Parents of the Miss Anne's Childcare and Learning Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, are still reeling after they received a call from child services informing them that their daycare center was under investigation. According to the Kansas Department for Children and Families, several infants were being laid on their stomachs and then bound by blankets and hair bands to go to sleep in homemade "sleep sacks." But the DIY creations are extremely dangerous for infants because it limits their ability to roll over if they spit up or can't breathe while they sleep. Now, two of the parents are speaking out about their experience, hoping to warn other parents that even if you've done all your research you, still need to be careful with who you let watch your kids.
The news of the practice first broke in April, when mom Tanya spoke out about the minute she learned her son was being tied up while in daycare.
Speaking with Fox News in April, Tanya, who has asked for her last name not to be released because of her job with the government, told reporters that the Kansas Department for Children and Families first called her in late March and asked her if she liked her son's daycare. Specifically, they wanted her thoughts on the "sleeping situation" in the infant room.
Before the call, this mom wasn't aware of a "sleeping situation" and according to 41 Action News, it was only then that Tanya first learned that there was a photo of her son in a homemade "sleep sack" that a concerned tipster had sent in for investigation.
Because the photo couldn't be sent over the phone, Tanya immediately drove to the DCF offices to see for herself what exactly had happened to her boy.
“It was a picture of him in a sleep sack with his arms bound down and the sleeves of the sleep sack tied to the back with a ponytail holder and he was laid face down with his face pretty much in the corner," she explained.
Seeing her 9-month-old restrained struck a nerve with the mom, who said that she's not normally very emotional. “You know, I was in the military for 22 years. I don’t shake easily…” she said, starting to tear up. “This shook me to my core.”
But Tanya wasn't the only parent to receive a phone call. Deirdre Engle and her husband, Jonathan, were also told that their daughter had been tied up.
Deirdre and her husband made an appearance on The Doctors on October 26, where they explained to host Dr. Tony Stork that they had been on vacation when DCF let them know that there was an issue at their daughter's daycare.
At first, the official couldn't reveal what exactly the problem was but only informed the parents that it might affect their daughter. According to Fox News, the parents were finally able to see photo evidence of what was happening once they returned from vacation. Deirdre was in disbelief even after seeing the evidence.
"I didn't think it was real," the mom explained on the daytime TV show.
"I looked at it and couldn't see my baby in that. There's no way that that's my kid. She's not tied up at daycare. That's not a thing. And then you get to looking at her and she looks so comfy. She's been there before. You can tell that she's been there before."
The mom told 41 Action News that she immediately pulled her child from the center on March 27 and has not been back. But Deirdre also added that she's not aware of any repercussions for Miss Anne's since then.
Tanya, Deirdre, and Jonathan all agree that they wish they'd been told earlier so that they could have kept their kids safe.
The whistleblower, who took the photos of the infants and works at the center, allegedly reported the DIY sleep sacks to her boss in early February and then to the state in late February.
But all parents affected by the improper child care weren't alerted until March 22, a time gap that was just too long for the parents' comfort.
“I should’ve immediately got a phone call,” Tanya said.
And Deirdre echoed Tanya's sentiment, “How long has it been going on? For how long was I failing to keep my daughter safe?"
"I should have been told sooner," she added. "All of the parents should have been told.”
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment explained its actions in a statement given to 41 Action News:
“KDHE’s Child care licensing protocol for investigating complaint allegations does involve contacting parents of children in care (as well as facility staff and other potential witnesses) when allegations and concerns relate to child care practices and/or the care and supervision of children. This does not mean every parent will be contacted, as contacts are made for the purpose of determining compliance vs. notifying parents an investigation is underway.
The program's informational brochure about complaint investigations reflects the possible contact with witnesses: "Also, please note that although the agencies conduct joint investigations, the DCF investigation is separate from a KDHE child care investigation. We are looking at different laws/regulations and applying different protocol.”
"You don't need to be a doctor to realize what can happen in that situation," Stork said.
"We've all heard of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome," the television host said in his interview with Deirdre and Jonathan. "Placing a baby in that position period, much less tied up in a blanket, is really a compromising situation for a baby."
And co-host Dr. Andrew Orden agreed. "The positioning of infants is so important," he said. "They're not meant to be restrained that severely — tied down — and never left on their stomach for extended periods of time."
Orden also asked the couple if they had done their research before signing up their child for Miss Anne's, and they told him that it had come highly recommended by Deirdre's coworker. "We had gone up and visited and checked it out," Deirdre said. "We met people and it looked good."
But Jonathan added that he did notice that something was off about his daughter's daycare attendant, but figured that even if he personally didn't like the woman, he still assumed she was capable of the work.
"I didn't think anything of it because there are plenty of people that I don't like that are still good at their jobs," he said.
According to Fox News, Tanya had reached out to the owners of Miss Anne's to have a private conversation with them before taking her story public, but the meeting only led to disappointment.
"I would expect them to say, 'We're so sorry that this happened on our watch. We're appalled. We can't believe this happened.' I got none of that," she said. The mom shared that although the employee who made the DIY sleep sacks had been removed from infant care, it would be weeks after her conversation with the center owners before the person was finally terminated.
"When I found out [that employee] was still working during all this time I started getting concerned about the daycare as a whole, not just one person," Tanya said. "Whatever happens under that roof is their responsibility."
Now the parents have decided to speak out about what happened to their kids, so that other parents will steer clear of Miss Anne's and learn to pay close attention to what goes on in their children's daycare centers.
"Daycare centers that are not upholding standards of care should see this as a warning," Tanya explained. "I swore I'd protect my child and I meant it. And there's others out there just like me."
