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May 2012 Moms
littleredfish
member
Need ?s from moms who already have LOs in DC : XP
littleredfish
member
I checked out 2 daycares today for DD to start going in January. I looked up a lot of info on both places online and asked some questions of my own. Both directors seemed slightly shocked that I didn't ask more questions. Both had manuals online to read about their basic policies and I asked about a dozen other questions. What else should I have been asking?
We CD DD so I asked about their comfort level with that and how they handle the dipes, what the training level of each worker is (all EHE or 1+ per room), child to worker ratio, menu given and how it applies to younger children DDs age, if I can store frozen BM there for her, if any walks or playtime are done off site or only on, how flexible they are with drop off/pick up time since DHs day starts anywhere from 7-9, how flexible they are with nap and feeding times, potty training techniques (for when we get there), methods of discipline, if it was ok for us to bring personal blankets from home for naps, and what other items we need to bring (bottles, bibs, bowls and spoons, etc).
I felt like I covered all the bases but this is our first child so I'm not familiar with what I should know and they just almost made it seem like it was a total shock I didn't have 101 questions. We go back tomorrow to meet with the teachers in her room; what other questions should I ask that I'm not thinking of (if any)?
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Re: Need ?s from moms who already have LOs in DC : XP
If you have time, I think the best thing you can do is ask to observe the infant room for as much time as you can. IMO any daycare is only as good as its direct care providers.
My daughter was in the private daycare for the university my husband works at. It was really expensive, had a huge waiting list, and had an absolutely gorgeous new building. All his coworkers who had sent kids there raved about it. And once my daughter got there, I thought it sucked.
I felt like my daughter's infant room teachers were inattentive. They spent more time taking pictures of the babies to email to parents and filling out paperwork than they did actually did holding the babies. They would do things like sit on the floor with one baby with their back to the other half of the room, meanwhile the boy on the other side of the room was throwing all his food on the floor while another little girl ate it all off the floor and neither teacher noticed. Another time they set a young baby in a bouncer on a low table and an older baby came over and started yanking it toward the edge of the table. They managed to stop him before the baby hit the floor, but that should not have happened in the first place.
so IMO... ask to come hang out there for a while and see how you really like how the babies are being cared for. You can come up with zillions of questions like whether or not they permit baby Orajel, but IMO those things don't matter if the daycare teachers aren't any good.
Do they do background checks on the city, county, state and federal levels? Who do they do background checks on? Does it include interns, substitute teachers, etc? Have they all been cleared from their background checks of all crimes (not just child molestation, etc.)?
Do they have an open door policy where you can visit the child unannounced at any time?
How do they let you know what your chuld is doing during the day? Our DC sends photos everyday and a memo describing what they did via email.
Seems like you covered all the basis to me. I didn't ask about half of the stuff you did. I did ask about their policy on immunization (did all babies have to have their shots) and about giving meds if required.
They are probably use to moms that ask questions already covered in their material but you did your research.