Daycare tour - Any advice?

ErikaLynn75 · February 2014

We're going on our first daycare tour today, and then we have 4 more lined up for the rest of the week! I have a list of questions mostly regarding tuition, and whether I can pull the kid out of daycare in the summers and still have a spot for him in the fall (I'm a teacher). But I don't want to sound like all I care about is money when it comes to taking care of my child. I googled and found a HUGE list of questions. I really don't want to be there for hours asking all of them.

Help me narrow it down. What is important to you, regarding daycare?

Another random question about daycare: There's a daycare center RIGHT across the street from DH's office. We have a tour scheduled for Friday. It would be the perfect location. DH could drop him off in the mornings and be close by for emergencies, and it's not far out of my way to pick him up after work (I get done about 2 hours before DH). But it's only been there about a year. It was a daycare before that which closed, and then reopened with a new name and new owners. Is this something that would worry you? Is there a nice way to ask about how business is going and get an idea of whether they're going to last?

Ladiebug710 · February 2014

It is a nice thought to be able to hold a spot for the summer but they don't work that way. You have to keep paying for your spot whether the kid is there or not. Now, if the daycare doesn't have a waiting list you may be able to pull them out and re-enroll, but you are taking your chances with that.

When I did tours the most important thing to me is just how the place felt. Is it secure? Is it clean? Are the kids clean? How do they sanitize the diaper changing area?

I do agree that proximity to either work or home is a key factor. If all things are equal between two centers I'd go with the most convenient location.

deanna1313 · February 2014

@EricaLynn75 the daycare I worked at did hold spots for teachers in the summer. You could go on a temporary leave and not have to pay while gone. If you take a week off here and there you har to pay for them. We even had a popular summer camp that enrolled more children in the summer, but we were still able to hold those spots. Every daycare and company is different.

I would take that list in with me and ask the questions right off the list. I always encouraged it on my tours so that the parents would feel comfortable.

I would be a little concerned about the closure/ re-opening of the one by your husbands work. You will get a good or bad vibe from teachers and the center as a whole. If you have a bad feeling oh with your gut.

danabsd · February 2014

I'd love a brand new DCC ours is always updating their facilities. New=good.

I think it's important to remember how many tours these places give. They will likely answer that long list of questions before you have a chance to ask your own.

Things that are important to me are security (building), food/menu (how it works for infant & toddlers), flexibility in pick up and drop off and what we are expected to provide.

spinsoffresonance · February 2014

Look at the general feel of the place, one of the day cares we toured had a tv on in the background the entire time. Also do they allow you to bring pumped breast milk, is there a freezer where you can store extra BM for emergencies, do they prepare the bottles for you or do you have to make them, in the toddler room is lunch and snacks provided or do you bring it from home. if food is provided do they accommodate dietary restrictions, do they serve organic products, junk food, definitely look at the menu. If you bring the food what are the restrictions (no nuts?), someone posted last week their daycare won't allow any homemade food only packaged food, that would totally be a deal breaker for me. Do you have to drop off/ pick up at fixed times or are the days flexible. When do they close ( holidays, snow emergencies), do you still have to pay when they're closed (we do). When do they send the kids home for illness, when do they let them back in, do you still pay when your kid is out sick (we always pay).

Jerzeygrl329 · February 2014

Much of what everyone else said. In addition, how do they heat up the bottles, most places I looked at they did crockpots of water. Look to see how sanitary those look as well, one place's crockpot looked rusty and gross!

Also, they should not be using blankets on the infants for the cribs, how much time are they in a swing or the like. The place we went with doesn't even have swings, they want them on the floor interacting as much as possible and anytime in a seat or bouncer is limited to 10 minutes at a time. Do they have a specific schedule or do they feed/nap your child when needed.

I was so overwhelmed when we looked being first time parents, but it's amazing how quickly your motherly instinct kicks in when you see something that doesn't seem quite right. Also, be patient, I almost cried after the first three wondering if this was the right thing to do, but thankfully fell in love with the fourth place.

