Child Care

mkrel

I haven't seen a thread on this yet...

For you STMs, what did you look for in a daycare? I have seen lists of questions to ask, but from your personal experience are there any questions or things to look for that you wish you would have known about?  Are there any specific challenges that you wish you had been prepared for going back to work with day care policies or otherwise? 

Also, just for fun if you are open to sharing....  Where do you live, and what are the going rates for childcare in your area? 

neludelu

I would make sure that the faculty is monitored by the state. I live near Atlanta Ga and I pay $170 a week. 

n0soup4u

State licensed for in-home or facility. emergency policies,  kid to teacher ratio, discipline guidelines, sick policy, etc. 

I am from Wisconsin and I pay $175/wk. Also, most places will start newborns at a higher rate and slowly lower the rate as the child ages.

lmc929

Pfff @neludelu I am jealous of your child care cost. I live near Denver and pay just under $1300 a month.


Fortunately my sister in law takes her kids to the same place so we had a great reference. I think any real reviews would be incredibly helpful.

I think the hardest thing with a daycare center is just recognizing you'll like some teachers more than others and wont always agree with how they handle every scenario. That and the first day you drop them off is heartbreaking and its okay to cry in the parking lot. 

NarrowHouses

Our situation is a bit different. For our 3 yo DD we have a nanny and she also just started part-time/half day preschool. Our work hours are variable so a traditional day care facility would not have worked out for us.

You've received really good feedback so far. I'd also want to know the ratio of providers to children. If there are different rooms I'd want to look into/ask about the infant room as well as the next room. 

We pay about $1200/month for DD right now but will increase that once this LO arrives we are in MO. We couldn't ask for a better situation. Every day DD gets consistent one-on-one time, they spend a lot of time outside, plan fun activities (baking, painting), and reads a ton. Other than being at home with me, this is how its been since she was little!

jc_twomamas

DS goes 2 days per week to a very small (licensed) in home daycare. We found it through a friend who sent her girls there (and her sister had sent their kids there). She's been doing it for 20 years and has also been a head start teacher. 

Although she only has 4 kids total (2-3 on the days DS is there, including him) she is super strict on what licensing allows her to do. I appreciate that she "feels like home" yet I know my son is so beyond safe with her. 

He gets breakfast, lunch and snack (almost everything is homemade by her), naps follow strict safe sleep rules, and they go outside every day, sometimes for hours at a time (which is absolutely amazing). She does circle time after breakfast no matter how many kids are there and always has some educational theme to the day (colors,numbers,letters) along with supporting so many learning opportunities through out the day. 

All for a grand total of $32 per day. We hit the daycare jackpot. 

Edit to add- I'm in Michigan. 

kfry22

I live in rural northeast Indiana so other than YMCA and church centers, our only other option was in home day cares. My husbands best friends sister runs a daycare in her home. It's three miles down the road from us and she is wonderful! She has two other ladies who help her full time and her mom helps out at lunch. She basically does the equivalent of preschool with the older kids so right now we are debating if we even want to send him to preschool in a few years. 

As for cost, I pay $10 for a half day and $20 for a full day, so never more than $200/week. And each day he is there is an additional $1 for diaper fees. She provides all food, diapers, wipes, etc. The only thing parents provide is breast milk or formula. My work schedule is never ever consistent so she is completely flexible with us dropping off or picking up at odd times. 

