Daycare Questions

If you have friends or co-workers that use daycare, this is an excellent place to start. Get a few names and check them out.

Honestly, you really don't need to ask many questions. Just call, give them the basics of your situations and let them know you are interested in seeing their place. They will take it from there. They will tell you their rates and hours. They will show you around, let you know more about their routine, where they do things (eat, play, etc) and show off the place.

Really, if you let them do the talking, you will get a very, very good picture of the place. Trust your gut. Thank them for their time and let them know that you are looking at several places and will keep them in mind.

If, after you see a few places, you still are not sure, you will know what questions you still need to ask. It's really a gut thing more than anything else. You are interviewing them, but you don't really need to ask many questions. The good places will sell themselves to you.

When I went back to work, my oldest was in kindergarten and I had a younger child. I needed a daycare center that also offered after school care. Turns out, that was a very good decision for us. Our youngest now attends PreK in the afternoons. He goes to daycare in the morning and rides the bus to PreK in the afternoon. Then he and his brother ride the bus to daycare until my husband gets off work.

Right now your little one isn't even born, so school busses might not be on your radar. But it's something to keep in the back of your mind. My youngest is going to go to school with the kids from the daycare center. Yay! He already has friends.

But I agree with Gidget. Once you visit a few places, you'll get a really good feel for what you're looking for. Try not to stress too much about the questions. If you have some, ask. If not, you can always as later.

Great responses below.
The most important thing, really, is to get a gut feeling of what you think of the place. You need to know that you'll feel comfortable leaving your child there.

Practical things to ask:
-how do they handle vacations (yours and theirs)
-how do they handle sick days (yours and theirs)
-how do they handle bottles for breastfeeding moms (if you plan to be one)
-what are their hours (do they match your schedule)

B., Congratulations! I would say starting by asking friends, neighbors and co-workers about childcare facilities and childcare providers in your area. Some people really prefer facility places and some prefer home providers, it is a personal choice thing. You can Google a list of questions and pick those that seem most important to you.

Hmmmmm. To NewName. I am a childcare provider and I get 1 week of paid vacation each year. I take 2 weeks of vacation each year and I give my clients 1 "fee free" week, they can use that during one of my vacation weeks or a different week, it is there choice. My clients and I have a healthy respect for what the other does.

M.

Go to the website "child care aware" they are a nationally based nonprofit that lead trainings and have resource and referral agencies all across the country.
While safety is always an easy spot, quality (true quality) is not. There are tips, articles and checklists that you can download and use when you go through the process.
Good for you for thinking about this now:)

Are you looking for a center or an in-home place? Either way, you'll want to do your research and find out what other people have said about them...ask for references, and call those people. Ask what they liked and didn't like.

Our in-home sitter (at her house) was FABULOUS! Our youngest son (6) was the only one who went there full time and he did that for a year and a half, he chose to go to her house for a "camp" this last summer instead of another actual camp...we love her.

We asked her what all of her policies were, most are laid out and then your questions will come from there. Ask other people what they don't like about their daycares, and ask those questions of your provider. For example, a friend of mine's sitter (in-home) closed on school snow days...that's crazy, because in MD they close all the time, even if it is only raining! So they took a lot of leave to cover those days.

Ask about time off. I disagree with NewName2013 about the time off though. My sitter gave herself all of the Federal Holidays, plus 10 days of leave. Yes, it was a lot and it sometimes caused problems for us, but she also took 5 of those 10 days in a week, and when it was the full week off, she did it without pay. If it was a day here or there, we still paid. I think she more than deserved it and we made other arrangements (or worked from home).

I asked about food policy, did she provide meals and snacks? What did I need to bring? What limitations were on me? Was a Tostino's pizza to bake in the oven okay? Was peanut butter allowed? Could he have a soda if we stopped at Subway in the morning? Things like that...

Hours! Make sure you know when they open and close, and what the late policy is.

Sick policy. What constitutes sick? Baby will get fevers with teetthing, can she give Tylenol for that with a doctor's note or no? What policy makes it so any kid can't be there and for how long....my sitter was fever free for 24 hours, same as the school system, and I understood and appreciated that.

Ask about a schedule. What will they follow? What do they do for arts and crafts? Music? Free play? Story time? Nap? Outside time? What do they do on rainy days?

Really...your questions will come as you stay there longer, and if you have a good relationship, it really should be normal conversation and not a Q&A session as time goes on.

