Working Mom Shares The Odd Rule Her New Daycare Had That Made Her Pull Her Toddler Out
Roman Fenton | Shutterstock A mother was perplexed when she learned about the bizarre rule at her son’s new daycare center that restricted parents from picking up their children before 3:30 p.m. In a TikTok video, she sought opinions on whether this was a common practice and ultimately decided to pull her child out.
Being a working mom is hard enough, but you've also got the added stress of finding a daycare that meets your financial and flexibility requirements. The 13th annual Care.com 2026 Cost of Care Report reported that the average cost of daycare for one child is $332.00 a week. Obviously, that number can vary wildly depending on where you live, but the fact remains that it is expensive. All that is to say, if you are paying an arm and a leg for care for your child, should the providers really be that strict about pickup times?
The mother said that her child's daycare did not allow her to pick up her son anytime before 3:30 pm.
In a TikTok video, Christie Webber, who has a toddler son, explained that she recently had to enroll him in a new daycare center. During the first week, she learned they had an unusual 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 said.
The pickup rule was something she said would 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. “I need to know, is that like a normal rule at daycares, or is it unique?” she asked, 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 other kids.
Many parents shared that their children’s daycares do not have restrictions on when they can pick up their children. “That’s crazy. They can’t hold your kid hostage,” one parent stated. “It’s my kid and I’m paying the bill, I can come get him whenever I want,” another said.
Those who work in daycare centers also believed that the rule was rather unusual.
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“Daycare director here ... that is insane to me. It raises some major red flags,” they 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 the rest of the children, many do not have rules forbidding parents from picking up their children before the designated pick-up time. They may, however, stop anyone who is not a child’s custodial parent from picking up the child, especially if the custodial parent has not granted permission beforehand for anyone else to pick up the child from the daycare.
Private daycare centers can run their operations as they see fit, but parents always have the option to take their business elsewhere.
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. In a perfect world, 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 kids.
The thing is, most daycares are private businesses. That means they can absolutely enforce pick-up time rules if it makes running their business easier.
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. This brings up the important point that it's the obligation of the consumer, in this case, that would be the parents paying for childcare services, to do their due diligence and determine if the service provider fits their needs.
It doesn't make it easy, but unfortunately, choosing a daycare isn't much different than buying a car. You have to research everything, not just cost, to make sure what you're buying fits all your needs.
Megan Quinn is a writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
