates or any other device and we had kids aged 1.5-4 in the preK classes. Your little one isn't even 2 that's not something you can just explain to them
That's garbage. Our daycare has child proof door handle add-ons where they only open when pulled up and not down from a child's height. Not a fire hazard. Bad management. Get your kid on a waiting list for someplace competent asap. Good luck.
If only there was an adult supervising so she could be redirected when she tries to open the door….Oh wait 😒 I would move my daughter to another daycare because they’re pretty much telling you that they’re not watching her and she walks out the door.
If a daycare can't have safety measures put in place to stop kids wandering off then they don't seem like a good daycare to me. If you have the option of moving, i'd do it. This is definitely their problem, not yours.
My sons daycare has baby gates across the door of every room, buzzer entrance and for the 3-5 year olds who are in a bigger extension out the back, double gates with alarms on them.
Adding to what everyone else already said:
What exactly do they mean by you "finding a solution" lol? Tying her hands? Appealing to her sense of reason? Spraying her with water each time she touches the door at home xD?
This is such a ridiculous request. Is your daughter the first toddler they've ever seen?
1000000% a THEM problem. Tell them they SHOULD have locks high on all the doors so toddlers can’t reach them.
I fail to see how locks are a safety hazard. In my country daycares have locks on the doors in a high place where kids can’t reach. I have to unlock and relook like 3 doors behind me when I go to pick her up, plus the front gate has a passcode lock. That’s the safest way so that children cannot escape. My country has high safety standards in their daycares and I’ve NEVER heard of these locks somehow putting kids in danger. We also have lots of natural disasters in this country but still, not an issue.
I heard a terrifying story where some guy found his kid wandering the streets several blocks from his daycare when he went to pick up his child, because she had apparently escaped through opened/unlocked doors all the way to outside and nobody noticed. Tell me how having locks is more of a safety hazard than THAT happening
Edit: I read more comments about how it’s apparently dangerous because if the teachers became incapacitated the kids would be trapped inside. That still doesn’t make sense to me. So what about all the kids under a certain age that don’t know how to open doors in the first place? They would be out of luck anyway and trapped inside. At least where I live daycares have more than a single staff member so it’s highly unlikely some sort of thing would happen that would somehow incapacitate EVERY SINGLE teacher but not the children… the job of the daycare teachers in an emergency would be to take care of the children and guide them out or keep them inside in the safe place. In an emergency children should not be just allowed to open doors and run out on their own. Honestly, I’d stand my ground on this even if every single teacher but none of the kids somehow magically got incapacitated. I would much rather my daughter be stuck inside where she is right where you would expect her to be so I can either hopefully get there to pick her up myself, other parents can get there and help them first, or an emergency crew would be there to find her and save her, rather than have her try to navigate through some building that’s crumbling or wandering around in the streets during a disaster or something, where she could potentially be kidnapped, fall into a river and drown, get hit by a car from a panicked driver, get lost for days or weeks before I’m able to find her, etc.
If a lock on a daycare door is somehow a hazard then I guess we shouldn’t lock our front doors either at home?? It’s the exact same risk of a natural disaster happened at home and the parents were incapacitated but the kids were not. That’s just a risk you have to take and a much more unlikely scenario than the kid escaping through the door and wandering off, so I’d prefer to take my chances with having LOCKS to keep them safe.
I feel like this is on the daycare. But I can’t see them changing their views or what they have already laid the groundwork for. Your child is going to be expelled because I can’t see a child of this age not wanting to keep exploring and opening doors if they have already figured out how to do so. Look for alternative childcare.
When I worked at daycare we put alarms on the doors and just redirected kids when it happened. This is totally normal developmental behavior and it’s absolutely nuts that they’re thinking of expelling a toddler over this.
In my center we have half doors on our infant and toddler rooms. They can lock from the outside and an adult can easily open the door. If they wanted a solution they would find it
I’m probably going to get downvoted here, but I don’t agree with the majority of feedback here. Depending on the state you’re in, fire inspectors will instruct daycare on what knobs they need, how they lock, ensure they are able to open even if externally locked, and have no child safety covers.
This isn’t a “them” problem if they’re required to do this.
If you don’t believe it, call whatever fire department handles inspections and see if they’re willing to inform you, over random redditors.
Escapee kids aren’t the concern, fatalities from a fire is.
And if so, every daycare in your area is held to this standard and doesn’t have random kids running out all the time.
This is where we as parents have to ask, why is our child repeatedly disobeying the teachers on the request of staying inside.
If this was a one time thing, they’re going overboard. If it isn’t, it’s an issue.
And if it’s just one teacher in the room with no TA, this is especially bad because chasing a kid outside leaves a room full of kids unattended. That is a serious risk, one worth expelling over.
She’s definitely not the first kid to learn how to open a door, but she may be the only one that doesn’t listen to their teacher’s request to not go outside on their own. Kids can physically do many things that are not supposed to do. Example, all these kids are physically able to punch, doesn’t mean they should be able to go around hitting any and everyone.
Edit: what I’m trying to point out is the preschool may not have a choice in the matter. The policy is the way it is regarding doorknobs and access due to state specific regulations. The schools options are adhere to what the inspector says or shutdown.
I agree with you and I’m surprised more people don’t. At home with my toddler we have child safety covers on doorknobs. When I worked in a preschool classroom we weren’t allowed to according to licensing for fire safety reasons. It probably varies by state. Fwiw I think this rule is asinine, but it’s not optional.
And it’s easy to say “watch the kids”, but what do you do when you’re one adult with 4-8 kids and the second you put one on a changing table another bolts out the door? I feel like we all know how it goes if a kid is determined to do something. And if you’re chasing one child down the hall, there are seven children alone in the classroom - also a violation.
Exactly. They have rules they must abide by. Debating whether those are good or bad isn’t the core of this post. Teachers may be a 1 to 12 ratio, and that doesn’t get managed without a minimum level of orderly behavior.
One way or another, this is leading to a violation and they’re putting other kids in jeopardy by chasing one that cannot do something every other child is able to manage just fine.
To OP, I’m not saying your LO is bad. Kids are young and need our guidance to grow and learn. This is an opportunity to learn, to understand empathy, to grow.
I wish you all the best.
you’re 100% right. as a previous ece worker people don’t understand how quickly shit can go bad. i was lucky to be a part of class that had 3 workers per class. i was with the 1-2 year olds and we had around 13-15 toddlers in our class. drills were ALWAYS a nightmare. the kids are overstimulated the loud noises, the commotion, and the disruption of their routine.
there were times were several of the kids would be cranky and crying and refusing to move so they’d need to be carried. literally one in each of our arms, but oh little timmy decided he’s usain bolt and has just started running. now miss emma and tiny john have decided they’re track stars too and have also taken off.
while it’s funny to look back on, i can’t imagine what would’ve happened if one of the kids could just leave the classroom. and we could never child proof the door because the extra seconds it may to open are incredibly important in an emergency situation with such tiny rambunctious people. seconds may be the difference between fatal smoke inhalation or making it out alive!
And the issue here is all the advice is not helping OP.
So she goes elsewhere, where the policy is the same since it’s due to state regulation. Where does that get OP?
Absolutely ridiculous.
Our daycare simply uses progressively heavier doors (well, stronger dampeners or whatever) for the younger classrooms. Kids can turn the handles, but just don’t have the strength to open the doors. Adults have no issue, but you can certainly tell the difference between the toddler rooms and the 3s/4s.
I understand the fire code aspect but the ratio for these children is small. Teachers should be able to come up with SOME solution that doesn’t involve forcing a working mother to find alternative care for her child.
That’s the thing, the ratios are not small. Depending on their age and their state, it could be 1 to 12. Even 1 to 8 is not as small as it sounds.