Good luck. Definitely look now though. In MD, it can take a year or more to find a good sitter.

I was most concerned with safety. Are the doors locked, who has access to the building etc. You can see this though for yourself when you get there. Was the door unlocked and you just walked in or did you have to identify yourself and be buzzed in.
-Ratio of caregivers to kids. (Go in the infant room and count yourself. They could quote you the state ratio.).
-Is their outdoor area secure and gated?
-how often do they sanitize toys
-policy on child illness

You will get a feel for the day cares. I think I observed more than asking specific questions. They could tell you anything.

I visited quite a few before I went back to work and if it wasn't for the Goddard School I would not have returned to work. I was lucky I had that option.

Good questions below. Hours are important - make sure it fits your work schedule. Find out what days of the year they are closed.
What's included in price - diapers, wipes, food etc.
Proximity - do you want it close to home, office, etc.

Read online reviews!

I never even considered the meal option when I first chose my daycare. Now I can't stress enough how thankful I am that they provide healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks. I'm so glad I don't have to think about that everyday. Many daycares don't provide this and you have to send the kids food.

Turnover rates. This is a huge one. What is the average tenure of an employee there?

Inspections. Ask to see the latest state inspection report for their facility. Even home-based operations have to undergo these inspections.

Home-based: How often does the person take time off? Will you get a list of vacation time and holidays at least several months in advance so you can make other arrangements? I had one provider ask parents to pay for vacation time ... seriously, pay for when our kids aren't there! She said we get paid vacation, so why shouldn't she? (ETA: I'm self-employed, so I'm not paid for vacation time. I am happy to pay for holidays, but two weeks off? No. We can't afford to double-pay for childcare during that time.) There are some nuts out there like that (we left after that happened), so make sure you know what you're getting into.

Even more important than questions is going with your gut instinct. Look around. Does the place look clean and smell clean? What do you think of the care providers? Are they friendly or are they "whatever" about you stopping by? If you were a child again, would you want to be there?

Also get a list of references and call at least three. Start from the bottom of the list. It can be extremely helpful to hear from other parents what they think.

Go online and look at your local agency where the child care facility gets their licensing. If they have a page you can link to that has their inspections on it you may find they are good or bad just by reading what they got caught on.

There's really not much to ask. They come to work, they do their jobs, they go home.

If I were a first time mom and looking at child care the first time ever in my life I imagine you're going to be shocked at some of the red tape they have to work with. The state regulations are so strict in most states. They have to do so much stuff that makes no sense to the parents but somewhere there is a valid reason.

For instance, when your child is about 11 months old they should start sleeping them on a cot instead of a baby bed. This gets them ready for moving up to the toddler room. They cannot be in the infant room once they reach 1 year old and become a toddler. They should also have baby down to 1 longer nap each day during this time too. In the toddler room they have a schedule and they can't let the kids lay down when ever they want to, they have a scheduled nap time. In the infant room when your baby is 6 weeks up to 10 1/2-11 months old they'll let them sleep when they're tired.

Helping an infant/toddler/preschooler/school age child transition up to the next classroom is often confusing to those who've never been around child care. To me that was the hardest for parents to "get".

The child care business is regulated so strictly.

Other than just being understanding I think reading the parent manual will answer most of your questions.

Just pop into any daycares that are in your area of reference.. Perhaps a call to verify they take infants.

If you tell them ahead of time, you will not see the "real" deal. You pop in, then you get a glimps of how it will be.

You have to take into effect your budget, of course.

I have two kids, My son was in a full time daycare center and it worked out well until he was 2 then the "$hit" hit the fan. Now he goes to school and then the YMCA after care.
When My daugther was 5 months old, they both went to a daycare center, there were two days that they imbusuls only gave her 1 bottle, she was there from 7:30 am -4 pm... We pulled her immediately & him.

Now my daughter is in a nice home daycare, I love it.. My son goes there on non school days. This works for us, eventhough some people think we are nuts for the two differnt situations. Frankly they are two different kids with two different needs.

I think your first decison will be whether you go in-home or a center to help you narrow down your search. In home are usually less expensive but a lot less flexible and you will probably want to ask a lot more questions. Centers are a lot more flexible in that they have back up if a teacher is out sick or on vacation and are usually all held to certain standards of care but can also be more expensive. Once you narrow that down, you can find lists of questions if you google on the internet but I say go with your gut as well. And you are far enough out that you could make multiple visits and observe if you want too.