Touring daycare centers - advice for soon-to-be mom?

kikibird · February 2011

Hi everyone! I am about to start looking at daycare centers for my baby. We'll start our baby at about 3 months old, when my maternity leave ends in September. Apparently there can be waiting lists in my area, so I wanted to get a feel for the places near me, and so DH and I plan to visit a few next week.

I was wondering if those of you who have your children enrolled in a day care center could offer any advice on what to look for, questions to ask, etc.

Also, how long did you spend touring each facility? I've made appointments with a few places, and was told that it really depends on how long we want to spend there, but a couple of them said we might spend as little as 15-30 minutes, which I thought was short. My boss had said she spent 2 hours at one daycare she visited. What did you feel was an adequate amount of time to get a sense of the place?

TIA!

KathrynMD · February 2011

some I spent about 15-20 minutes at and could tell it wasn't for me. I was sort of overwhelmed w/ teh process so I made quick inital visits and then came back to two or three I liked that had a spot for DD. And, then I asked more questions, etc. Its really hard to pick an infant daycare now, b/c you really have no idea what to look for/what to expect.

At this point, just look for places were things seem organized and clean and the babies are happy and engaged. You should see alot of activity in the infant rooms - lots of controlled chaos - talking and singing, toys, books, kids crawling and pulling up in a large safe area. LOs should be held in a daycare teachers arms or lap, you shouldnt't see too many bouncy seats or swings - and you should ask how much time the kids spend in them.

SimDoh · February 2011

I spent about 20 minutes with the initial touring and info gathering. But then I narrowed it down to three places and I spent about an hour observing at each 3 places. Then the week before we started I observed again for morning (3 hours)

kikibird · February 2011

Thank you all, these are great points. It probably will be pretty easy to tell whether a place feels good or not fairly quickly, and I like the idea of making a longer, repeat visit to the narrowed down list.

I did make appointments with all of the places we'll visit (well one just said that it would be fine to come in when I suggested I'd like to stop by).

Laura, your questions are very helpful, and totally the types of things I wouldn't think to ask... it's so hard to know what to ask when I've never been a parent before.

Again, thanks to all three of you and I welcome any other suggestions folks may have!

Pesky · February 2011

that's (15-30) about how long I spent at the facilities and that was enough. The biggest deciding factor is going to be gut feel and you will decide that very quickly.

* don't just look at the infant rooms. Remember your child won't be there for that long relatively speaking. So examine the older rooms and find out at approximately what ages the promotions occur, pricing for the classes, expectations for the child, etc. For example, you might not like the fact that infants are in one room all the way from 6 wks until 18 mos (I wouldn't) but some places do that.

* ask how long each teacher has been there and the average tenure. Lots of turnover should tell you something.

* ask about sick policies and notification of incidents

* ask about food prep, menus and storage for BM if you plan to BF.

* ask about application of meds, diaper cream, saline drops/mist, sunscreen, etc.

* ask about dispute resolution -- if you have an issue, how do they ask parents to resolve.

* ask what you are expected to provide for the infant room and the rooms beyond that. Infant room didn't require a sheet be provided but I had to provide one from then on.

kikibird · February 2011

Pesky:
that's (15-30) about how long I spent at the facilities and that was enough. The biggest deciding factor is going to be gut feel and you will decide that very quickly.

* don't just look at the infant rooms. Remember your child won't be there for that long relatively speaking. So examine the older rooms and find out at approximately what ages the promotions occur, pricing for the classes, expectations for the child, etc. For example, you might not like the fact that infants are in one room all the way from 6 wks until 18 mos (I wouldn't) but some places do that.

* ask how long each teacher has been there and the average tenure. Lots of turnover should tell you something.

* ask about sick policies and notification of incidents

* ask about food prep, menus and storage for BM if you plan to BF.

* ask about application of meds, diaper cream, saline drops/mist, sunscreen, etc.

* ask about dispute resolution -- if you have an issue, how do they ask parents to resolve.

* ask what you are expected to provide for the infant room and the rooms beyond that. Infant room didn't require a sheet be provided but I had to provide one from then on.

Thanks very much, I am learning a lot reading your comments!

DTNZ4Ever · February 2011

I would also make an unannounced visit too. That way you can see the place when they are not expecting visitors. I only did this with the places I was seriously considering.

KAtwinmom · February 2011

You got some fantastic advice! I would also add that you should check and see if your state has a quality rating (QRIS). If so, look and see if there are programs in your area that are participating, and if so, what "star level" they've achieved. Not all programs choose to participate, but if one does, it's a good sign that they are interested in demonstrating their commitment to quality improvement, and they will have to meet some requirements that are above and beyond licensing regulations.

Good luck!

kikibird · February 2011

DTNZ4Ever:
I would also make an unannounced visit too. That way you can see the place when they are not expecting visitors. I only did this with the places I was seriously considering.

This makes a lot of sense too, thank you!

lewis514 · February 2011

I agree with what PPs said.

I would go with your gut as well. I could tell by one facility when I called it just didn't seem "right" to me so never visited. Another one when I visited, I got the same feeling. Turns out since having DD, I know of parents who switched to the center DD goes to from these other places.

Ask about

1) security policies (most will tell you anyway) in regards to pick up/drop off, other relatives picking up LO,

2) schedules (infant rooms should be on your schedule)

3) linens - do they provide or do you?

4) food - what do they provide and when?

5) payment policies - pay weekly/monthly? are any other fees - yearly registration? summer camps? extra programs?

6) vacation policies - do they give you days off?

In my center, I also liked that the caregivers were also of varying ages (in their 20's-60's) so she was exposed to different people and I like the ongoing training they do.

Good luck!

kikibird · February 2011

Thanks again everyone, these are really eye-opening comments. I spoke with DH about your comments too last night, and he said the same thing, that you all brought up many issues that we wouldn't have thought to consider on our own.

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Touring daycare centers - advice for soon-to-be mom?

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