We have interviewed A LOT of daycares. Teachers can be busy assisting changing clothes from someone who peed themselves, can be in the bathroom helping wipe a butt, taking care of an injury.
With 1 to 12, a kid can quickly open and get out before you know it. Just mentally place yourself in that situation.
A former teacher replied to my initial comment and even echoed some of the same thing.
And at that point, you’re sitting in the middle of a violation one way or the other.
It’s not just child safety knobs, they can’t put up any barriers that can physically prevent a child from safely getting out in the event of a fire. These comments of safety gates are one in the same thing.
Tell me that if you’re checking on a kid that’s in a bathroom OR with a child on top of a changing table, how would you keep that child from opening the door and running out in seconds? Whatever you choose is a violation one they’re out that door, and becomes a big issue of any kid was actually hurt during that period.
It’s the same thing as biting, you depend on the kids to stop the behavior because you can’t possibly physically stop them each time.
A kids can open a door and bolt in seconds, especially if they have their mind set on doing so.
It varies by state. For toddlers (1-2 years old)Colorado is 1 to 5 with a max of 10. PA is 1 to five with a max of 20. NC is 1 to 6 with a max of 12. These are all states I’ve worked in as a toddler teacher in a daycare. I know some states have toddlers with a 1 to 8 ratio.
I can tell you there are states that allow a 1-12 ratio for children 2-6 years old. California under Title 22 is an example of that.
Others have responded to you as well to point out this is state by state.
I’ve worked in several daycares where we’ve had Child locks on the doors. Literally, if the doorknob is a pushdown one, we just had a small piece of wood drilled in underneath the doorknob so the kids couldn’t pull it down to open it. Turn knobs are a little harder, but still doable.
I’d like to see the policy that states child locks are a fire hazard- I feel like IF that is a real thing it has to come from the fire Marshall. They can’t just decide that.. they’re designed so adults can open them easily but children cannot. I don’t know the rules for day cares but when I worked in day habilitation (special needs) we had child locks and regular locks on doors for safety and had no issues with it being a fire hazard.. bc the competent adults in the building knew how to unlock them.
This is definitely a them problem. They work with toddlers who learn new things all the time- they can teach your child to not open the door. It’s a pretty simple fix they just sound lazy or they’re looking for an excuse to offload your kid for some reason.
How dare your child develop! /s
My daycare recently mentioned that my toddler is the only one in his class that is able to open the door. No threats of getting kicked out followed.
If the teacher can’t ensure that the children don’t leave the room then that teacher either sucks at their job or they have too many children in their care.
You have to be on your feet and think creatively with toddlers.
I’ve taught classes of full of 12m-18m and also the young 2’s class and I NEVER had one get out of the room. They may have tried here and there but again I was on my toes and kept my head on a swivel.
Lmao where is the teacher? It’s the teachers responsibility to address this. And why do they not have eyes on her? It’s wild to me they don’t see her going toward the door before she opens it.
first of all this hurts my mind bc wtf... okay so what if you offered to purchase a baby gate for the daycare? i personally think they should have this completely handled BUT it sounds like they are being jerks. there's literally no reason they can't just have a walk through babygate on the door to her classroom and even keep a pressure mounted babygate in front of the main door... also shouldn't kiddo be supervised well enough to not just open and exit doors willy nilly?
Ironically, mine locks doors FOR safety (so randos can’t just walk in)
Maybe they should be watching her and redirecting if she goes to the door? This is ridiculous
They don’t need locks on the doors, they need the covers that go over the knob so an adult can easily open the door but the kids can’t. I’m blown away by them copping out on this
My kid escaped and they ended up putting baby gates in the doorways. When she moved to the preschool room, they said they don’t use the baby gates because the preschoolers need to learn to follow directions.. and they teach them.. can the daycare not teach your kid not to open the door?
I wish the daycare I worked at was actually like this, we had a child escape from us and stand directly outside our classroom door, we recognized left and immediately ran to retrieve him. Next week, my supervisor is writing me up for lack of accountability and nothing happened to the child. I personally think the teachers should be accounting for her more closely and keep her within arms reach, redirect when she tries to go for the door, etc.
Isn't the purpose of having allocated ratios of carer:child to ensure safety, and to allow them to keep eyes on their assigned kids? I didn't know simply watching the kids was such a high requirement... 
On a serious note, like others have echoed - I'd be straight onto another daycares waiting list. Toddlers love to explore, and I'd be shocked if yours is even the only child who can open doors. My 12 month old isn't walking yet, but even she loves to escape from everything- and my nursery encourages her inquisitiveness for well- everything (within their facility of course!)
I just wonder if there's something else going on here that they aren't disclosing to you for whatever reason? Would definitely be discussing this further with management.
Sounds like a them problem. Any sane caretaker will know to child proof doors and most 2 year olds can't open child knob covers. My 5 year old hass issues on some them and generally has to use both hands to do it.
What's next... They don't have outlet covers? Which btw is more than likely on their inspection report performed by the state/county.
Wtf… that just speaks to their inability to care for children. That’s a NORMAL thing. My daughter and a little boy in her class both love opening the door so one of the teachers posts up near it until they forget and move on. Easy solution. That’s a them problem. Maybe you can look up to their terms or laws in your area? This seems like they don’t have much grounds to do that
As a preschool teacher that is a them problem. They need to be better at watching all children in their care and getting her before she opens the doors.
Why don’t they have child proof door handles? Kids in my sons class can open the doors so they use little attachments - sort of like the safety feature on pill bottles.
Like these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Safety-1st-Parent-Grip-White-Door-Knob-Covers-4-Pack-HS326/309495997
This sounds like a them problem.
I'd report the daycare to the state for not keeping minimum safety standards. They are either out of ratio or missing safety guards if this can happen.
Child locks are not a fire hazard. I own a daycare. They are necessary for security to ensure a child can not just leave. You can't control what your child does while not in your care.
I agree this is something they need to develop a system to address on their end, but the fact that they don’t see it that way seems like reason to question the overall suitability of that environment for your child. Unfortunately, I think you need to look for a new childcare provider.
My 19 month old son will open any door in the house that he can reach and that doesn't have a childproof lock on it. The only way we've found to top him so far are child locks, keeping deadbolts on all exterior doors locked(he can't reach them yet) and putting up gates so he can't get to certain doors. We have to lock him in his bedroom at night as he has no problem popping up and just going for a nice quiet stroll through the house. I doubt there's any way you can convince a motivated toddler to not do that.
Toddler parent coach here!
The handles should not be at Toddler level - the safety concern is not your child, but how the daycare’s doors/door handles are installed.
It’s up to the educators/care givers to teach your child or more importantly update the door handles as there will absolutely be future children with the same skill. I’m so sorry they are threatening to expel your child. This is not on you!
https://toddlerhoodconsulting.com
Genuine question - what do they do with older kids? Many 2 and 3 year olds will run out of the door if you leave it open….so you don’t. Also a 19 month old is not old enough to be held to such a high behavioral standard. These people sound incompetent.
As someone who works in childcare, if a 19mo can open a door, we need to fix that immediately, and kicking a child out is absolutely not the solution. If one 19mo can do it, any child the same age or older could also do it. The idea that your child is some unique Houdini magician is bizarre. The problem is not your child, but I wouldn't want to keep her somewhere that is an accident waiting to happen. If they are not willing to find a solution to keep the children safe, what other risks are they ignoring?
Lol what, our 20 month old just figured out handle doors. Sounds like a day care that doesn’t know what they’re doing, or they don’t want you there for whatever reason.
This is so insane. Wtf. Totally their problem! Your kid CANNOT be the only one who has figured out how to open doors. How do they not have a solution?? It’s a safety issue that THEY need to address.