For me, I really like that she has a Facebook page. She posts pictures of the kids through out the day, updates us on what activities are going on, and sends our reminders. Each winter and summer she hosts a party for the kids and families to get together. I know we are so fortunate to have her as our daycare provider, especially when I hear about how expensive it is across the country 

brij2006

We live in a rural LCOL area, so we looked for an in-home option.  For us we asked for references since a couple of them weren't licensed.  I wanted to make sure they checked out and were who they say they were. Then I asked what their parenting style was like.  We are far from helicopter parents so we wanted to make sure our provider wasn't either.  I also asked what their day looks like, what their routine looks like. We wanted routine as in set meal and nap times, but we didn't want set organized play as in color time, number time, letter time, set story time, etc.  Going with a smaller in-home I knew this wouldn't be much of an issue but wanted to at least ask.  Then lastly was how much time do they spend outside?  That was important to us.
We pay $23 a day for a licensed in-home.

stella1011

Look for a 5 star rated daycare.  That is a state rating and the best a daycare can get.  I also would look for a facility that offers video monitoring, as I find that feature extremely reassuring! Also- look for security when you enter the building.  Ours has a finger print scanner to get in.  Lastly- go with your gut! If the kids look unhappy and the teachers look frazzled, move on!  One tip I learned too late- get on the waitlist as early as possible! And have a backup daycare.  Oh yeah- one more thing.  Ours has a chef onsite who prepares really healthy meals/snacks. It's so awesome! Look for that!  

I'm in Charlotte NC and pay 1300 a month for full time daycare for 1 kiddo. Not looking forward to paying for 2! Eeek!

Jendink

I work at a state licensed child care center and I am fortunate to bring my daughter to school with me.  Which also means I am able to get a 50% discount on childcare!   my facility charges just under 1300 a month for infant care and it goes down as they get older.  Right now my daughter is 2 1/2 and (half price) I pay just $500 per month! I need to speak to the owner to see what the rate would be for the new baby plus my (then) 3 year old.  I live just outside of St. Louis in Illinois.

I would always ask about child/teacher ratios, ask if they are licensed by the state and any other accreditation they have (for example: my center is NAEYC accredited and currently has a Gold circle of quality (Illinois state accred.))  You can also ask how many of the teachers have degrees in child education, about daily schedules and if they send home any type of "daily" sheet or if the teachers write lesson plans.

alm52386

I work in the early childhood education field and just finished my degree! Definitely find a licensed center and if they are accredited that is even better! Accreditation is stricter than licensing. In Wisconsin we have a young star rating and 5 stars is the highest. The star rating is based on the center itself and the education of its teachers. In WI the ratio for infants up to 2 years is 4 kids to 1 teacher with a max class size of 8. Also keep in mind the higher quality centers are going to be way more expensive. But just like everything else, you get what you pay for!

michaela0704

Ask what education/credentials the lead teachers in each room have...at our center lead teachers must have at least an associate's degree and most assistant teachers, floaters, closers, etc. are either in school for early childhood education and/or have extensive early childhood education experience

Ask what the ratios are that they maintain by age group and how that compares to state requirements... some centers have lower ratios than required, which is always a plus

Ask about restraints for immobile and mobile children... sitting them in a highchair to eat is fine, but do they leave them in there for an hour while they feed all of the children?  It would be good to hear their thought process and policies around restraints so that your child is able to lay, crawl, or walk as they please.

Ask about the room cleaning schedule and process... infants are all over the floor, do they use quilts/blankets?  are parents required to wear shoe covers or remove their shoes during pick-up and drop-off?

Ask if they allow outside visitors... my folks were both working fulltime when I had my twins but during the summer (mom is a teacher) she and my dad would come to the center during my dad's lunch to hang out with their grandkids and loved every second... teachers were wonderful about it too.

I'm in a major city in the southeast and ours is subsidized by my employer as it is only open to employees... infant care is ~ $1,300/month and currently Preschool is ~ $1,150/month.  Unsubsidized would be ~$1,650/month+ for infants according to the market analysis they do each year and provide to parents.

One key thing to note on cost... you'll probably get some matrix of all the different ages and costs... you'll think this is great it goes down ~ $X per year as they age up!  WRONG!!!  Most, if not all, centers increase costs each year so you'll pay a little less but nothing close to what you thought you were going to get to pay (example -$100 only equated to -$15).