Lovenyc · February 2014

I had my son in one daycare from 4months until 28 months. I decided to switch him to a newer facility and I am STILL shocked by how much better the new place is. I didn't realize how unorganized the previous daycare was. A lot of these questions will only matter when your child is a little older but still worth noting.

Things to take notice of.

1. Is it clean? Look at the chairs and tables in the classrooms. Go into the bathrooms. Does it smell clean? Everything should be pristine.

2. RATIO RATIO RATIO. A lower teacher/student ratio is always better. What is the max in each classroom?

3. My son's old daycare used to let them walk around the room with their sippy cups which was a big germ spreader. (kids drinking from each others cups) The new place keeps the sippy cups away from the kids until snack and mealtime. A HUGE difference when it comes to curbing the spread of germs.

4. How often are children transitioned to the next classroom? My son's old daycare transitioned way too often. Toddlers need routine. It is very disruptive to move to a new classroom. His new dc transitions once a year after they are 18 months. A big difference.

5. You should get a vibe from the teaching staff just from walking around. Do they seem genuinely happy to be there? Ask about teacher turnover rate.

6. If you are in a cold weather climate, be sure to check the snow day policy.

7. Do they offer video monitoring?

8. Ask for a sample daily schedule for each classroom. See how structured each classroom is.

9. Do not underestimate the importance and value of CONVENIENCE. Having a daycare close to home or work is truly priceless.

Mittens14 · February 2014

DS has been in daycare since he was 3 months old. Here were/are my hot buttons:

- Security. How does one gain access to the school, can just anyone walk in? Our school uses a thumb scanner to get the door unlocked. If anyone other than the parents are picking up (or whomever you have designated as the normal pick up people), how is that handled? Are the parents contacted first? Do they have to show ID, etc.

- How often do you run background checks on the staff? One of the centers we toured only ran a background check upon hiring the person, what if they have an offense after they are employed? Our current center runs a background check on every staff member annually.

-What is the child/teacher ratio? How does the ratio change as the children get older?

-Does each child have their own crib that is not used for anyone else or are the cribs used interchangeably? I did not want DS's crib to be used by any other children, for obvious reasons.

-How often do they sanitize the classroom and the toys? How do they sanitize everything?

-What are their rules regarding bottles/formula/breast milk? Also, do they mandate that children be off the bottle and onto a sippy by a certain time?

-Do they assist with potty training? If so, how?

-Is the school clean? Does it smell clean?

-Do the children seem happy? Do they seem engaged?

-What is the cirriculum?

-What type of food is served? Is outside food allowed (most schools won't allow outside food due to allergies) even if they tell you no nuts, etc. they have no way of knowing if you did abide by those rules and will not risk the lives of other children because you may have not followed the rules or unwittingly used something containing a forbidden ingrediant... So they only allow prepackaged food. I know a PP said that it would be a deal breaker if they were only allowed prepackaged food, but I was fine with it because of the reasoning behind it. My child does have food allergies, so I appreciate that they take the extra precaution and do not allow anything that's not prepackaged so that they can review ingrediants before allowing it in the classroom. Plus, my sons school does utilize all natural/organic foods, they even make threir own baby food, etc.

-Do they have televisions in the rooms? We did not want to use a school that had televisions for fear that the teachers may use the tv's as a crutch and have my kid sitting watching the tube instead of engaging them.

-How long have each of the teachers been there? Are they certified? What training do they have?

-Is there an outdoor play ground? How safe does it look? Is it completely fenced in? Is is close to a roadway? Is it in good condition?

-Is the location corporately owned or privately owned or franchised?

-What is the policy on dropping in and calling? Can I drop in and observe class at any time?

-What is the policy on vacations? Or as you mentioned, can you pull out your child for the summer and then start again in september? Depending on the school they probably will not allow this and will need for you to re-register each September. Registration fees can be anywhere from $50 - $250 from what I've seen, and sometimes you have to give a deposit on top of that, so it depends if it's worth it to you and how busy the school is, you may not be able to get a spot at that time of year.

