Choosing a Daycare?

[scottishduffy]

I am currently about to start the process of choosing a daycare. I am 5 months pregnant and after a short maternity leave will have to go back to work. The baby will be about 8 weeks old when I return to work.

DH and I have chosen to go with a daycare center. We have 4 around us which all seem to be pretty high quality places. I am going to be calling and scheduling tours for next week. I have also searched google for lists of good questions to ask of a daycare provider and have a general idea of what to look for.

Now, for more practical advice. For those of you with kids in daycare or who have chosen one before... what questions should I ask and what should I look for in a good place? What has been important to you?

 

[JennyDarling]

My only tip would be to ask to see all levels of classrooms not just the infant room.

When DD started daycare I knew that I wanted her to be at the same facility from the "baby room" until K4 so I made sure our center offered a pre-k program and that I was happy with the curriculum and activities at all levels.

I would also make sure you understand the "move up" policy and age ranges at all levels (ie. they don't randomly move 11 month olds into a toddler room with 30 month olds because they walked early).

HTH

 

[dodukes]

I don't have children but the first thing that comes to mind to ask would be their sick policy....you don't want your kid in there with 10 sick kids.

 

[Christine]

For me, one of the most important aspects of the daycare center I used was low turnover.

When I first moved, I was forced to find a daycare center for my then 3 year old. I went to a place that had the best hours, a nice looking facility, etc. Turned out the workers there were not that great and my daughter had a bad experience. I then had to go looking again (this time my infant was born and I was on maternity leave). I found a place that I had "turned my nose up" to previously because it was a very, very old structure (but not unsafe) and it just didn't have a lot of visual appeal and glitz and glamour.

The staff there ended up being wonderful. The teacher in the 3 year old room had been there for 15 years as well as the 4 year old and Kindergarten teachers. My daughter thrived there.

As for my infant at the time, the infant room had a bit higher turnover, but the owner did a good job, I thought, it hiring caretakers there. She mainly hired young military wives who needed care for their children AND a job and I felt the women who worked in the infant room were very caring and conscientious and I developed good relationships with them.

I had a hard time finding this at a few other well-rated centers. The problem is, these sorts of things are tough to spot on an interview or walk through. Hopefully the center will be forthright in their turnover rate and introduce you to some of the staff that has been their long term. If they don't have any longer term staff, that might be a red flag.

 

[Dee77]

For me it was important to know a little bit about the employees that would be responsible for my DD, how long have they worked there, how long have they been working in the infant room etc. Some people can be great with kids but not do well with the demands of infants so...

What are the ages of the children in each group, how old are the oldest in the infant room? One of the centers that my DD went to had infants and toddlers up to 2 years old together and IMHO I thought that was a stretch, she did not stay there very long.

Good luck!

 

[bas71873]

After you tour and have narrowed your choices, I would do an unannounced, drop in visit. If you "schedule" a tour, they are going to be "on". Drop in, see what's going on, have some follow up questions to ask. If they don't have an open door policy, that would be a problem for me.

Good luck.

 

[MichelleVW]

I don't have children but the first thing that comes to mind to ask would be their sick policy....you don't want your kid in there with 10 sick kids.

I work in a really nice upscale center and while our sick policy sounds wonderful on paper, it's not what happens in real life. We would LOVE for all the sick babies to stay home, but the parents keep bringing them in sick. They will get a note from the doctor and say it's "only allergies" when we know it's not. Our directors hate to call and tell a parent that their child is sick and has a fever because the parents don't want to come pick them up because the baby is "only teething" . Yeah well, 102 is not teething. I can't count the number of babies that I have held, loved and comforted while they were sick and their parents were too busy to come pick them up.

I'm not saying all parents are like this, we have some wonderful parents who keep their sick children home and are happy to come pick them up if we call, but I've become a little jaded on the amount of parents that don't seem concerned that their child is sick.

 

[MichelleVW]

After you tour and have narrowed your choices, I would do an unannounced, drop in visit. If you "schedule" a tour, they are going to be "on". Drop in, see what's going on, have some follow up questions to ask. If they don't have an open door policy, that would be a problem for me.

Good luck.

I'm going to tell you that what you see in our infant room is the same weather there is a tour going on or not. We hardly ever get notice about tours in our room. The front office may, but they don't tell us.

 

[Christine]

I'm going to tell you that what you see in our infant room is the same weather there is a tour going on or not. We hardly ever get notice about tours in our room. The front office may, but they don't tell us.

Exactly.

When I was checking out centers, I would always call first and make inquiries but each and every director told me to "come by anytime and here are my hours if you want to me with me specifically."

 

[Bren's Mom]

Staff turnover, that speaks VOLUMES about a center.

We couldn't find one we liked, I never got a great feeling about any of them. I wanted my ds to be in a warm environment with one caregiver that he would bond with and feel safe going to every day. So we ultimately chose a licensed home daycare and were very happy with our choice. It was like he was going to grandma's every day.

But we did choose a center for preschool at age 4. And the one we chose had virtually no staff turnover. Those that did come and go were the 3rd adult in the room, the student teachers. But the main staff was all long term.

 

[Christine]

Staff turnover, that speaks VOLUMES about a center.

We couldn't find one we liked, I never got a great feeling about any of them. I wanted my ds to be in a warm environment with one caregiver that he would bond with and feel safe going to every day. So we ultimately chose a licensed home daycare and were very happy with our choice. It was like he was going to grandma's every day.

But we did choose a center for preschool at age 4. And the one we chose had virtually no staff turnover. Those that did come and go were the 3rd adult in the room, the student teachers. But the main staff was all long term.

