Help me think this through. Daycare related

[bananapancakes]

L will start day care in October. We are moving to a brand new city where we know no one next week. What in the world do we do for emergency contacts?

H works an hour a way (more in traffic). Half of the time, when he's in the office doing paper work, he could leave no problem but it would take him at least an hour to get there. The other half of the time it would be very difficult for him to leave.

I'm a substitute teacher so it would be difficult but not impossible for me to leave. I'd have to wait until they find someone else to come in. I could be at a school anywhere from 2-40 minutes away.

My Inlaws are both retired and have a car seat but they live an hour away. 99% of the time, they'd be able to drop everything and go straight there but once again, it'll be at least an hour.

I have a casual friend who lives 20 minutes away but works 5 minutes away. She has a daughter a few months older than L so has a car seat. I was thinking of asking her but I don't know how easily she'd be able to leave work and if she isn't working (she works shifts) then she would likely have her daughter with her and doesn't have a 2nd car seat.

What am I missing? What do you do?

[jeaniebueller]

I have never been called to daycare in a true emergency, other than "your kid is sick, pick him up," and that has only happened a couple of times. I would just put your number and your H's number, assuming you could both be reachable via telephone and can figure out what to do.

[hopecounts]

I'd put the grandparents (I'm assuming they'd try you and your DH before going to the emergency contact). It sucks but that's the best you can do.
DD is in school an hour away and all but one of our emergency people (me, dh, FIL, MIL) are an hour away and FIL who is in the same
city, travels for work so may or may not be there.
It's not ideal but it is what it is.

[lurknomore]

When they call, our daycare requires someone to pick the kid up within in an hour. So your in laws would fit that bill if needed. In the event of a true emergency, I would assume you would figure out a way to leave work regardless, no? I think your inlaws are fine until you have people who are closer. GL!

[zarapipe]

Just put you and your DH and possibly grandparents if they want someone else.

I've only ever been called for a sick kid and they all know it will be 40min to an hour until I can get there. I have a long commute. I can't change that so that's the reality. They realize that and just always say as soon as someone can get her.

[bananapancakes]

Sept 2, 2015 11:51:07 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

I have never been called to daycare in a true emergency, other than "your kid is sick, pick him up," and that has only happened a couple of times. I would just put your number and your H's number, assuming you could both be reachable via telephone and can figure out what to do.

The daycare requires two contacts beyond H and I.

H is easily reachable but I'm not. I can't have my cell out while teaching and because I don't work at one school consistently, I don't really have a work number.

[hocus2]

Our day requires multiple non-parent contacts. We've done family for the most part and yes they're all about an hour away. Now that we're settle more I could probably ask some of our local friends to be here in a pinch.

[oswin]

I think our daycare specifies that when sick the kid has to be picked up within an hour, so although it's not ideal I think you should put your in-laws. If/when you make more friends in your new city you can add them. You can also put your friend, even though she may not necessarily be able to pick up when needed. It's better to have more people on the list of authorized people to pick up your kid - we added a whole bunch when I was pregnant with DS since we didn't know who was going to be available to get her when I went into labor. It is awkward that the only people who have car seats are those who have kids, and they generally have to not have their kid with them in order to pick up another kid - which is difficult during the day.

Are you and your husband able to take calls while working? You should ask the daycare to call whoever is more likely to be able to answer the phone first between the two of you, then if neither of you pick up run down the list of emergency contacts. The most common reason that daycare would be calling emergency contacts is for an illness, so that one-hour guideline is really just so you don't leave your sick kid there all day (since they'll often separate a sick kid from the class). If you or your husband or your in-laws can pick him up within about an hour you'll probably be fine.

[bananapancakes]

Oh and related story. When I was teaching summer school this summer, we had a student not picked up. On the registration form, they listed the same phone number in all the contact spaces. After calling multiple times, two teachers went to knock on the door of the house while me and another teacher stayed with the kid. The mom worked nights so the kid thought she'd be sleeping. She didn't wake to the knocking on the door. The kid didn't know the phone numbers of any family members so after three hours, we had no choice but to call the police and the Children's Aid Society. The mom did eventually show up with the police right behind her. She was indeed sleeping and the teenage brother was supposed to pick his sister up but forgot. The poor mom was just a mess. I felt awful for her. Lesson learned- put down lots and lots of contact numbers!

[kershnic]

We literally know no one who is within less than an hour of daycare during the day. Daycare can dislike it if they want but it won't change who I know or how far our commutes are. We also list my sister who is 4+ hours away but someone I would want to be a decision maker if I were not available.

[bananapancakes]

Sept 2, 2015 11:59:03 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Sept 2, 2015 11:55:27 GMT -5 bananapancakes said:

The daycare requires two contacts beyond H and I.

H is easily reachable but I'm not. I can't have my cell out while teaching and because I don't work at one school consistently, I don't really have a work number.

Are you within one district?  If so, can the central office find you in case you have a sick kid?  

Otherwise, I would send them an email with the school's contact information every day that you teach.  It is a PITA to send that every day, but it is the only way you can be contacted if you need to pick up a sick kid.  

Yes, I thought of that. I'm not sure they will be able to give that info out (privacy reasons) but I will ask. 

[hopecounts]

Sept 2, 2015 12:09:07 GMT -5 bananapancakes said:

Sept 2, 2015 11:59:03 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Are you within one district?  If so, can the central office find you in case you have a sick kid?  

Otherwise, I would send them an email with the school's contact information every day that you teach.  It is a PITA to send that every day, but it is the only way you can be contacted if you need to pick up a sick kid.  

Yes, I thought of that. I'm not sure they will be able to give that info out (privacy reasons) but I will ask. 

they may not but the district office can probably relay the message to you without giving daycare that info. 

[speckledfrog]

I would put down the grandparents and then your friend. Let them know that YH is the primary number to contact in emergencies and then he can contact you if needed. Like PPs have said, the emergency numbers are mostly for calling you if your child is sick and as long as they know someone is one their way they won't need to contact one of your back ups.

[anna7602]

I put my parents down even though they are a 3-hour car ride away part of the year and a 3-hour plane ride away the rest of the year. I figure that in a true emergency in which medical authorization is required, like a trip to the hospital or something, I would want my dad making that call instead of a friend of mine should I or DH not be immediately available.

For most other things, DD can wait while someone tracks me or DH down, but I do have a SAHM from her school also listed as an emergency contact.