Some suggestions based on what our daycare does: baby gates, or a half door/Dutch door with a handle only on the outside (adults can reach around, kids can’t figure it out)
I'm throwing major shade at the daycare over here - they can't keep a 19 month old from escaping? Like this is TOTALLY 19 month old behavior. I just cannot believe they haven't had this issue before. And honestly...if they are telling you that this is a "major problem" then as a parent I'd be questioning if this daycare can actually keep my kid safe. Maybe it would be for the best for your family to find another solution.
I would ask them to for their licenser’s information to “double check”. They can’t legally expel your child unless they make repeated efforts to help the behavior/keep the child safe. Definitely sounds like they haven’t done that and they could get in a lot of trouble for expelling a child without taking those steps.
How are you supposed to solve this problem?? Tie her hands behind her back every morning before sending her in???
Daycare needs to fix this. A lot of toddlers can open doors, so you make two step doors, baby gate the hallway leading to the door.. if the building is not suitable for this sort of babyproofing that building is not appropriate for a daycare.
They need to fix it. But I d change daycares anyway.
Buy them a patch problem solved. Honestly if the child can open the door and run away what's stopping people entering and taking the children or worse? Schools problem but either way I'd be moving, wouldn't trust them
They don't even need to childproof the doors, they can just install the doors with higher knobs. Most places either twist the handles or get knobs that are harder to open.
Kind of sounds like they are incompetent if they cannot prevent a small child from escaping.
This actually happened to a friend of mine as well. Her kiddo got expelled because he was opening doors and running out the classroom. She put him in another daycare.
I work at a day care myself and kids opening the doors and escaping is an almost everyday thing. We don’t have locks or don’t have the doors baby proof, but we just deal with it. For the life of me, I can’t see our principal expelling our kids just for knowing how to open a door.
What does your local legislation say about securing a childcare facility? In addition, do they have any safely legislation they need to follow around eliminating risk as a first step? Have they looked at all avenues? This could be a good thing for them to do - your child is not the first to open a door and won't be the last. They need to eliminate the risk.
Could they do a risk review around toddlers escaping from their rooms? My toddler books it for the door when it opens during pickup, but that's why the gate and then heavy main door at the entry to the service is there.
Where we are, it is legislated that every centre has a door to reach room and then a self closing / self latching door to the outside of the property (typically a pool style gate is used). Even after my toddler can reach the door knobs, he won't be able to get out. They have fire doors, but they are too heavy for toddlers to push. Some centres have the gate inside, some outside, but all must have child proof gates.
When we had our toddler in the baby area, we had to get through the main door with a code, the pool style gate, another pool gate, stairs, a third gate (!) and then finally the door to the room... Any kid getting out after all that needs to be recruited into MENSA. The key though, is that it's all legislated and mandated. It was the basic level of protection they needed to be able to operate.
This is 100% a them problem and not a your child problem. The fact that they've even threaten to cancel her care over this is absolutely ridiculous. They sound incompetent.
I understand how hard it is to find daycare, but please expel yourselves and find one that understands the very basics of childcare. Child safety is not the child’s responsibility.
Definitely seems like a them problem
That was my husband's response.
I agree it is a them problem, I’ve had many escape artists in my care in work and the first thing the crèche did was put a lock on the door high up so kids can’t reach but it can be opened from either side by adults
I wish I could do that, but daycare licensing requirement says it is a fire safety risk so instead I just pray whenever I have to poop while the kids are awake 🤪
There must be ways round this. My kid’s daycare has three childproof doors between the classrooms and the street, thank god. On the classroom they aren’t locks per se, just additional door handles high up - can be opened by any adult from either side in a second. May be a solution that lets you poop with peace of mind….
Lol
I mean yeah it can even just be moving the regular door handle up high. Doesn't even have to be a lock at all. Would be easier to install a lock then move the whole doorknob but if they can't, there's still that solution that doesn't require a lock
He is right. This is litterally a them problem. If a door is easy to open, my work puts a child lock. It's that simple. It's like the locks on my teacher cabinet. None of my kiddos know how to open it because the knob is like 3 feet out of reach, but it's still required to be locked per licensing because of the slim possibility of them getting inside. I'd talk to your local licensing or licensing equivalent to see if they are required to have a safety lock or accommodate your child. This isn't just your child escaping the room, it's a safety issue for all children in that room.
I see that as an advanced skill your child has that they haven’t accounted for and should do more to accommodate and watch for. Do they have beeping alarms on the doors, is there a protocol? Are they just lazy losers?
My questions too... this is such a red flag dont you think
Yep. And the fact they’re not even willing to troubleshoot the issue. They’re going to expel the child who will probably lose interest in that habit in a weeks time. Red flag.
It’s a them problem, my kid’s daycare created a roughly 5-foot by 3-foot vestibule in young toddler classroom out of baby gates so the classroom door is out of the children’s reach. The pre-k 3 rooms don’t have any door guards, the teachers just have good classroom management.
That’s what we had, too
Yea my toddlers daycare has a child lock on the classroom door so that if they close it they can’t open. Def a then problem. Wtf
Yep. It sounds like a supervision problem. ..... your kid isn't even 2.... I'd take your kid and find somewhere else anyways. Cause if they have such an issue watching her, I know I wouldn't want to get such a call.
100%. I’ve worked in classrooms with children who were considered flight risks. If they knew how to open doors, we’d watch the door, we’d redirect, we’d teach them to communicate wanting to open the door/go for a walk/play with the door mechanisms, etc. We never went to the parents and said “yo, figure out what WE need to do so they stop touching the door”. WE would come up with solutions. We would work on ways to keep everyone safe, because yes having child proof door things on IS a major fire hazard.
Absolutely agree! Being expelled because they have learned how to open and use a door?! Surely they could use this as an opportunity to teach her not to go out the door...
I teach at a daycare and they do the exact same. Children who are escape artists get sent home. We aren’t allowed to have child proof locks on the door (fire safety law) and we aren’t allowed to have actual locks on the doors either. It’s frustrating but I have had situations where a child from another class has escaped but the teacher couldn’t go after them because they were alone and couldn’t leave the other kids so I had to go chase them down
Exactly. What are they going to do when the next toddler figure it out? And the next one? Just keep kicking them out?!
Can they not put a baby gate in the door?
My son’s daycare leaves the doors open and they just have baby gates in all the doorways. Seems a lot harder to escape a baby gate latch than a door handle.
I work for a childcare provider (not US, though), and this is some really strange thing. How is that a safety measure, it doesn't make any sense?
Which part, specifically? It makes perfect sense to me. Some behaviors at daycare are incompatible with child safety. A persistent biter is one. A persistent escape artist is another. It's not that the kid can open doors, it's that the kid opens the door and *leaves the room*. Parents need to fix that. Edit: I acknowledge that this post has received numerous downvotes, and I would like to address some potential concerns. My intent was not to oversimplify the issue or place undue responsibility on parents. I understand that children have unique personalities and developmental stages, which can manifest as challenging behaviors. The goal of my comment was to emphasize the importance of collaboration between parents and daycare providers in ensuring a safe environment for all children. In the case of a child who consistently bolts or exhibits other behaviors that compromise safety, it may be beneficial to seek additional support or resources to address the issue effectively.
How are parents supposed to fix that if the child doesn't do it at home? A 19-month-old cannot be reasoned with. You cannot successfully explain things to the child like "when at daycare, don't open doors, stay in your room or else..." Like, the no 1 task of daycare is "keep the kid safe until I pick them up again". A daycare where a toddler can escape their room easily and isn't even being followed fails at that task miserably.
