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1st Trimester
ladylisalt
member
questions to ask daycare
ladylisalt
member
I am going to be calling a few daycare home providers to start figuring out where I want my baby to go. I know there are alot of obvious questions to ask but do you have any recommendations on things I should DEFINITELY ask, or things ppl forget to ask? I figured someone out there made a list once upon a time. Any advice would be helpful.
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Re: questions to ask daycare
1. Do they provide daily sheets - a synopsis of your child's day to keep you informed of when they ate, napped, activities they participated in.
2. Do you need to provide all bottles, (snacks/lunch when applicable), diapers, wipes, sheets and blanket?
3. Do they have orientation or transition days for you as a parent to go and spend some time in the room with the teachers and your LO?
4. Do they take the children outside?
5. What is their policy on drop off and pick up in terms of flexibility and hours along with holidays and vacations/sick days - do you get to make any up at no charge?
6. How are parents communicated with? Email, phone, newsletters?
7. What are their emergency preparedness plans.
8. How often are the rooms cleaned/sanitized?
Let me know if you have additional questions, there are of course SO many things that you as an individual may want to ask... it is so difficult to go into a center and hear babies crying and wonder if they are being well cared for! I found that I treated my LO's teachers as an extension of our family and respected them rather than dictate how I wanted things done - it was a great partnership. Of course I made sure to share my LO's likes and dislikes...
Good luck!
Those are all very questions. The daily sheets is especially important IMO. You can ask them how the day went when you pick up your LO, but you can't expect them to remember every little detail like what time your LO napped, or when they had their last bottle, etc.
You might also want to ask about:
Weekly menus - What's on them? Do the kids eat the same thing week after week? Can they accommodate you if your LO is allergic to something?
Vacation (theirs) - If you're looking at in-home daycare providers, expect them to be closed a few weeks a year (maybe 2 weeks in the summer and another one or two weeks for the holidays - if they have school age children, they might also close over spring break)
Vacation (yours) - Do you have to pay for their services when you're away on vacation?