Questions to ask at daycare tour

MagickalNarwhal

I KNOW I have seen similar posts here before but I can't find them. We are touring daycares next week. I'm going back to work PT so we will have him in care 2 - 3 days/week. I can find out basic things about the places on the websites (diapers, food, schedule, cost, ratios) but I don't know what else to ask. This would be our first time having him in professional care. I'm pretty laid back but I'd love to hear what you asked when you toured places. Thanks!

MamaAllison

Lets see

I asked about how kids are transferred I have a September baby so if they only do transfers once a year she would have been in the infant room until she was 23 months.

I asked if employees smoked, and if so where they were allowed to do so some centers said they couldn't answer that but I continued to ask as this is a big pet peeve of mine

If I could do it again I would ask how the communication works at drop off. My daughter is an early bird at DC since I'm a teacher, and there isn't anyone from her actual room there at drop off now that she is in the toddler room.

Good luck!

lovebug33

My baby isn't obviously eating regular food, but I asked how they handle allergies and feeding the kids. It is very likely my baby will be allergic to eggs and I didn't want to have to bring her own food if she is.

aeh72

In addition to the questions you find in the daycare tour checklists out there (and what pps suggested) one of the main things I wanted to know was what they do with infants all day.  I wanted to make sure DS wasn't going to be stuck in swing or exersaucer too often/for too long during the day (I think the states regulate how long at a time a child can be in a positioner). 

And besides asking them to describe a typical day for an infant, really look around to see what they are doing with the babies while you are there.  How engaged do they seem with them? I looked at one daycare center (a big, expensive, nationwide chain) and their infant room seemed so sad to me - one worker sitting on the floor, looking kind of bored, rocking an infant in swing while another child was in a bouncer chair.   I went to another big center and there were children playing in different toys and doing tummy time, but the staff seemed so much more engaged with them.

Jenny935

We just visited 4 in the last couple weeks. If you are looking for infant care, one of the things to ask would be do they let you pay for part time for an infant. None of the places we went would do part time for any kid under 18 months (some places were under 2). We asked what they did all day, and about safety. They explained the fire drill procedure which cracked me up. I think of those at school but I never thought about having to throw 3 babies in a crib and wheel them out for a fire drill! I also asked about their sickness policy, whether they followed the school district for weather closings or were open more often, hours they were open, communication, and what I had to bring each day. As a teacher, I was also curious about whether they'd make me pay full price for the summer even if I kept the baby at home. Good luck! It was definitely overwhelming!