North Carolina Babies
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Poll: Choosing Daycare
1. How did you choose which daycares to visit?
2. How did you know that the daycare you chose was "the one"?
3. What were some things you saw at other daycares that really turned you off from choosing that place?
4. What was the most important factor to you when choosing the day care?
5. Did you have to "give in" on any things you wanted, but decided to forget about them because you loved the place you chose and it didn't offer those things?
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Re: Poll: Choosing Daycare
1. How did you choose which daycares to visit? I used the NC Division of Child Development website to narrow down my search to daycares in my area, then I looked at the ones that had higher ratings. I read any complaints or penalties that were listed online and decided which ones to visit that way.
2. How did you know that the daycare you chose was "the one"? I can't say that I really knew that. I just knew that they were nice, clean, they cared about the kids, it was close to home, and it was in my price range. They also had very few investigations (and I had them all mailed to me & felt comfortable with what I read). After DS was there for awhile and I got to know everyone, I realized that I was really happy with the center.
3. What were some things you saw at other daycares that really turned you off from choosing that place? I think I only visited 3 centers and I didn't see anything like that. The other 2 centers I also liked, but they were significantly more expensive. In retrospect, one of the centers was very sterile feeling. It's nice to be clean, but it was too clean in a way. It makes me wonder how much the kids are really playing and having fun when things are spotless.
4. What was the most important factor to you when choosing the day care? I just needed to feel like Nate was going to be well cared for and loved. As he got older, I wanted to be sure he was participating in educational activities and spending time outside.
5. Did you have to "give in" on any things you wanted, but decided to forget about them because you loved the place you chose and it didn't offer those things? The only thing that I have given in on is the nutrition. Even though the daycare we use follows the state guidelines/nutritional plan, I still am not crazy about the meals they serve. They aren't bad, they're just not what I would choose.
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We just decided and put our deposit, but we don't have any hands on experience yet.
1. How did you choose which daycares to visit? I printed a list from the NC Childcare website by zipcodes, made inquiry calls for pricing, ratios and other basic info. I set up a spreadsheet and went from there based on our budget. In our area the prices ranged quite a bit from $800-$1500 a month for full time care.
2. How did you know that the daycare you chose was "the one"? We had a recommendation from my coworker to visit one daycare and as cheesey as it sounds, I just got a good vibe from them. Since the centers are regulated many things were the same. So I went off how I felt with daycare employees. They were friendly, warm and very flexible with our situation.
3. What were some things you saw at other daycares that really turned you off from choosing that place? The first center that was closest to our house seemed ok, but after visiting a few more, I noticed how untidy things were especially in the infant room. They also allowed bouncey seats and swings and the center we went with does not since they encourage hands on soothing rather than sitting in an infant seat all day.
4. What was the most important factor to you when choosing the day care? Our schedule was pretty important (part-time W,T,F) as well as tuition, and cleanliness.
5. Did you have to "give in" on any things you wanted, but decided to forget about them because you loved the place you chose and it didn't offer those things? Our center is about 10 minutes out of the way for me to do drop off (DH will pick up). Other than that they offered everything we wanted at tuition that came in under budget.
I'll bite since we had actually visited daycares and chosen a daycare for MG.
1. How did you choose which daycares to visit? We were a little different in the area we were looking in at the time was a smaller area and I already knew of two daycares I wanted to contact. We also got some recs from family in another town where DH works. We visited all three. We went mainly on what we knew already about them from friends and first hand as well as checking them on the regulatory sites.
2. How did you know that the daycare you chose was "the one"? There is one daycare in our area that is hands down above the rest. There literally is no comparison and DH and I both loved it.
3. What were some things you saw at other daycares that really turned you off from choosing that place? One place smelled like straight up dirty diapers. One place the teachers didn't look tidy and/or speak proper English and I did not want my kid learning how to speak from the workers. And of them them I also got a bad vibe immediately from the director. I knew there was not a chance it would last long.
4. What was the most important factor to you when choosing the day care? Really I went with my gut feeling. This one daycare just felt right and I've actually recommended to a friend since who now has her daughter there and is very happy.
5. Did you have to "give in" on any things you wanted, but decided to forget about them because you loved the place you chose and it didn't offer those things? If we would have used that center it was out of the way a bit. This would make my already somewhat lengthy commute a tad longer.