daycare questions

GoldenGirlRose3

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for questions I shouldn't forget to ask tonight when I meet with an in-home daycare provider? Thanks for your help!

Welshgirl12

I havent worked at an inhome daycare, but at the private one I worked at some common questions were:
*what ratio is adhered to?
*Are you state licensed?
*Is food provided or do I provide food? If it's provided, do we have a say in what they can eat?
* What are the ages of other children?
*Do parents receive daily feedback?
*What activities do children engage in?
*What is their sick policy?
*What are the hours of operation?
*Do they charge a late fee for late pick ups?
*What is their communicable disease policy?
*Do they have other staff and if so what are their qualifications?
*What are the main provider's qualifications?

I would also have a REALLY good look around and bring up anything that you have concerns about (eg elec sockets without covers, etc)

AshleighW13

What all they provide. Most daycare centers provide food, some even provide vegetarian options or will accommodate allergies and special diets. In the infant rooms they will usually stick to whatever feeding schedule you have in place, and have specific teacher to child ratios to adhere too. I know Kids R Kids infant ratio was 4 children to 1 teacher. In-home daycares sometimes aren't as accommodating with special diets or feeding schedules.

Ex. I worked at a Kids-R-Kids and we had a 6 month old that the pediatrician had written a special diet note saying the child could only eat 4-6 oz formula every 6 hours (I thought he was kinda a quack honestly for putting a 6 month old on a diet but whatever). Needless to say the little girl was hungry and cried a lot but that is what the child's parents wanted. We had another parent that wanted her child only to drink out of the glass bottles that she provided due to the cancer causing agents in plastic. I had a co-worker who used to own her own home daycare that was livid about both, saying I don't care what the parents say if it was me I'd just feed the child when she wants to be fed, or I'd just buy a couple plastic bottles and let her drink out of those glass is dangerous. They'll never know. 

tealio

Agree with PP questions. I'd also ask about their security e.g. what is their process for who is allowed to pick up your child? Most places should make you provide the list of the only people who are allowed to pick them up. Our current location makes you provide IDs for each person and even has a fingerprint scanner! It sounds intense but for me, it is an important safety measure.

Also ask about their vacation schedule. We have had to plan our vacations or alternate care around the daycare's set vacation times.

shelley1002

Can/will they give medicines like Tylenol and Ibuprofen?  What about prescriptions meds?

Will they do nebulizer treatments if you child needs one during the time they are there (like when they have a bad cold and it is prescribed)?

Do they fill bottles or must the come premade/filled?

Once the child is done with bottles do they provide cups?

If you are doing cloth diapers, will they do cloth diapers?

Does she transport the kids anywhere (story time at the library, local playground, school age kids to school/summer camps)?

What do they do for discipline (time out, a naughty chair, redirection)?

How do they handle biting and/or hitting?

Do you have to bring diapers/wipes daily or can you buy a box and leave them there?

Where will the baby nap?  Will the baby nap when the baby is tired or will she try to put the baby on a loose schedule to line up with the other kids' naptime/school pick-ups etc.?

RedZee

Also, if you provide food, can you leave anything there or do you have to bring it daily?
What happens if the main person is sick? Is there a "sub"?
Do they allow the children to watch TV? If so, how much TV?

I'd also just look around the place. Look at the toys offered. Look at the cleanliness. If you can go when kids are there it would be really good so you can see the provider interact with the children and get a sense of how the children feel about being there.

Christine&Chris

What happens if your child has an emergency and needs to go to the hospital? Will the caregiver travel with the child and stay with the child until you get there?? Who then remains behind with the other children?

CarolinaGirl411

You've received a lot of great questions, but with us planning our registry we thought about the car seat option.

Are you able to leave a car seat in case if one person drops LO off and another has to pick them up?  (We are planning on buying 2 seats so either way this isn't an issue for us, but could be if we didn't and H or I had to pick up unexpectedly.)

BebeOnBoard

Eavesdropping.

finnybooboo

AshleighW13 said:

What all they provide. Most daycare centers provide food, some even provide vegetarian options or will accommodate allergies and special diets. In the infant rooms they will usually stick to whatever feeding schedule you have in place, and have specific teacher to child ratios to adhere too. I know Kids R Kids infant ratio was 4 children to 1 teacher. In-home daycares sometimes aren't as accommodating with special diets or feeding schedules.

Ex. I worked at a Kids-R-Kids and we had a 6 month old that the pediatrician had written a special diet note saying the child could only eat 4-6 oz formula every 6 hours (I thought he was kinda a quack honestly for putting a 6 month old on a diet but whatever). Needless to say the little girl was hungry and cried a lot but that is what the child's parents wanted. We had another parent that wanted her child only to drink out of the glass bottles that she provided due to the cancer causing agents in plastic. I had a co-worker who used to own her own home daycare that was livid about both, saying I don't care what the parents say if it was me I'd just feed the child when she wants to be fed, or I'd just buy a couple plastic bottles and let her drink out of those glass is dangerous. They'll never know. 

This is why we decided to go with a daycare center vs. in-home care.

spdacus

If you are planning to breastfeed you may want to ask about their experience with breastmilk. Its important that they know how to store it, make bottles, and are going to be supportive. 

Ballstategrad

I would drop by several times randomly. I checked out several in home places when my dd was born and there was just always something off. Like the doors weren't locked, or one had her boyfriend living there that didn't have a job. Another lady's husband was just hanging out with the kids. I just didn't feel comfortable. I like the idea that centers seem more accountable in my experience. But I don't think I would have learned unless I just randomly visited!