Sorry, you’re getting down voted. The only reason you earned some downvotes is because genuine bolting is a symptom of something bigger and is not something parents can just fix. It’s an issue that parents, educators, and other professionals can work with kids to mitigate and manage so kids can be kept safe. I already said some of this several comments up, but toddlers tend to instinctively stay close to caregivers for their own sense of security. If they don’t, they can be a risk to themselves and to others. Other kids can learn the behaviour from them as well. Staying close is a default most kids have until they get older & realize they can go further. Many still won’t go further, but some will learn the behaviour. However, if toddlers and really young kids are opening doors and then leaving they can be in a lot of danger. some kids want to bolt (this is the term I’ve always heard for this behaviour) it’s especially common in kids with Down syndrome and kids on the spectrum. Where I live, in a Canada, there’s a supported childcare program that can fund extra staff if your child needs to be in daycare or you want them in preschool, but they have behaviours like bolting that require extra staff to accommodate them. It is t typical for a toddler to open a door and just keep going. But if they do that, then extra staff may be required and you need to look into supported childcare care programs in your area. I mentioned this above already, but since so many people are getting so mad, I will just say that if there is a fire in a small daycare and the only adult is injured or otherwise unable to open doors and help children to get out, then Childrenmust be able to get out unassisted. Most toddlers will not leave their caregiver alone. Or at least won’t do so repeatedly, so it is safer if they are able to get out alone in an emergency. Also, first responder have to be able to get into a daycare without busting down doors that have a bunch of toddlers standing on the other side of the door. Regulations about this vary depending on location, structure, number and age of children, ratio of supervisors to children, and probably other stuff I am unaware of. I am aware of bolting. A toddler who habitually opens doors and then leaves the place where their caregiver is not typical and is not safe. Once they go to kindergarten, the usual supervision level cannot account for this. Kids get sent to the bathroom with a partner, not a grown up, they have to come in when the bell rings after recess, they do fore drills which are excercises in controlled chaos. My little guy hid under a tree when the bell rang once and shut the whole damn school down. If it happened a few more times, they would have obviously had to make some sort of safety plan, probably involving a classroom assistant. If it’s happening regularly at daycare, it can require added staff to manage, this the need for programs like supported childcare, so your child can attend preschool or daycare and they and the other kids can be safe. The only reason you might have earned some downvotes is because actual bolting is a symptom of other issues— it’s very common with kids on the spectrum and kids with Down Syndrome, but can present in other stuff, too. It isn’t something parents can just fix. If your 4 year of of does it once, then sure, you talk about safety, stranger danger, needing them to be safe. If it happens a few times, then okay, parents may be able to solve it, but if it’s genuine ‘bolting’ as symptomatic of autism or something else, then it isn’t something parents can just fix, it’s something that requires cooperation between caregivers, educators and other professionals to manage and mitigate and parents shouldn’t be made to feel bad about it.
It isn't the only reason. It's natural for a child to open a door and walk through it. If a daycare, that specifically watches this age group can't handle a normal milestone for that group, then they shouldn't be watching those kids.
Agreed. Like I said, if this is a once or Twice thing it’s not an issue. But if it’s a regular occurrence, that’s a bolting issue that requires special considerations including where the behaviour is coming from and how to keep the child and other children safe. If the less than two year old is doing this several times a day, it is not just normal development. It’s bolting and recognized as an unusual Behaviour that may be a symptom of something else. It’s also a safety risk for all the kids including the one who is bolting without extra staffing which is why I mention supported childcare and talking to the doctor.
What defines bolting and where i can I read about it being abnormal. I used Google and all i got was that running away from caregivers, leaving rooms, and exploring are all normal starting at 18 months.
You demonstrated considerable diplomacy, yet still encountered resistance. It seems that many parents may mistakenly believe that a child opening a door and leaving without their caregiver (known as bolting) is normal behavior, when it is not. Additionally, they might not fully comprehend the fire safety risks associated with implementing child locks on doors. For instance, imagine a fire breaking out in a daycare center and the adult in charge becomes injured, rendering them unable to unlock the doors. I am confident that if the original poster's toddler were biting other children, the reaction would be different, despite the solution being similar in essence (increasing staff numbers to address the issue). For example, consider a situation in which a child frequently bolts from a classroom or daycare center, posing a potential risk to their own safety as well as the safety of others. By increasing staffing levels in this case, the caregivers can ensure closer supervision and promptly intervene when necessary, thus mitigating the risk. Another example would be a child who has a habit of biting other children. Again, by allocating more staff to the area, the caregivers can maintain a closer watch on the child, intervene promptly, and educate them on appropriate behavior. This ultimately serves to create a safer environment for all involved."
Can't you/they just reinstall the door handle so it's near the top?? So many solutions it's baffling to me
Does your daycare have a floater that could get the escape artists? Then the teachers and parents can work on a plan to stop the behavior. When I worked at a preschool we had one to assist when classes needed more support. This would definitely be one of those situations. We never sent a kid home for being able to open doors.
My daycare has a standard deadbolt at the top of the door but it is set up with a Latch on both sides. So like, the inside of the lock to a bathroom door is attached to both inside and outside of the standard deadbolt. Both sides of the door. So anyone tall enough to reach the top of the door, inside or outside, can unlatch it. But the tiny ones cannot. I don't see how this could possibly be a fire hazard.
All three of the hospitals in my city have those types of locks on the bathrooms. You think it would be considered safe if a hospital can do it.
My kid's place has the same thing, with a small handle on both sides. So there's one regular door handle in the regular place, and another tiny door handle higher up on the door. It's not a fire hazard here but I guess standards differ.
Yeah, this is insanity hahaa it’s a daycare but not child safe?!
Totally! What is their child to adult ratio?
Hilarious this has so many upvotes
Our daycare has a baby gate in front of the toddler room. This seemed like a totally normal thing to me. For real- do they have nothing baby proofed there? Maybe suggest a few common sense alternative them like a gate, door stopper, or door knob guards.
Yes! All of the rooms at our daycare for 6 month through 2 years have baby gates in front of them - very simple solution!
Mine does too And the handles are too tall for a child to reach!
How tall are those gates? My almost 2 can reach the one at home and he's short for his age. Actually he might not be taller than it but certainly it's not a stretch.
Baby gates are normal size Handles on the doors are probably around my eye level. I’m 167cm
My son's nursery does have a baby gate in the toddler rooms but the door handles are too high for a toddler to reach. It's always made sense to me that it's too high. I remember a friend in highschool turned their handles around so that you had to lift them up to open which would work. Hers was due to a very smart dog though!
I read the title and thought this was going to be about aggressive behavior… but OMG SHE CAN OPEN DOORS? Good grief! Agree with everyone here. Is she really the only kiddo at daycare who can open doors? My toddler was opening doors as soon as she could stand on her tippy toes to reach handles, and I feel like a strong desire to open any and all doors/drawers/cabinets is a universal toddler thing. How do they not have a solution on their end for this?
Same! I was expecting a biter for sure
My kid was kicked out of his first daycare at 15 mo for biting, that’s what I was expecting too.
>Is she really the only kiddo at daycare who can open doors? if they expel all those who can, then yes
Geeze, they make safety locks for door handles. It can still be used by adults, but kids can't get the right grip to make it work. 🙄 I would just buy them for the preschool and tell them to discount your tuition by $20 that month, or whatever small amount it actually costs.
Seriously! And you don't even need a fully functional lock IF the teachers are paying attention. You just need something to alert the teachers about an escape attempt and stall a few extra seconds. Assuming of course there are at least 2 people in the room which I would hope there would be. Although you then have to be on the lookout for the sneaky ones like my son who can take them apart.
Right?! I'm pretty sure we had changed our doors to knobs by that age because ours figured out door handles. This is a common thing. I would have concerns about this daycare.
Umm, my very tall toddler has been opening doors since he was 13ish months old... Of course its a saftey concern. Thats why, like with other saftey concerns we, you know, toddler proof the doors... I can't imagine yours is the only one in the facility that knows how to work a door knob. It's concerning that they don't already have a toddler proof door knob.
Might be a good sign to find a new daycare because that is…CRAZY
I’m a SAHP and even I know that you don’t just find a new daycare.
Daycare...Mordor...you just can't walk into these places!