ETA: Our center is also NAEYC accredited, which I believe is evaluated every 5 years... that is tough to get and maintain so should speak well of any center during someone's search.

delujm0

NC has a star rating for daycare 1-5 stars based on things like ratio, whether staff has specific degrees and training, etc.  we were lucky to have 3 5 star centers within 5 miles of home so we visited all of them.  since the star rating is based on filling certain qualifications, we considered them equal in quality and went with the one we felt most comfortable with.  it's a family run place 1.5 miles from home with great staff, and when the kids turn 2 you can pay extra for things like computer classes, soccer, and gymnastics and dance classes at the studio next door which I love bc it saves me from having to deal with doing that stuff on weekends.

We live 20 miles north of charlotte...infant room rate is $195/week.  there is a 10% sibling discount as well.  5 star daycare in and around the city runs about $100/week more.

flyingncmama

We went went the daycare that gave us that 'feeling' when we toured.  I knew immediately when I walked in that it was the place for us.  I'm not sure if it was the cleanliness, or the friendliness of the staff, or the video monitors but I knew it gave me a feeling that none of the other centers did.  We pay $400/week for two kids in Michigan.

Also, start getting on lists asap!  My daycare is booked into September of next year!  Fortunately that's when I plan to return from maternity leave so I got lucky that it wasn't taken already.

awillis13

I'm so torn with this situation.  My son right now is at the YMCA  daycare, and it has been so good for him (he started there at 3.8 and will go to K in the fall).  I without a doubt cannot afford their infant rates (about $1600/mo).  Also, we are currently in a 2br townhouse (with the 2nd bedroom already shared with my son and stepson when he is here with us).  We really need to move to a place with more space, AND I'm going to be looking to change school districts for the fall, AND DH is currently looking for new work.  So I know I need to get myself on a waiting list for daycare, but I don't know what to do or where to look, because I don't know where we will be at that point.  I wish my mom could just retire and then we wouldn't have a problem.

silliegirlie143

You have some fantastic recommendations above. Our biggest thing was knowing if we needed an appointment to visit or if we could walk in. I understand a center not wanting to disrupt naptime but it makes me leery if I MUST have a specific time. 

Also, it's important to us to bring DD with us and see how she reacts to the center. There were some where she simply clung to us the entire time. The one we picked she asked to get down and walked right over to start playing with the kids. 

We live in Vegas. We picked a center that ensures play and education are equally important. We pay nearly $300/wk. They feed DD and provide wipes. We provide diapers.  This was the mid-priced center from the ones we toured most recently.

roseline27

Here in Québec, it's 40$/day but the province gives back about 60%of the cost every 15th of the month depending on our income. 
We chose ours because it at walking distance from home and they get the kids to play outside twice a day. 

mkrel

Thank you all for the feedback! It is very helpful reading through the responses. 

Jendink

silliegirlie143 said:

You have some fantastic recommendations above. Our biggest thing was knowing if we needed an appointment to visit or if we could walk in. I understand a center not wanting to disrupt naptime but it makes me leery if I MUST have a specific time. 

Also, it's important to us to bring DD with us and see how she reacts to the center. There were some where she simply clung to us the entire time. The one we picked she asked to get down and walked right over to start playing with the kids. 

We live in Vegas. We picked a center that ensures play and education are equally important. We pay nearly $300/wk. They feed DD and provide wipes. We provide diapers.  This was the mid-priced center from the ones we toured most recently.

At the center I work at they prefer appointments only because one of the directors give the tour and during "high traffic time" (parent drop off and pick up) there's not always someone available.  So keep that in mind if they prefer you to schedule a tour.  Its really to make sure that there is someone who  give the tour rather than picking the best time to "show off" the center. 

lizerspitz

Anyone have experience with a nanny? We might double up with DHs coworker to share a nanny for two infants. She is two weeks ahead of us.

email2ash

I'm in MA and pay just under $1,300 per month for a toddler. Dreading the $2,000+ per month second mortgage coming my way