Diaper Swappers

browneyedgrl2411 · 04-09-2009, 11:00 PM

Nope, he should not be in any vehicle without a seatbelt on. I worry about my little one and in the event of an accident he would have no clue what to do. he is 5! I plan on taking them to and from at the very least until they have seatbelts in the buses. Probally even after as I was always dropped off at school by my parents. It is a personal decision but I can your see our worry of your 5 year old being on the road without you. My worry is the bus safety. For the most part they arrive safely but other times there have been terrible accidents.I am a worry wart to be honest and want myself only to be in charge of their safety as much as possible.

Paulinemck · 04-09-2009, 11:04 PM

No Way, No How...
But I homeschool our five so I don't have to take them anywhere.
That said our disctict puts K-5 on the same bus since we are pretty rural, I'd never put a K on w/ kids that much older

Paulinemck · 04-09-2009, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by browneyedgrl2411

Nope, he should not be in any vehicle without a seatbelt on. I worry about my little one and in the event of an accident he would have no clue what to do. he is 5! I plan on taking them to and from at the very least until they have seatbelts in the buses. Probally even after as I was always dropped off at school by my parents. It is a personal decision but I can your see our worry of your 5 year old being on the road without you. My worry is the bus safety. For the most part they arrive safely but other times there have been terrible accidents.I am a worry wart to be honest and want myself only to be in charge of their safety as much as possible.

Yeah that, no one is as good as me at keepin' 'em safe...
(or so I think, it keeps me sane...)

EmsMom · 04-10-2009, 05:53 AM

I'm a bus driver and would like to chime in

I personally feel that 4/5 is a bit young for kids to be on the big bus with the older kids. But, it really depends a lot on the bus driver, and how many kids are on the bus. My bus has 50 kids k-8. My dd will be taking the bus next year for K, I know the driver and the bus only has about 20 kids. Most drivers will be more than happy to chat with you for a minute about the bus rules/procedures. If your school doesn't have an orientation then meet the driver in the afternoon while they're waiting to pick the kids up. At our local mall they have a few buses available for new riders to check out, they do this right before school starts. Good luck! It's a tough decision, you can always try it and then pull him off.

Computermama · 04-10-2009, 09:06 AM

Unless I happen to live within walking distance of a school by then, she'll have to ride the bus - DH leaves way too early to take her to school when he's working. And here's the kicker - she's a fall baby, and we have junior kindergarten, which starts the year she turns 4. So for the first 6 weeks she rides the school bus, she'll be 3.

Psychomom · 04-10-2009, 09:26 AM

If I had no choice, sure. Since I do have a choice, no way!

I feel that as a SAHM, as long as I am able (i.e., I have a safe vehicle, I have time) it is my duty to get my children to and from where they need to be. Please don't take that as me knocking SAHMs that put their child on the bus; that is truly not my intention. (Some SAHMs feel that it is their duty to keep a clean house--I like a clean house, but I don't feel that way at all!

)

My kindergartener actually WANTS to ride the bus, but since we live in the neighborhood across the street from the school, it's not going to happen.

(We live in the back of the neighborhood, so while we are technically "across the street," it is almost 1/2 mile each way.)

I do let her ride the bus for class field trips. When my oldest was in kindergarten, I used to chaperone field trips and ride the bus as well. With my current kindergartener, I am unable to do that because I have two younger boys who aren't allowed to ride the bus due to liability.

ETA: On one of those K field trips I was accompanying my daughter on, "F#%K YOU" was written in some sort of white paint (maybe white-out?) on the seat in front of us. That's when I told myself, "This is why my child doesn't ride the bus!"

MarineGurl020412 · 04-10-2009, 09:36 AM

DD1 does ride the bus everyday. Our buses have seatbelts in all the seats and it isn't just a bus driver. We have monitor on all the buses. All kindergarteners and Pre-K students have a passcode that has to be given to get the kids off the bus in the afternoon and the their teacher or aide gets them from the bus and walks them to class at the school.

boy-oh-boy · 04-10-2009, 09:58 AM

My own child, no. But I had a student last year (pre-k) who got on the bus from our school to go to another school for special services, and he did just fine.

luvmybaby333 · 04-10-2009, 10:03 AM

I didn't want to... and I wasn't going to. We drove her there and picked her up everyday for a long while.

Then she started to BEG to ride the bus. She begged and begged... and begged.

I finally broke down and let her.

She loved it.

For a week.

Then DH started working different hours and it became impossible for us to driver her to school and pick her up everyday. Thus the "I don't wanna go" wars started. It didn't help that her bus driver turned out to be a wench who couldn't stand the fact that DD was so little and wasn't *super fast* about hopping on and off the bus.

I guess it all depends on your situation.

