stairs at daycare

[Anonymous]

I visited the infant room of the daycare that DC is attending soon. DC was with me. It was raining so we're in the gym upstairs. The other children in this room are between 1 and 1 1/2 and they're walking already. One child almost left the gym unnoticed because the door was open (don't know whether the child opened it himself). Then the two teachers took the children downstairs while I held DC (DC is the baby in this room and cannot walk yet). The children climbed down the stairs and it was not easy for two adults to manage 5,6 one-year-old climbing downstairs! There were two sets of stairs with a small resting area in the middle. The children were told to wait at the middle resting area with one teacher, while another teacher being upstairs sending the kids to climb down themselves. One child in the middle area did not follow instruction and started heading for the stairs. The teacher upstairs saw it and called out to the teacher downstairs, hence the child was dragged back to safety. I thought of if it's my DC who doesn't really understand the danger of stairs....it was scary since the stairs were concrete and steep! Thinking of it makes me really scared! Do daycare centers have regulation on stairs? Any comments or similar experiences?

[Anonymous]

OP here. I meant that the child who did not follow instruction headed downstairs himself. He was going head down so I'm not sure what would happen if he's not dragged back.

[Anonymous]

What daycare?

[Anonymous]

It does seem like a fire code issue. Usually the laws at available online. I'd definitely talk to them about the situation and look up the fire code.

[Anonymous]

At our daycare, they taught around 1 to sit on stairs and climb down backwards. At that time there were 5-6 stairs to get to the rec room and 3-4 stairs to get out the emergency door in the classroom. Other than that, the small ones stay on the main floor, and the older ones are upstairs. Once they are 2-3, they teach them to go upstairs, single file, holding the bannister.

My son at five will still sit down to go down the stairs on his rear if he's carrying a lot of stuff or really tired in the morning and coming down to breakfast. i was glad they taught the little ones this life safety skill. My son's behavior is a sign that they built in a safe reaction to a potentially dangerous situation.

In a real pinch, though, for the infants, they just grab the babies and go - like an unplanned fire drill. When it's planned, they have the buggy outside the window/door and pass the babies up and put them in the cart.

In your case, the teacher did see the kid, and they went and retrieved them. Not sure what code problem you're thinking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does seem like a fire code issue. Usually the laws at available online. I'd definitely talk to them about the situation and look up the fire code.

+1
From my understanding, infants/toddlers are supposed to be on ground level (or above ground with ramp access to ground level) until they are 2 years old.

[Anonymous]

What you are describing in against code. Report and you could loode your daycare. Are they licensed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It does seem like a fire code issue. Usually the laws at available online. I'd definitely talk to them about the situation and look up the fire code.

+1
From my understanding, infants/toddlers are supposed to be on ground level (or above ground with ramp access to ground level) until they are 2 years old.

It doesnt sound like the kids' room is up there, just that they were taken to an activity up there on a rainy day.

[Anonymous]

Yes...at my daycare the exit is designed so that a crib (potentially full of babies) could be pushed out the door by one person in an emergency. They just moved into a new building. In the old building this was not possible so they did not have any infants due to regulations. MoCo

[Anonymous]

PP again..just realized it could be a NAEYC regulation not MoCo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It does seem like a fire code issue. Usually the laws at available online. I'd definitely talk to them about the situation and look up the fire code.

+1
From my understanding, infants/toddlers are supposed to be on ground level (or above ground with ramp access to ground level) until they are 2 years old.

It doesnt sound like the kids' room is up there, just that they were taken to an activity up there on a rainy day.

I agree, but I'm sure even this practice is against regs if there is no evacuation crib in the gym and a way to get it outside in case of a fire.

[Anonymous]

Non-walking babies don't get taken up to the gym. Evacuation cribs would be for the infants in their room. If it really was two adults for five or six one-year olds and the fire onset was so sudden that a safer evacuation isn't possible, they are fully capable of grabbing those kids and getting out of there.

What kind of evacuation cribs do you all have on the upstairs of your houses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Non-walking babies don't get taken up to the gym. Evacuation cribs would be for the infants in their room. If it really was two adults for five or six one-year olds and the fire onset was so sudden that a safer evacuation isn't possible, they are fully capable of grabbing those kids and getting out of there.

What kind of evacuation cribs do you all have on the upstairs of your houses?

You mean in my house that is not a licensed, regulated child care setting? Where I only have one baby to worry about evacuating? Oh, ok, I don't have one.

By the way, OP's child is not walking yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Non-walking babies don't get taken up to the gym. Evacuation cribs would be for the infants in their room. If it really was two adults for five or six one-year olds and the fire onset was so sudden that a safer evacuation isn't possible, they are fully capable of grabbing those kids and getting out of there.
What kind of evacuation cribs do you all have on the upstairs of your houses?

Really? It sounds like they were barely capable to safely get them all out in a non-emergency situation. Did you read the original post?

[Anonymous]

Not okay.