- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Minnesota Babies
Child Care- what to look for/stay away from
DH and I are starting to think about looking for child care, even though baby isn't due until February, we want to start looking.
What do you girls think that are major things we should look for and stay away from?
Right now, we are open to small in home day cares and larger center-type day cares.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Child Care- what to look for/stay away from
Personally I'd go to a center over an in home daycare. Not that there's anything wrong with in home care, centers just feel more comfortable to me.
--Watch the teacher/baby ratio. Licensing requires 1 staff to 4 babies. Although that is the max, it's nice to find a center that has a "floater" teacher or that hasn't maxed out the number of babies they're allowed to have.
--Watch the staff. Are they happy? Do they seem overworked and stressed? Don't judge them on just one visit (it may be a hectic day that day) but if you stop by several times and it always seems chaotic they're probably more concerned about budget than your baby's environment.
--Watch the other babies. Are they happy? Again, don't judge on one visit because as everyone knows babies have their ups and downs, but if all the infants in the room are routinely unhappy it's probably not where you want to go.
--Check their licensing report. It's required to be posted where parents can see it and see what the center has been cited for. Don't be alarmed if the center has been cited (most centers are during a licensing visit for some pretty minor infractions) but do read what it was for.
--More than anything, how do you feel in the space. Are you comfortable? Is there something that rubs you the wrong way? Is there a staff person you've hit it off with or feel you can talk to? Is it clean and safe? Your gut will tell you a lot...trust it!
yep!
A Little Bird and a Monkey Butt
This is great! I definitely felt more comfortable at the centers that I visited. We were not opposed to in home, but the structure of a center made them so much more appealing. Also, we only visited one in home, and while the woman seemed very nice, I knew I would not have been comfortable leaving Carly there. Honestly, just visit a lot of places, and follow your gut....along with the things mentioned above, your instinct will tell you a lot! Good luck, and your definitely are not looking too early, I wish we would have so I didn't feel like I was scrambling after she was born!
My Bio
Married Bio
We're at a center too. A couple other things to consider...
We found a center to be much more flexible, open ealier in the morning and stay open later at night.
We get a calender in December with all the days the center will be closed for the next calender year. The days they are closed is the typlical holidays that we have off from work anyway. No worries about your provider calling you in the morning to say they are sick and will be closed for the day.
And although this is a ways off for your baby, none of the in homes we talked to had any type of program for the kids. One house had a TV in the kids play room and the provider told us they usually watch cartoons in the morning. Sorry, i'm not paying someone to put my kid in front of the TV.
Like the others said, visit and go with your gut feelings!
We've only used in-home daycares (not opposed to centers, there have just never been any openings when we are looking for care), so I'll chime in from the in-home perspective. Many in-home places are fantastic, have "curriculums" for the kids, and the providers genuinely love the kids. As PPs alluded to, you just need to watch out for those who are in it just for something to do instead of being in it because they are great care providers. It's actually pretty easy to tell the difference once you talk to a few if them.
Here are some things we look for (in no particular order): hours of operation, late pick-up fees, licensure (check out your county website for a list of licensed providers), anybody else ever home during daycare hours, vacation policies (for you and the provider), holiday schedule, sick policy (for provider and for your LO), how often do they typically close due to illness (FWIW none of our daycare providers have ever closed due to illness), back up care (do they have it or do you find your own), references of current or prior daycare parents (definitely call their references), any t.v. time (a deal-breaker for us), "tell me about a typical day" (an open-ended question and it can really sort the great from the okay), outside play time, do they ever drive your child anywhere, meals (another deal-breaker for us, we want our kids eating healthy and well-balanced meals, not junk), who provides diapers/ wipes/ formula (or whether they are okay with you bringing breastmilk)/ baby food, where do the kids nap, discipline philosophy, educational activities, training (many have some sort of early childhood schooling or degree), certification (infant and child CPR, shaken baby, SIDS, etc).
Most providers will have an initial meeting after hours so you can chat without interruption. Then they'll have you come back during daycare hours to see how they actually run things. Also ask if it's okay if you briefly stop by sometime unannounced...they will understand that you want to take a peak when they're not expecting you.