Working Mom Shares The Odd Rule Her New Daycare Had That Made Her Pull Her Toddler Out

She asked if it was normal, as her son's previous daycare never enforced the rule.

working mom walking her child to daycare Dusan Petkovic / Shutterstock
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A mother was perplexed when she learned about the bizarre rule implemented at her son’s new daycare center. Now, she is asking other parents if their own children’s daycare centers have similar rules in place, and if it is normal. 

The mother claims that her child's daycare did not allow her to pick up her son anytime before 3:30 pm. 

In a TikTok video viewed over 500,000 times, Christie Webber, who has a toddler son, reveals that she recently had to enroll him in a new daycare center. 

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During the first week she learned they had an unsual rule regarding parent pick-up procedures that did not exist at the previous daycare provider she had used.

“We learned that one of the rules of this new daycare is that once you drop your kid off, there is no picking them up until 3:30,” Webber says. 

   

   

The controversial rule is something she admits will not “work” for her family, as her son’s grandparents like to pick him up midday from daycare every so often and spend time with him. 

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“I need to know, is that like a normal rule at daycares, or is it unique?” she asks, sharing that her son’s previous daycare allowed parents to pick up their children as they pleased, except during naptime at 11:30 to avoid disturbing the sleeping children

RELATED: Daycare Worker Sees Coworker Hit A Baby In The Face — She Reports It & Is Only Offered A Move To Another Room

Most parents shared that their children’s daycares do not have restrictions as to when they can pick up their children. 

“That’s crazy. They can’t hold your kid hostage,” one TikTok user commented. “It’s my kid and I’m paying the bill, I can come get him whenever I want,” another user noted. 

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Those who work in daycare centers also believed that the rule was rather unusual. 

“Daycare director here ... that is insane to me. It raises some major red flags,” one user wrote. “We just like to know of schedule changes so we can have your kid ready.” 

That’s weird, I’m a daycare teacher and you can pick up anytime you want. Heck, some days we love it when the ratio drops early,” another shared. 

While some daycare centers may keep parents from picking up their children during naptime to avoid waking up the rest of the children, many of them do not have rules forbidding parents from picking up their children before the designated pick-up time. 

They may, however, stop those who are not a child’s custodial parent from picking them up, especially if the custodial parent has not granted permission beforehand for anyone else to grab their child from the daycare. 

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RELATED: Mom's 2-Year-Old Was Kicked Out Of Daycare — She Thinks They Just Don't Want 'A Difficult Kid'

While state-funded preschools can require students to stay in class for a certain amount of time in order for them to meet their attendance quota, daycare centers are responsible for providing childcare instead of maintaining attendance records. 

Therefore, parents should be able to collect their children at any time. Life happens, and there could be a family emergency, a child could be sick, or sometimes, parents simply want to spend more time with their children. 

Webber posted a follow-up video sharing that she has since transferred her son to a different daycare center where she is allowed to pick him up at any time she pleases. 

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RELATED: Daycare Under Investigation After Video Surfaces Of Workers Laughing While Throwing Cheese At Crying Baby’s Face

Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.