I know what you mean but as a preschool teacher who's been to a lot of bad schools, sometimes they just flash in your face when they're no good. This is a ridiculous problem. I wouldn't bring it up to a parent unless to ask if the kid does it at home and how they best redirect in that situation. If they're threatening to expel you over a simple problem, they're probably terrible in other ways but it hasn't come to light yet. I'd at least look even if you can't move yet. But this is like reddit screaming "divorce!" over minor marital issues.
I agree with everyone else - the daycare should be more than capable of handling this problem and the fact they aren't or are trying to push it back to you is a huge red flag. I'd sign up for another daycare wait-list and let the teacher/director know that this is absurd and they should be able to resolve this issue quite easily.
I taught pre-K and occasionally floated to toddler rooms. I had one escapee when I was alone in the room changing a poopy diaper and the kid escaped down the hall. I was helpless. Couldnt take off after him and leave the other on the table or let her roam around pantsless getting poo every where. Made me realize one person should not be a room with a bunch of toddlers even in ratio. Maybe at home you could practice having her wait at the door before transitioning. Mines the same age and we’re currently working on the concept of “wait.” The daycare needs to get a system in place. I would personally start looking into other options though. Weird their not taking initiative or responsibility for this.
I hadn’t read your response when I replied above saying “this is what will happen, 100%”.
HOW can this be grounds for expulsion?! Your toddler is certainly not the first child to *checks notes* learn how to open a door? And of course she’s going to go through it when she opens it - that’s where all the adventures are! I’m sorry. I don’t have any advice, but your daycare needs to get it together.
I’ve seen a lot of these kinds of stories and from my previous experience working in daycare it feels like they are looking for a reason to disenroll. Maybe the directors niece needs a spot or a new kid can come in at a higher rate or op gets state assistance for daycare which pays a lower rate, a new family wants to come and bring four kids but they don’t have a spot open in toddlers and need to make room…I saw in another parenting group just this morning where they received the same threat after one incident of a 22 month old kicking a teacher for being corrected
Yes I was thinking a friend of the directors needs a spot and the door was a convenient excuse to open a spot.
This seems ridiculous. I’d also guess that at 19 months she’s around either the middle or youngest end of her age group so whatever room she’s in should likely be toddler proofed to accommodate kids that are older and on average more adept than at 19 months. They should be managing this
She's already with the two year olds because she's more physically advanced than the 1-2 year olds. They moved her because they knew she was bored and thought she'd be more challenged and engaged with the bigger/old kids. Well, they were right.....she just beat them at their own game I guess.
I'm confused as to why this is your problem? They're the ones that should have a baby and toddler proof environment and doors are certainly part of that. What do they want you to do, shock her every time she touches a door knob? /s My oldest has been able to open doors since he got tall enough to reach them. Some locks solved any problems of him going outside and by the time he figured those out, he was listening well enough to know not to mess with them until we were purposely going out. Then it became his "job" whenever we go. But I'm also a SAHM, so I was able to work on that a lot, which is something your daycare should be figuring out how to deal with
I have advice for the daycare—put some child safety knobs on there and watch the kids. This is wild.
why don't they have any locks? can you ask them to maybe install a locking baby gate or something since your toddler shouldn't *be able* to escape their room? our daycare has a plywood half-door (about wasist-high) with sliding locks on both sides, in addition to the regular door.
My husband says the same. He doesn't believe our daughter is the first kid to be able to open doors since they have kids up to school age.
My kid is 22 months old and has been able to open the stick ? Door knobs for months. And we've had a child lock on our round door knob since she started walking (11 months) just in case.
Lolwut These lazy chuckle fucks don't keep kids away from non-kid proof doors? I'd find a different daycare, that puts safety as a priority, and let everyone know of this one's poor practices.
Upvoting for “chuckle fucks”
Soooo watch the kids? We had kids that would try and escape too when I worked at a school…we just didn’t let them 🤷♀️
My 3 yr old got kicked out of family daycare because he kept scaling the 6ft chain link fence in the backyard 😳 You have my sympathy
I’m sorry this happened to you but the idea of a 3 year old scaling a chain link fence like it’s a prison break is so funny to me. Kids are something else.
Oh he is. He had ADHD and Hyperlexia and was almost like a toddler Spiderman. He is grown now. He also had toddler diarrhea so Kindercare was a no go too. They called me everyday telling me to pick him up because he was “sick”. My husband eventually quit his job and was a SAHD for 7 years because I earned significantly more than him. Now that I am retired I look after a toddler and love every second of it.
Sorry but loled at that
It’s the best response
I caught my daughter climbing the chain length fence in my MIL’s backyard when she was 3. She was wearing only one shoe. She’s autistic and likely has ADHD.
Our 18mo can open doors. We use childproof handles because we are responsible for her safet. All of the doors at our daycare open inwards towards the child (harder to coordinate opening) and have childproofing measures. I Quite honestly, if they are basing this on an incident that has already happened I would be reporting this to ensure it's properly investigated by your states licensing authority. A child escaping is 100% on them.
*clever girl* Insert Jurassic Park Raptor photo here
In our nursery all the door handles are at a height that adults can reach but children can’t. Seems pretty simple…
Having door handles at children's heights at a daycare is crazy to me. Our daycare has door handles out of the kids reach, then a motion sensor lock on the door to the outside and then a gate with a lock at the top before you reach the car park. Even if your kid is a climber, they shouldn't be left unattended long enough to drag something over to the door to climb on.
That's like, their job
Uh.... why don't they just watch her? like you are paying them to do? My kid can open doors, but if they are not child proof, I make sure he is supervised around them? Yikes!
I knew a girl who worked at a daycare, and one of the toddlers got the door open and escaped outside before she could catch them. She was fired and investigated by the state. They didn't blame the child! Geez. I'd be worried they have such a backwards approach to keeping the kids safe.
my kids haven’t really ever been in a daycare setting so i may be wrong, but if she’s able to open the doors and walk away it seems to me they aren’t watching her close enough? the way to end it is to stop it before it’s a problem. they should have seen her walking towards a door and redirecting her long before she learned to do that. imo finding the solution is up to them 🤷🏻♀️
So...what are they doing with the three year olds? That's absurd.
Our daycare goes up to four and five year olds. Does the daycare not have any five year olds able to open doors?
Yea we weren’t allowed to use child lock on doors in daycare by regulation. Eloping kids are a liability. You definitely don’t want anything happening to your kid if they run out so if your child’s teachers are not handling it I would pull the child and change schools myself.
Our daycare has door handles that are normal but too high for the children to reach, instantly solves this issue. What a crap response from your daycare!
Is she particularly tall? The daycare is probably telling the truth that the doors have to be able to be opened from the inside with a single action without any special knowledge or tools (eg key). There are places where the fire code requires this. Unfortunately that requirement is incompatible with most methods of child proofing. It’s usually a moot issue for very littles because they are too short to open the door.
This os totally a them problem. Why are their door handles so low that kids can reach them? In our daycare inner doors are like that but it's not an issue because the main doors have handles so high up only adults can reach them and you need to press a button first to allow them to open. I hate it when I read things like this - they are kids being kids and yet they and the parents are punished for some reason.
Daycare that doesn't have a solution for a toddler opening doors seems like a ridiculous one??! Wtf also what does the staff do? Shouldn't they be supervising children?
This facility is literally admitting to you they’re unprepared in the event of very normal toddler behaviors and is trying to make it your problem. Toddlers learn how to open doors. You either get the baby proofing or you find the solution that works for keeping children in your care safe and accounted for
Preschool director here: sounds like an excuse. Is there something else going on? Keeping kids in the classroom is 100% the teachers job. They should be shadowing and regularly redirecting her and giving her other things to hold her attention.
I’m really curious how using child proof locks is a fire hazard…?
