When you tally up how much money you spend on childcare, the last thing you would expect is that your children were not safe when they were being cared for by paid professionals. That is why this story is a difficult pill to swallow for many parents.

Deirdre and Jonathan are parents who received a very troubling phone call in April 2018. The call was from the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), and they told the parents that a concerning photo was received. It was of Elora, their six-month-old daughter who was in daycare.

Their infant daughter was ‘tied down’ while she was sleeping at daycare.

The parents went to see the photo for themselves at DCF. At first, Deirdre wasn’t sure that she was actually looking at a photo of her daughter. After the reality of it set in, however, she confirmed that it was her baby. In the picture, Elora was lying face down in the crib and was wrapped tightly in the sleep sack that was pulled back with a hairband.

Deirdre was obviously upset over the revelation and had many questions. What would happen if her daughter tried to roll over? Would she choke if she spit up while she was in the crib?

“[S]he was being put into a sleep sack with her arms inside it, and all the material gathered in back and tied up so she could not move her arms, then put down on her belly so she could not roll over,” Deirdre wrote on Facebook. “I hope this never happens to another child, and I hope people are still brave enough to advocate for those who can’t protect themselves, even at risk to themselves. Take care of your babies.”

What is perhaps most shocking is that the parents learned that they were not the only ones to receive such a phone call.