The Manitoba Child Care Association says daycare centres may need better security measures.

On Thursday, a man allegedly tried to walk away from Winnipeg's downtown YMCA-YWCA daycare with someone else's 23-month-old child.

According to police, who charged a 24-year-old Winnipeg man with abduction, a mother had put her child on the floor while she spoke to staff.

In a flash, a man picked up the child and headed toward the exit. The parent and staff members yelled at the man, who then returned the child unharmed.

'In a 150-space child care program you can have 100 people in and out, between opening and closing hours.'—Pat Wege, Manitoba Child Care Association

That was the second alarming incident in three weeks at a city daycare.

On March 18, police were called to Kinderworld Daycare on Gateway Road in East Kildonan when staff noticed a threat scrawled in the facility's log book.

Police did not disclose the nature of the threat but said it didn't identify any particular individual. Nevertheless, the centre was closed for the day as a precaution.

No security policy in place

Currently there are no across-the-board rules on security at daycare centres, said Pat Wege, executive director of the Manitoba Child Care Association. Simply locking the doors can prove a challenge.

"In a 150-space child care program you can have 100 people in and out, between opening and closing hours," she said. "How do you keep that door locked for that time? We don't have door people."

'As much as staff need to be very, very careful, parents need to be watching out for anything that they find a little bit abnormal or uncomfortable, and communicating that with us.'—Diana Rozos, daycare co-ordinator

Perhaps it's time for the government to order the installation of security systems at the facilities, said Wege, though she admitted that could be difficult.

Many daycare centres are tenants within other facilities and the province can't force private companies to install security.

"[But] many centres are located in schools — about 30 per cent — and are probably the best [in terms of security] because they would just follow the procedures in place and established by the schools," she said.

Start with the basics

Diana Rozos, a daycare co-ordinator at another downtown Winnipeg centre, said security starts with the basics.

"As much as staff need to be very, very careful, parents need to be watching out for anything that they find a little bit abnormal or uncomfortable, and communicating that with us," she said.

Before Thursday's incident, a man had been seen loitering around the facility, said police.

The province is also putting together the Manitoba Safe Child Care Charter, introduced in the 2007 throne speech, to help staff at daycares deal with emergency situations, said Wege.

The document, which should be ready by the end of the year, is intended to cover all conceivable situations, from bomb threats to weather crises.

When it is in place, Manitoba will be one of the first provinces in the country to have such a charter, Wege said.