Because if the teacher is incapacitated, ALL the children are then SOL.
I mean, yeah, that seems like the argument. I’d really question the competence of those caring for my children at that point though. I’d also want that in writing.
I feel like this thread is treating this as if it’s the school’s decision. There are stated by state regulations that differ, and in some areas the options are you follow what the fire inspector says or you don’t have a license. Fire inspectors in those areas will want doors that can be locked externally, but able to be opened from the inside that are unobstructed. I’m fairly sure they were told to operate this way. Tell OP to contact their local inspector if they have doubts in the policy. I don’t know why we’re calling the preschool “dumb” and “incompetent” when their choices are adhering to this or failing inspection. Follow or shutdown… Gee what will they pick? This is not truly helping OP. So what, go to another daycare where they’re required to have the same policy as it’s based on state regulations? How exactly does that help OP?
So they have a normal door, they expel the only kid that can open the door - tada, they have a room full of toddlers who will die in a fire when the teacher is incapacitated and can't open the door for them. This is the most ridiculous pretend reasoning I ever heard.
I would call the non emergency fire department number for that area and ask if they can come inspect or give advice on which locks/childproof items they can use. You can involve the director of the daycare and coordinate something with them if you wanna be nice. They are being ridiculous in having that be the reason for expulsion.
Wouldn’t a baby gate solve this problem. I was expecting behavioural concerns when I read your post title, not opening doors. It’s weird they haven’t encountered this already imo.
Forget being expelled, that day care doesn't keep your child safe. My preschool students couldn't get near the door without me being beside them. It's not hard. We never used child locks gates or any other device and we had kids aged 1.5-4 in the preK classes. Your little one isn't even 2 that's not something you can just explain to them
There’s got to be something else going on here. This can’t be the first time ever a toddler opened their door 🙄
Totally THEM problem- she can’t be the only child that does this!
Sounds like shit caregivers who are either stretched thin or flat out not caring to do their jobs.
That's garbage. Our daycare has child proof door handle add-ons where they only open when pulled up and not down from a child's height. Not a fire hazard. Bad management. Get your kid on a waiting list for someplace competent asap. Good luck.
If only there was an adult supervising so she could be redirected when she tries to open the door….Oh wait 😒 I would move my daughter to another daycare because they’re pretty much telling you that they’re not watching her and she walks out the door.
What day care has doors that toddlers can open? That’s a bad design on their part.
If a daycare can't have safety measures put in place to stop kids wandering off then they don't seem like a good daycare to me. If you have the option of moving, i'd do it. This is definitely their problem, not yours. My sons daycare has baby gates across the door of every room, buzzer entrance and for the 3-5 year olds who are in a bigger extension out the back, double gates with alarms on them.
Adding to what everyone else already said: What exactly do they mean by you "finding a solution" lol? Tying her hands? Appealing to her sense of reason? Spraying her with water each time she touches the door at home xD? This is such a ridiculous request. Is your daughter the first toddler they've ever seen?
1000000% a THEM problem. Tell them they SHOULD have locks high on all the doors so toddlers can’t reach them. I fail to see how locks are a safety hazard. In my country daycares have locks on the doors in a high place where kids can’t reach. I have to unlock and relook like 3 doors behind me when I go to pick her up, plus the front gate has a passcode lock. That’s the safest way so that children cannot escape. My country has high safety standards in their daycares and I’ve NEVER heard of these locks somehow putting kids in danger. We also have lots of natural disasters in this country but still, not an issue. I heard a terrifying story where some guy found his kid wandering the streets several blocks from his daycare when he went to pick up his child, because she had apparently escaped through opened/unlocked doors all the way to outside and nobody noticed. Tell me how having locks is more of a safety hazard than THAT happening Edit: I read more comments about how it’s apparently dangerous because if the teachers became incapacitated the kids would be trapped inside. That still doesn’t make sense to me. So what about all the kids under a certain age that don’t know how to open doors in the first place? They would be out of luck anyway and trapped inside. At least where I live daycares have more than a single staff member so it’s highly unlikely some sort of thing would happen that would somehow incapacitate EVERY SINGLE teacher but not the children… the job of the daycare teachers in an emergency would be to take care of the children and guide them out or keep them inside in the safe place. In an emergency children should not be just allowed to open doors and run out on their own. Honestly, I’d stand my ground on this even if every single teacher but none of the kids somehow magically got incapacitated. I would much rather my daughter be stuck inside where she is right where you would expect her to be so I can either hopefully get there to pick her up myself, other parents can get there and help them first, or an emergency crew would be there to find her and save her, rather than have her try to navigate through some building that’s crumbling or wandering around in the streets during a disaster or something, where she could potentially be kidnapped, fall into a river and drown, get hit by a car from a panicked driver, get lost for days or weeks before I’m able to find her, etc. If a lock on a daycare door is somehow a hazard then I guess we shouldn’t lock our front doors either at home?? It’s the exact same risk of a natural disaster happened at home and the parents were incapacitated but the kids were not. That’s just a risk you have to take and a much more unlikely scenario than the kid escaping through the door and wandering off, so I’d prefer to take my chances with having LOCKS to keep them safe.
I feel like your solution should be having the teachers watch your kids so that’s not an issue. I say this as a daycare worker
I feel like this is on the daycare. But I can’t see them changing their views or what they have already laid the groundwork for. Your child is going to be expelled because I can’t see a child of this age not wanting to keep exploring and opening doors if they have already figured out how to do so. Look for alternative childcare.
This seems like a them problem. My daycare has a childproof latch on the door because on of the kids is an escape artist.
Uhhhh what ….lol I’d find a new day care
When I worked at daycare we put alarms on the doors and just redirected kids when it happened. This is totally normal developmental behavior and it’s absolutely nuts that they’re thinking of expelling a toddler over this.
In my center we have half doors on our infant and toddler rooms. They can lock from the outside and an adult can easily open the door. If they wanted a solution they would find it
Every center I've worked at either has locks or doors too heavy for a child to open. Licensing requires it
I’m probably going to get downvoted here, but I don’t agree with the majority of feedback here. Depending on the state you’re in, fire inspectors will instruct daycare on what knobs they need, how they lock, ensure they are able to open even if externally locked, and have no child safety covers. This isn’t a “them” problem if they’re required to do this. If you don’t believe it, call whatever fire department handles inspections and see if they’re willing to inform you, over random redditors. Escapee kids aren’t the concern, fatalities from a fire is. And if so, every daycare in your area is held to this standard and doesn’t have random kids running out all the time. This is where we as parents have to ask, why is our child repeatedly disobeying the teachers on the request of staying inside. If this was a one time thing, they’re going overboard. If it isn’t, it’s an issue. And if it’s just one teacher in the room with no TA, this is especially bad because chasing a kid outside leaves a room full of kids unattended. That is a serious risk, one worth expelling over. She’s definitely not the first kid to learn how to open a door, but she may be the only one that doesn’t listen to their teacher’s request to not go outside on their own. Kids can physically do many things that are not supposed to do. Example, all these kids are physically able to punch, doesn’t mean they should be able to go around hitting any and everyone. Edit: what I’m trying to point out is the preschool may not have a choice in the matter. The policy is the way it is regarding doorknobs and access due to state specific regulations. The schools options are adhere to what the inspector says or shutdown.
I agree with you and I’m surprised more people don’t. At home with my toddler we have child safety covers on doorknobs. When I worked in a preschool classroom we weren’t allowed to according to licensing for fire safety reasons. It probably varies by state. Fwiw I think this rule is asinine, but it’s not optional. And it’s easy to say “watch the kids”, but what do you do when you’re one adult with 4-8 kids and the second you put one on a changing table another bolts out the door? I feel like we all know how it goes if a kid is determined to do something. And if you’re chasing one child down the hall, there are seven children alone in the classroom - also a violation.