ETA: FWIW, my DD has never gotten on the wrong bus or failed to come home for any reason. Which is something I was really worried about

diapermommy · 04-10-2009, 10:03 AM

Nope we dont' do the bus here. AT ALL.
I hear of way to many accidents with buses, I dont' like that they dont' have seatbelts and my ds is small 40lbs at 6 about to be 7.
We don't even like it when its for field trips, which alot of schools have had to cut out now anyway. But we did let him for the one field trip he has been on.
I know lots of people say hey they big ole buses, their safer(no offense to you guys at all, to each his own) but for us, if my child is to young to even ride in the front seat, and too small to use a regular seat belt, he'd be done if anything were to happen on a school bus. They dont' alway just get hit by other cars. They roll over off of bridges and crap(that happened in a city I used to live in) Not trying to freak you out. I rarely see a school bus driving safely to me, they always seem to be going way too fast(faster than the speed limit) and flying around curbs, that kind of stuff. Its just not for us.
And its not easy for us either. My husband is out of town a good bit or already gone in the mornings and I have 3 kids. only my oldest goes to school. so I have to wake up 3 kids, feed them breakfast, and drag the all through the car line, twice a day, everyday. And I still wont' do the bus! lol

04-09-2009, 11:00 PM	#21
browneyedgrl2411 Registered Users Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,249 Ratings: 172 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: would you let your kindergardener ride the bus to school? Nope, he should not be in any vehicle without a seatbelt on. I worry about my little one and in the event of an accident he would have no clue what to do. he is 5! I plan on taking them to and from at the very least until they have seatbelts in the buses. Probally even after as I was always dropped off at school by my parents. It is a personal decision but I can your see our worry of your 5 year old being on the road without you. My worry is the bus safety. For the most part they arrive safely but other times there have been terrible accidents.I am a worry wart to be honest and want myself only to be in charge of their safety as much as possible.

04-09-2009, 11:04 PM	#22
Paulinemck Registered Users Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 1,629 Ratings: 90 Feedback: 98% My Mood:	Re: would you let your kindergardener ride the bus to school? No Way, No How... But I homeschool our five so I don't have to take them anywhere. That said our disctict puts K-5 on the same bus since we are pretty rural, I'd never put a K on w/ kids that much older __________________ Wife for 10 years to one great man, Mama to Gabe 10 Sterling 7 Zane 5 Lola 2 and Ruby 14mos & baby bean 1/10 Check out my photobucket-gymboree, maternity, nursing, cloth diaper goodies http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t210/paulinemck/

04-10-2009, 05:53 AM	#24
EmsMom Registered Users Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ontario Posts: 1,501 Ratings: 7 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: would you let your kindergardener ride the bus to school? I'm a bus driver and would like to chime in I personally feel that 4/5 is a bit young for kids to be on the big bus with the older kids. But, it really depends a lot on the bus driver, and how many kids are on the bus. My bus has 50 kids k-8. My dd will be taking the bus next year for K, I know the driver and the bus only has about 20 kids. Most drivers will be more than happy to chat with you for a minute about the bus rules/procedures. If your school doesn't have an orientation then meet the driver in the afternoon while they're waiting to pick the kids up. At our local mall they have a few buses available for new riders to check out, they do this right before school starts. Good luck! It's a tough decision, you can always try it and then pull him off. __________________ Kirsten ~ Mom to 7yr old Emily and 5yr oldJ.T. Last edited by EmsMom; 04-10-2009 at 05:57 AM.

04-10-2009, 09:06 AM	#25
Computermama Registered Users Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 12,850 Ratings: 30 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: would you let your kindergartener ride the bus to school? Unless I happen to live within walking distance of a school by then, she'll have to ride the bus - DH leaves way too early to take her to school when he's working. And here's the kicker - she's a fall baby, and we have junior kindergarten, which starts the year she turns 4. So for the first 6 weeks she rides the school bus, she'll be 3. __________________ Becca, Wife to B (10/31/09!) and busy WOHM (on mat leave) to E (10/17/07). and C (04/26/12) I've earned over $450 in gift cards by searching with Swagbucks! Probably nak or fighting autocorrect on my iPod, excuse the typos!

04-10-2009, 09:26 AM	#26
Psychomom Formerly: Boomer Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 8,453 Ratings: 188 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	Re: would you let your kindergartener ride the bus to school? If I had no choice, sure. Since I do have a choice, no way! I feel that as a SAHM, as long as I am able (i.e., I have a safe vehicle, I have time) it is my duty to get my children to and from where they need to be. Please don't take that as me knocking SAHMs that put their child on the bus; that is truly not my intention. (Some SAHMs feel that it is their duty to keep a clean house--I like a clean house, but I don't feel that way at all! ) My kindergartener actually WANTS to ride the bus, but since we live in the neighborhood across the street from the school, it's not going to happen. (We live in the back of the neighborhood, so while we are technically "across the street," it is almost 1/2 mile each way.) I do let her ride the bus for class field trips. When my oldest was in kindergarten, I used to chaperone field trips and ride the bus as well. With my current kindergartener, I am unable to do that because I have two younger boys who aren't allowed to ride the bus due to liability. ETA: On one of those K field trips I was accompanying my daughter on, "F#%K YOU" was written in some sort of white paint (maybe white-out?) on the seat in front of us. That's when I told myself, "This is why my child doesn't ride the bus!" __________________ A real woman always has a clean house, an empty laundry basket, smells good, is well made-up, slim, healthy, eloquent, and perfectly well behaved...I suspect I am a man. Last edited by Psychomom; 04-10-2009 at 09:31 AM.