-Convenient is important, but by far, not the most important thing to me. The most convenient schools to my home and work were awful, there is no way I would utilize them. I do in fact drive out of the way for a better center, and I feel good about my decision. You need to have peace of mind. It is extremely difficult to do your job if you don't feel secure in your choice in child care. I recently changed my sons school because the school he had been in since he was 3 months old has been on a steady decline and I was no longer even able to focus at work because I was worried all day long. I switched him and feel great about our decision. I love his new school and so does he.

As you can see I had tons of questions, some of them were up front questions some of them were things that didn't present themselves until another time over the past 3.5 years. Go with your gut though. A center might seem like the best choice and might seem to have everything you want/need but if you have an off feeling go with it. It is probably one of the most important decisions you will make. I visited a school that seemed to have EVERYTHING I was looking for, but the children just didn't seem like they were happy and having fun. I didn't get a warm feeling. We didn't choose the center, but a coworker of mine did and she had nothing but issues from day 1. Trust your gut.

Mittens14 · February 2014

sorry for the novel ^^^^^^

ErikaLynn75 · February 2014

Thank you, everyone! Sorry for the post and run. I got busy at work today, but I really appreciate all of the responses, and I'm definitely taking notes on everyone's suggestions to add to my list of questions to ask.

IBackBevo · February 2014

I think everyone has hit on most things. My daycare will let you take off two months in the summer if you pay for the month coming back...i.e. you can take off June and July if you pay August before the end of May.

usernewname · February 2014

You can always pull them out and gamble on a spot being available in the fall. Otherwise if you want to keep it you'll have to pay. But if you keep it you could always send LO to daycare to give you a break a couple times a week

bridetobe9132013 · February 2014

I worked in daycares for years and my biggest piece of advice would be to do a drop in tour. If you show up unexpected they don't have time to stage anything and you can see how they actually do things. We had families do that all the time.

kstefko · February 2014

This is a great tread. I will be starting this process soon, then hopefully I can contribute with info. Thanks for all the recommendations ladies!

gutsysneakers · February 2014

Everyone has contributed a lot of good points (ratio/provide food/diapers/wipes/security concerns). My MIL is a preschool teacher and she gave me a few things to think about when touring.

1) Go with your significant other. While one of you may be asking questions, the other one should be watching how the caregiver interacts with the children. If the caregiver ever pays more attention to you than a child, rethink that center.

2) Cancellations - this was big for us since we live/work near DC. Do they go by federal government closing/cancellations or a school system or do they make their own decision?

3) NAEYC accredited - this is big for us only because there are wait lists for every daycare/early childcare development center. Once we are in that daycare (without any unforeseen issues), we'd like to stay there - so having this accreditation was important for us (more so once they are pre-k).

4) Education of providers and continued education credits (again, this is more oriented for pre-k, but see my above point)

5) Find out what their policy is for a sick child and what happens if you are running late (a lot of places will charge at least $1/minute you're late).

6) A big thing for me was knowing what my child did that day - most places write a "report card" for you infant and can tell you how much he/she ate and when they did/bowel movements, etc.

Unknown · February 2014

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ErikaLynn75 · February 2014

Ladiebug710 said:

It is a nice thought to be able to hold a spot for the summer but they don't work that way. You have to keep paying for your spot whether the kid is there or not. Now, if the daycare doesn't have a waiting list you may be able to pull them out and re-enroll, but you are taking your chances with that.

I was totally prepared for this, but now that's we've toured 2 different places, one of them said I could pull my kid out in the summer and they would hold the spot. They would just call me if they got close to being full and ask if I was still planning on returning in the fall. (I think that place must not have had a waiting list.)

The second place said they ask that you simply cut back to 2 days/week in the summer, and that's what they prefer, but if I want to pull him out completely, they'll hold my spot if I pay for the month of September before we leave in May.

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