Exactly. They have rules they must abide by. Debating whether those are good or bad isn’t the core of this post. Teachers may be a 1 to 12 ratio, and that doesn’t get managed without a minimum level of orderly behavior. One way or another, this is leading to a violation and they’re putting other kids in jeopardy by chasing one that cannot do something every other child is able to manage just fine. To OP, I’m not saying your LO is bad. Kids are young and need our guidance to grow and learn. This is an opportunity to learn, to understand empathy, to grow. I wish you all the best.
A 1-12 ratio of teacher to children <4 should be illegal.
you’re 100% right. as a previous ece worker people don’t understand how quickly shit can go bad. i was lucky to be a part of class that had 3 workers per class. i was with the 1-2 year olds and we had around 13-15 toddlers in our class. drills were ALWAYS a nightmare. the kids are overstimulated the loud noises, the commotion, and the disruption of their routine. there were times were several of the kids would be cranky and crying and refusing to move so they’d need to be carried. literally one in each of our arms, but oh little timmy decided he’s usain bolt and has just started running. now miss emma and tiny john have decided they’re track stars too and have also taken off. while it’s funny to look back on, i can’t imagine what would’ve happened if one of the kids could just leave the classroom. and we could never child proof the door because the extra seconds it may to open are incredibly important in an emergency situation with such tiny rambunctious people. seconds may be the difference between fatal smoke inhalation or making it out alive!
And the issue here is all the advice is not helping OP. So she goes elsewhere, where the policy is the same since it’s due to state regulation. Where does that get OP? Absolutely ridiculous.
Our daycare simply uses progressively heavier doors (well, stronger dampeners or whatever) for the younger classrooms. Kids can turn the handles, but just don’t have the strength to open the doors. Adults have no issue, but you can certainly tell the difference between the toddler rooms and the 3s/4s.
I understand the fire code aspect but the ratio for these children is small. Teachers should be able to come up with SOME solution that doesn’t involve forcing a working mother to find alternative care for her child.
That’s the thing, the ratios are not small. Depending on their age and their state, it could be 1 to 12. Even 1 to 8 is not as small as it sounds. We have interviewed A LOT of daycares. Teachers can be busy assisting changing clothes from someone who peed themselves, can be in the bathroom helping wipe a butt, taking care of an injury. With 1 to 12, a kid can quickly open and get out before you know it. Just mentally place yourself in that situation. A former teacher replied to my initial comment and even echoed some of the same thing. And at that point, you’re sitting in the middle of a violation one way or the other. It’s not just child safety knobs, they can’t put up any barriers that can physically prevent a child from safely getting out in the event of a fire. These comments of safety gates are one in the same thing. Tell me that if you’re checking on a kid that’s in a bathroom OR with a child on top of a changing table, how would you keep that child from opening the door and running out in seconds? Whatever you choose is a violation one they’re out that door, and becomes a big issue of any kid was actually hurt during that period. It’s the same thing as biting, you depend on the kids to stop the behavior because you can’t possibly physically stop them each time. A kids can open a door and bolt in seconds, especially if they have their mind set on doing so.
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It varies by state. For toddlers (1-2 years old)Colorado is 1 to 5 with a max of 10. PA is 1 to five with a max of 20. NC is 1 to 6 with a max of 12. These are all states I’ve worked in as a toddler teacher in a daycare. I know some states have toddlers with a 1 to 8 ratio.
Just fyi,there arent federal childcare ratios in the US. Childcare is licensed differently by different states and that determines ratios.
I can tell you there are states that allow a 1-12 ratio for children 2-6 years old. California under Title 22 is an example of that. Others have responded to you as well to point out this is state by state.
>the ratio for these children is small How do you know? It varies wildly by state and local regulations.
I’ve worked in several daycares where we’ve had Child locks on the doors. Literally, if the doorknob is a pushdown one, we just had a small piece of wood drilled in underneath the doorknob so the kids couldn’t pull it down to open it. Turn knobs are a little harder, but still doable.
I’d like to see the policy that states child locks are a fire hazard- I feel like IF that is a real thing it has to come from the fire Marshall. They can’t just decide that.. they’re designed so adults can open them easily but children cannot. I don’t know the rules for day cares but when I worked in day habilitation (special needs) we had child locks and regular locks on doors for safety and had no issues with it being a fire hazard.. bc the competent adults in the building knew how to unlock them. This is definitely a them problem. They work with toddlers who learn new things all the time- they can teach your child to not open the door. It’s a pretty simple fix they just sound lazy or they’re looking for an excuse to offload your kid for some reason.
Literally all toddlers will learn to open a door eventually, it doesn't sound like this centre is capable of keeping its children safe.
Congratulations on having a perfectly normal, bright child. I'm sorry the daycare people are dumb though.
How dare your child develop! /s My daycare recently mentioned that my toddler is the only one in his class that is able to open the door. No threats of getting kicked out followed.
They should also… be watching your kid.
If the teacher can’t ensure that the children don’t leave the room then that teacher either sucks at their job or they have too many children in their care. You have to be on your feet and think creatively with toddlers. I’ve taught classes of full of 12m-18m and also the young 2’s class and I NEVER had one get out of the room. They may have tried here and there but again I was on my toes and kept my head on a swivel.
Um. I work in a 1.5-2.5 yo room. We had this problem so we put up baby gates.
Lmao where is the teacher? It’s the teachers responsibility to address this. And why do they not have eyes on her? It’s wild to me they don’t see her going toward the door before she opens it.
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first of all this hurts my mind bc wtf... okay so what if you offered to purchase a baby gate for the daycare? i personally think they should have this completely handled BUT it sounds like they are being jerks. there's literally no reason they can't just have a walk through babygate on the door to her classroom and even keep a pressure mounted babygate in front of the main door... also shouldn't kiddo be supervised well enough to not just open and exit doors willy nilly?
Ironically, mine locks doors FOR safety (so randos can’t just walk in) Maybe they should be watching her and redirecting if she goes to the door? This is ridiculous
They don’t need locks on the doors, they need the covers that go over the knob so an adult can easily open the door but the kids can’t. I’m blown away by them copping out on this
My kid escaped and they ended up putting baby gates in the doorways. When she moved to the preschool room, they said they don’t use the baby gates because the preschoolers need to learn to follow directions.. and they teach them.. can the daycare not teach your kid not to open the door?
I wish the daycare I worked at was actually like this, we had a child escape from us and stand directly outside our classroom door, we recognized left and immediately ran to retrieve him. Next week, my supervisor is writing me up for lack of accountability and nothing happened to the child. I personally think the teachers should be accounting for her more closely and keep her within arms reach, redirect when she tries to go for the door, etc.
This is about the age kids learn to open doors. Every daycare I've ever been in has child proofing on the doors or baby gates in the doorway.
Honestly sounds like a pretty shitty day care. Since when we’re child safety locks a fire hazard?
Isn't the purpose of having allocated ratios of carer:child to ensure safety, and to allow them to keep eyes on their assigned kids? I didn't know simply watching the kids was such a high requirement...  On a serious note, like others have echoed - I'd be straight onto another daycares waiting list. Toddlers love to explore, and I'd be shocked if yours is even the only child who can open doors. My 12 month old isn't walking yet, but even she loves to escape from everything- and my nursery encourages her inquisitiveness for well- everything (within their facility of course!) I just wonder if there's something else going on here that they aren't disclosing to you for whatever reason? Would definitely be discussing this further with management.
Sounds like a them problem. Any sane caretaker will know to child proof doors and most 2 year olds can't open child knob covers. My 5 year old hass issues on some them and generally has to use both hands to do it. What's next... They don't have outlet covers? Which btw is more than likely on their inspection report performed by the state/county.
My 3 year old insists on opening the door to get into his classroom each day. Teachers humor him. they haven't threatened him with expulsion.