As I posted above, this is how our center was too, with the exception of the infant room. The long-term women in the upper-age rooms considered themselves teachers and took their jobs seriously--made a career of it along with the caretaking responsibilities required in a toddler/preschool area.

The infant room presents a challenge because it is primarily caretaking and grueling at that. Most caretakers burn out on after a while so it's harder to find that person to stay for years and years, although I'm sure it's happened.

 

[VAfamily1998]

How close is your work to your home? If you have a long commute, you may want to consider a center that is close to your work, as opposed to close to your home. If there is an emergency or your child is sick you and you need to pick him up early, it is a lot easier if it is close to your work...then again, some people don't like to have their kids having to endure a long car ride twice a day...but I just thought I might offer that thought

 

[MichelleVW]

As I posted above, this is how our center was too, with the exception of the infant room. The long-term women in the upper-age rooms considered themselves teachers and took their jobs seriously--made a career of it along with the caretaking responsibilities required in a toddler/preschool area.

The infant room presents a challenge because it is primarily caretaking and grueling at that. Most caretakers burn out on after a while so it's harder to find that person to stay for years and years, although I'm sure it's happened.

I work in the infant room and have been there for a year and a half. One of my coworkers has worked there for 8 years. Sometimes we get a little burned out, but we love our babies!

People think I'm crazy because I am actually a retired Xray tech and could make more money doing that, but I love my coworkers, and I love the babies and can't imagine going back to xray.

 

[mami2camjax]

I would contact your state licensing agency as well, they would be able to let you know if any complaints have been filed against that provider. I know all states are different, but if you are in Pennsylvania, you can do online provider searches or contact your local CCIS agency to get information on providers.

Again, speaking for Pennsylvania, but the CCIS agencies have great materials on choosing a quality child care provider.

 

[GJM]

It is amazing how different the centers are!

One day DH & I just took a day off work and went to a bunch of centers. The minute we walked into the one we chose I just knew it was right. The one center we went to all the infants were in cribs and it wasn't nap time, the other center had these cribs stacked up on top of each other and the sides open, and it was very dark and gloomy, the other center when we walked in there was a 3 year old by the door and nobody watching him

The center we chose - security was great, had to be buzzed in to get in, VERY clean, padding all on the floor of the infant room, the infants were only in the pack-n-play that you bring when it is time to sleep, otherwise, they are being held or in swings or bouncy seats - no shoes allowed in the room. A sheet that came home everyday of eating & changing.

They also took us on a tour of the whole center, my DS went to that same daycare from 4 months until K - our town only had half day K.

I loved the school, the teachers and directors!

 

[MichelleVW]

It is amazing how different the centers are!

One day DH & I just took a day off work and went to a bunch of centers. The minute we walked into the one we chose I just knew it was right. The one center we went to all the infants were in cribs and it wasn't nap time, the other center had these cribs stacked up on top of each other and the sides open, and it was very dark and gloomy, the other center when we walked in there was a 3 year old by the door and nobody watching him

The center we chose - security was great, had to be buzzed in to get in, VERY clean, padding all on the floor of the infant room, the infants were only in the pack-n-play that you bring when it is time to sleep, otherwise, they are being held or in swings or bouncy seats - no shoes allowed in the room. A sheet that came home everyday of eating & changing.

They also took us on a tour of the whole center, my DS went to that same daycare from 4 months until K - our town only had half day K.

I loved the school, the teachers and directors!

I would pay attention that they don't have too many swings, exesaucers or bouncy seats, because trust me...I've worked with people that put babies in those things and leave them there FOREVER.

 

[scottishduffy]

So, toured two places today who didn't do appointments. They just said any time you drop by for a tour we do it. No appointments are scheduled. I kind of like that, that you just drop by without warning and they are always at a point they feel they can tour.

Two other places do that, but did encourage an appointment (so i made an appointment for next week). A 3rd highly rated place only offered an appointment but I will ask on appointment day if I am able to randomly drop in at any point (a friend has her two girls signed up for this one).

Today, one was more play oriented and one had a very definite academic focus... with their 4 year old room doing writing and reading exercises while we were there. I saw a room full of 4 yr olds get a work sheet and every single one of them wrote their name legibly within a minute and waiting on teacher instruction about their assignment. My DH has never seen a daycare before and was impressed by it all. Both places offered foriegn languages and after school extracurriculars.

They both had closed circuit TV available online to parents. One had a fingerprint scanner to check your child in and out. Each center had 3-4 different playgrounds seperate by age.... and each age room was done in 6 month increments.

There was one we liked a bit better and I will do a random drop by at a totally different time of day in another week or two, just to see how it is at different times of day. Both options today seemed like decent options. Very clean, individually assigned cribs for babies with sheets washed daily.

I came in with my i-pad with all the questions I had gotten from here and on-line. Took notes of my impression after each center.
Asked about everything from infant policies to their kindy and pre-kindy programs.

How different from when I was a kid! Sheesh!! Everything seems so much more focused then when I was a kid. DH said when he used to drop off his little brother at daycare it was one large room with a madhouse of kids. They were happy if BIL made it back to them at the end of the day. Never mention a curriculum, and gross motor skill clases, or toddler computer training courses! Curriculums for 6 week olds... never existed when I was young. But sure why not... daily instruction in music, movement, sign language, spanish, mandarin, flashcards, song, and stories: All under a magical weekly theme.

 

[GJM]

No they only had about 2 swings and maybe 2 bouncy seats. They were either held or on the mats - I liked the idea that they just weren't in cribs the whole time, like the one day care we looked at. The infant room was a bunch of cribs with 1 little corner with a mat for the babies.

Plus each room had the cameras in the room so you could also watch what went on during the day.