When I drop my son off for preschool in the morning, I always walk him in along with his younger 2 year old brother. I never leave him in the car, even though we're parked right outside. Several parents do however, one woman leaves her 6 month old daughter sitting in the car seat all the time. It surprises me that many parents do this because it is a busy area with lots of cars. Yes, it's more work to get him out of his seat and bring him in but I could never just leave him. I also thought it was against the law. So do parents at your child's school do this as well? I could see if they had another parent standing outside watching the car, but that's not the case.
Nope. My six month old goes in to take his brother in to his classroom every day, unless there happens to be another adult there to stay in the car with him.
Nope--in fact we just got another 'reminder' that it is not okay to leave a child unattended in a car. They went on so far to say they are mandated to report it as well.
There have been many times my 2 yr old crashes right before I get to my oldest's school. So many times I've just wanted to leave him, but no matter how quick I think I can be-- 2 minutes often turns into more like 10. Just not safe :)
Every state is different. In Missouri it is not against the law to leave your child in the car. Check your state's laws with your local DMV.
Our school has a drive up that they have 3 or 4 parents manning every day, you drive up and the parent takes your kid out of your car and walks them the 10 feet to the door and hands them off to a teacher. Same for pickup. It is set up this way exactly for this reason, and it has been a lifesaver because one of every two times my DD is SLEEPING soundly.
My son's preschool started having parent volunteers greet the children at the drop off spot in the parking lot, One parent greeted and had parents sign a sign in sheet, while another parent walked children to class. The volunteers were parents from the two four yr old classes so all they needed was ten volunteers to commit to one day a week. Why don't you suggest this to the director and offer to draft a letter asking if parents are interested, then another letter asking for volunteers? You could really help out some moms who are trying to deal with dozing infants who may be cranky getting in and out of car seats. I'm sure some parents with no younger siblings or siblings capable of walking with the parent would volunteer if you started the ball rolling!
Well, this really depends on a LOT of factors. I'm thinking you should probably bring it to the attention of the administrators with the helpful solution of seeing if some parents would volunteer to be greeters. A friend of mine has another friend who will meet her at the school and walk the kiddos in.
But is it really a HUGE safety concern? I know some schools where a sleeping baby in a safe and locked car is visible from the front door for the time it takes to remove a jacket and hang up a backpack.
I would report it to the school via phone call. They can get into a lot of trouble. This is illegal. Careless parents!
It is illegal in some states. In fact, I know of a mom who was arrested for leaving her 4 year old in the car to pick up her 6 year old from school. The whole thing took less than a few minutes. The school and police officer did not think it was harmless.
Personally, I don't think it's safe. Once you are inside and out of sight, anything can happen. And you can't guarantee that another parent or caretaker will intervene if something does go awry in those few minutes. As annoying as it can be, I wake up my 17 month old, bring him with me while we picking up big sister and deal with the crankiness.
At our pre school the teachers and aides bring the kids to the front door. I park my car and leave my 2 year old in his car seat, but I am never more than 10 feet away from the car. If I ever have to go into the building I take him with me. I don't think its safe to actually leave the car with a child inside, but standing outside of the car for a couple of minutes I don't have a problem with.
It's been a long time since preschool, my youngest is 12, but I would never have left a baby or child in the car alone while I went into a building.
At my son's prek school parents drive up to the door, get their child out of the car and the teacher and teacher aids take them, so all the moms leave their babies in the car. If I had to walk away or go in the school I would never leave a child in the car alone.
State laws vary so you would have to check for your state. I always brought my younger child in with me except if the teacher had brought my older one to the door of the school (rare). I would not leave a baby or small child in the car unless I was in sight of the car.
I like the idea of having a parent or other adult as an escort for the preschoolers.
