Do you google your daycare's reviews?

mommymegan831

I just googled the reviews for my daycare.  Most of them are horrible, but they say things that I find aren't true (kids getting sick and hurt all the time).  I had looked at them before and it didn't seem that bad, most of them are atleast a year old, but I saw a couple of new ones that have me second guessing things.  My son had such a hard time adjusting to daycare and my daughter has friends she talks about all the time, plus our hours and budget really limit our options.  How much do you believe the reviews you've read?  Do you find most tend to be negative?

RibbitGrl930

I wouldn't say most tend to be negative,but it's generally human nature for us to complain louder than we compliment. I think there's a prevailing attitude that an experience *should* be positive, so an establishment shouldn't be patted on the back for doing its job. However, when something goes wrong, we want to make sure everybody knows about it. I'm not saying I have that attitude, but I know many do.

Myself, I don't trust an average review for any one product or establishment until there are at least 10. There are bound to be a few bad experiences, and if those are the only people leaving reviews, then that will drag down the average.

financialdiva

I do google the reviews every once in a while. They are mostly good. There is one negative about a child being sick a lot, but you know, that comes with daycare right? So I disregard.

Things I wouldn't ignore in the reviews would be high turnover, being out of ratio, incidents like leaving a child unattended outside (yes, our old daycare we left has this review)

BeeGirl2

I just commented on a similar thread... I think it comes down to your intuition. A good feeling about a place goes a long way. Visit often, stick around at pick up and observe as much and as often as you can.

Mustardseed2007

Yes and they were positive but there really was only 3, which I feel isn't all that informative. We picked the school based on two in-person visits where we got a great vibe and felt like the school was a good fit for us and our family.

We also looked at their state licensing violations online and I still check those periodically.

cecilyandgautam

I think if you're googling a center-based daycare then you'll see negative feedback over represented. Those with something to complain about will be motivated to write an online review. I think the key is to try to differentiate the vague, "this place is awful!" which may just refer to personality conflict, from the specific, "my kid's diaper rash is horrible at daycare, fine on the weekends at home with us" - and from there, determine which are relevant for you and what you care about. Serious issues, I'd call the local licensing authority and see if they can confirm any of the issues flagged that you're concerned about. 

I did google my provider and others I interviewed. My in-home provider had a light footprint online but it was positive. The provider I didn't go with and that was ultimately shutdown for being 9 kids over what she's licensed for, had no online footprint except for the promotions she wrote herself.