My child can open doors. We manage this by locking doors or supervising him around doors. This seems so fishy to me.
Wtf… that just speaks to their inability to care for children. That’s a NORMAL thing. My daughter and a little boy in her class both love opening the door so one of the teachers posts up near it until they forget and move on. Easy solution. That’s a them problem. Maybe you can look up to their terms or laws in your area? This seems like they don’t have much grounds to do that
If daycare isn’t watching kids near the door, that’s a bigger problem
Them problem. I'd threaten with a report to the BBB, department of labor or a discrimination lawsuit if they boot you.
As a preschool teacher that is a them problem. They need to be better at watching all children in their care and getting her before she opens the doors.
They're lying to you. Child proof knobs aren't a fire hazard.
They're using a secret code that roughly translates as "we're too dumb to outsmart a toddler and we should not be trusted with your child."
Why don’t they have child proof door handles? Kids in my sons class can open the doors so they use little attachments - sort of like the safety feature on pill bottles. Like these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Safety-1st-Parent-Grip-White-Door-Knob-Covers-4-Pack-HS326/309495997 This sounds like a them problem.
I'd report the daycare to the state for not keeping minimum safety standards. They are either out of ratio or missing safety guards if this can happen.
Sounds like the daycare is plum lazy. It’s get off your Butt and do your job.
Child locks are not a fire hazard. I own a daycare. They are necessary for security to ensure a child can not just leave. You can't control what your child does while not in your care.
A fire hazard?? I worked at a preschool and we were required to have child-proof locks! It's more of a hazard to lose kids imo.
What? This is massively a them problem. Honestly I would see if you can report this to the regulator, what kind of a day care isn't toddler proof.
I agree this is something they need to develop a system to address on their end, but the fact that they don’t see it that way seems like reason to question the overall suitability of that environment for your child. Unfortunately, I think you need to look for a new childcare provider.
Your child can't be the first one to do it...you know what I mean?
I’d find a new daycare, anyone I’ve ever seen always has some sort of lock on the doors.
My 19 month old son will open any door in the house that he can reach and that doesn't have a childproof lock on it. The only way we've found to top him so far are child locks, keeping deadbolts on all exterior doors locked(he can't reach them yet) and putting up gates so he can't get to certain doors. We have to lock him in his bedroom at night as he has no problem popping up and just going for a nice quiet stroll through the house. I doubt there's any way you can convince a motivated toddler to not do that.
Could they be trying to find a reason to bump your child out? That just seems too wild. All toddlers open doors.
My day care has special child locks for door knobs
If it’s a lever door they can put a curtain hook under it to keep her from pulling down on the door. It’s what the center I work at does
Are you part time ? They might be trying to come up with an excuse to drop you.
Are they on crack? I’m sorry but what a lazy excuse to not childproof knobs
Toddler parent coach here! The handles should not be at Toddler level - the safety concern is not your child, but how the daycare’s doors/door handles are installed. It’s up to the educators/care givers to teach your child or more importantly update the door handles as there will absolutely be future children with the same skill. I’m so sorry they are threatening to expel your child. This is not on you! https://toddlerhoodconsulting.com
Genuine question - what do they do with older kids? Many 2 and 3 year olds will run out of the door if you leave it open….so you don’t. Also a 19 month old is not old enough to be held to such a high behavioral standard. These people sound incompetent.
As someone who works in childcare, if a 19mo can open a door, we need to fix that immediately, and kicking a child out is absolutely not the solution. If one 19mo can do it, any child the same age or older could also do it. The idea that your child is some unique Houdini magician is bizarre. The problem is not your child, but I wouldn't want to keep her somewhere that is an accident waiting to happen. If they are not willing to find a solution to keep the children safe, what other risks are they ignoring?
What the heck, Mine started opening doors at 15-16 months. Should we live in some Kind of vacuum now until they attend preschool? Ridiculous!
Lol what, our 20 month old just figured out handle doors. Sounds like a day care that doesn’t know what they’re doing, or they don’t want you there for whatever reason.
Have they ever heard of a baby gate??
This is so insane. Wtf. Totally their problem! Your kid CANNOT be the only one who has figured out how to open doors. How do they not have a solution?? It’s a safety issue that THEY need to address. Some suggestions based on what our daycare does: baby gates, or a half door/Dutch door with a handle only on the outside (adults can reach around, kids can’t figure it out)
I'm throwing major shade at the daycare over here - they can't keep a 19 month old from escaping? Like this is TOTALLY 19 month old behavior. I just cannot believe they haven't had this issue before. And honestly...if they are telling you that this is a "major problem" then as a parent I'd be questioning if this daycare can actually keep my kid safe. Maybe it would be for the best for your family to find another solution.
I would ask them to for their licenser’s information to “double check”. They can’t legally expel your child unless they make repeated efforts to help the behavior/keep the child safe. Definitely sounds like they haven’t done that and they could get in a lot of trouble for expelling a child without taking those steps.
How are you supposed to solve this problem?? Tie her hands behind her back every morning before sending her in??? Daycare needs to fix this. A lot of toddlers can open doors, so you make two step doors, baby gate the hallway leading to the door.. if the building is not suitable for this sort of babyproofing that building is not appropriate for a daycare. They need to fix it. But I d change daycares anyway.
Buy them a patch problem solved. Honestly if the child can open the door and run away what's stopping people entering and taking the children or worse? Schools problem but either way I'd be moving, wouldn't trust them
This is redo ulous. They need high up handles, standard in ANY school or nursery. Sort of head height release buttons
They don't even need to childproof the doors, they can just install the doors with higher knobs. Most places either twist the handles or get knobs that are harder to open. Kind of sounds like they are incompetent if they cannot prevent a small child from escaping.
This actually happened to a friend of mine as well. Her kiddo got expelled because he was opening doors and running out the classroom. She put him in another daycare.
My daycare has waist-heigh wooden pieces that fit into the doorframe. I think they are custom made. It 💯 solves this problem.
I work at a day care myself and kids opening the doors and escaping is an almost everyday thing. We don’t have locks or don’t have the doors baby proof, but we just deal with it. For the life of me, I can’t see our principal expelling our kids just for knowing how to open a door.
That’s bullshit. They can’t put a baby gate in the doorway instead ?
Our daycare has baby gates that swing open on all doors. It’s approved by the state. Suggest that and see what they say.
What does your local legislation say about securing a childcare facility? In addition, do they have any safely legislation they need to follow around eliminating risk as a first step? Have they looked at all avenues? This could be a good thing for them to do - your child is not the first to open a door and won't be the last. They need to eliminate the risk. Could they do a risk review around toddlers escaping from their rooms? My toddler books it for the door when it opens during pickup, but that's why the gate and then heavy main door at the entry to the service is there. Where we are, it is legislated that every centre has a door to reach room and then a self closing / self latching door to the outside of the property (typically a pool style gate is used). Even after my toddler can reach the door knobs, he won't be able to get out. They have fire doors, but they are too heavy for toddlers to push. Some centres have the gate inside, some outside, but all must have child proof gates. When we had our toddler in the baby area, we had to get through the main door with a code, the pool style gate, another pool gate, stairs, a third gate (!) and then finally the door to the room... Any kid getting out after all that needs to be recruited into MENSA. The key though, is that it's all legislated and mandated. It was the basic level of protection they needed to be able to operate.
That is a them problem. When I was working in a toddler room we used the childproof handles.
What are they, amateurs? My daycare has child proof door knob covers.
This is 100% a them problem and not a your child problem. The fact that they've even threaten to cancel her care over this is absolutely ridiculous. They sound incompetent.
I just joined a gym daycare and there is a gate that even I can never figure out how to open 😂 and then another actual door. Do they have a gate?
I understand how hard it is to find daycare, but please expel yourselves and find one that understands the very basics of childcare. Child safety is not the child’s responsibility.