I'm feeling guilty this week because we're in a heat wave and neither daycare (for DS) nor preschool (for DD) have AC. I feel so bad for them while I'm in my air conditioned office. It was 97F today.
I thought about skipping work to cool them down but our house doesn't have AC either. Neither kid looked bothered by the heat at all at pick up.
Anyone else have daycare without AC?
grapefruit / 4079 posts
Our daycare does but the preschool doesn't. I'm a teacher and I know how miserable it is so I always feel horrible. Thankfully, I have the bulk of the hot season off. If I didn't, I'd probably take time off and keep them home but we have AC.
persimmon / 1364 posts
I'm not sure what state you're in, but I'm pretty sure in CA day cares are required to have AC/fans/cooling units since babies and toddlers can't control their body temperature.
pomelo / 5258 posts
@Meowkers: We are in CA. Both care providers are licensed and have been inspected multiple times so I hope/assume they have what they need to comply.
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
If you're in the Bay Area it's fairly common for places not to have AC bc it's historically been pretty cool but we live closer to Sac where it's always blazing hot in the summer so on AC is a non-negotiable for us. It was over 100 today here and there's AC at my kids' school, but even so they look hot when I get them.
So yeah if it were me I would have kept them someplace cool - GET A WINDOW UNIT!
grapefruit / 4321 posts
Yeah 97 degrees with no A/C would be a no go for me. I'm truly surprised that that is legal. Our kids don't even play outside at school if the heat index of over 95.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@Truth Bombs: Yeah, I'm kind of surprised about this too!
Our daycare has both heating and A/C. Over the winter, the furnace broke, and they made all the parents come pick up the kids. I suspect it would be a similar thing in the summer if it was really hot out and the A/C wasn't working.
@Corduroy: Is 97 common where you live?
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Well, in my son's school, his classroom isn't air conditioned, as are most of the schools that were built in the 70s. The electrical can't handle window units either, so it's either run the smart boards, the acs or blow the power out.
On really hot days, they usually do early dismissal because of the heat. Not ideal, but it is what it is.
grapefruit / 4321 posts
@looch: I can understand no A/C in public schools because they are typically closed during the hottest part of the year. But day care is a different situation, it's year round and the kids are much younger and less able to handle the heat.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@Corduroy: Our state FL has a law that it must be under 80* in the classrooms. So if they can open windows, do fans, etc to keep it under that then the daycare stays open. If they can't get the a/c fixed or the fans aren't enough, they have to close and have parents come get the kids. Check your state laws.
eggplant / 11861 posts
@T.H.O.U.: yes, even in public schools we have to move rooms and such if AC breaks
kiwi / 578 posts
We're in the Northeast and daycare and pre-schools have AC as a rule. Some of the public schools do not, but they have early dismissal if it is too hot. I'd be concerned about DS if it was that hot with no AC; he's like me and turns red when it's above 90F even in the shade.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@Truth Bombs: The problem is that these buildings also have preK.
pomelo / 5258 posts
@Adira: Temperatures that high are uncommon here. Yesterday was supposed to be the biggest power consumption day for CA since 2006. Today it's supposed to be 10F cooler.
pear / 1728 posts
Wow, I'm surprised daycares are allowed to not have A/C (although I'm in Texas and not having A/C is unheard of).
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
This has only happened at my daycare because the A/C was broken. Now LO's room is on the colder side compared to the class next door.
What are they doing to cool down the LOs?
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
Okay here is the rule in CA:
Make sure that the temperature in your facility is safe and comfortable. For Child Care Centers only, Title 22 Regulations requires the temperature in rooms that children occupy be between a minimum of 68 degrees F (20 degrees C) and a maximum of 85 degrees F (30 degrees C). However, in areas of extreme heat, the maximum shall be 20 degrees F (11.1 degrees C) less than the outside temperature.
Since you are in a historically cooler area, they have to keep it at a max of 85 degrees, which still seems miserable to me, but I accept won't endanger the kids if they are indoors and have access to drinking water.
pomegranate / 3375 posts
We live in Portland (which is assumed to have pretty gloomy weather, but actually hits 90+ regularly during the summer). I would "demand" that LO's school have at least a window a/c.
In your case, I would ask the school specifically if they know about CA's policies, and what they are doing to monitor the temp in the classrooms.
pomegranate / 3658 posts
If this helps you feel better at all, the summer after DD was born was a major heat wave in our area. She was 2-4 months old, I was still at home with her on maternity leave, and it was HOT. Like her monitor consistently said 88-89 in her nursery. I hated it but it never seemed to bother her and she was physically fine. I kept her in just a diaper most of the time, and had multiple fans going constantly.
[eta] Just looked up the regs in my state, they actually have to keep the temp at 82 or lower in the summer months. It definitely wasn't that cool in my house that summer!
pear / 1955 posts
I'm in Massachusetts, and our daycare definitely doesn't have AC. They have big ceiling fans, and it's never felt truly uncomfortable in there, even when the temp is in the 90s. I work from home 2 days a week, and it's definitely more uncomfortable in our non-airconditioned house.
pomegranate / 3438 posts
I'm in the Bay Area and the heat wave this week has been nuts. Luckily our daycare has window ac's in the classrooms. I feel bad because we don't have ac in our house, at one point it was 92 degrees inside! Didn't seem to bother the kids too much but DH and I were miserable.
papaya / 10560 posts
Last year they were doing ductwork at my kids daycare and they had to rent gigantic fans to keep the place cool in the heat--they would be out of compliance with state law if they weren't able to provide AC.
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