Ladies, did we have a thread for touring daycares and good questions to ask while there? I thought we did, but I can't seem to find it...
If not, what were some of the questions you asked when touring daycares? Husband and I are going to check out our first daycare this week and my mind blanked on the questions I planned on asking.
Re: Questions for Daycares
To be honest, we went based off of our guts along with the information we were provided. There was that "mom" instinct that told me she would be great with our girl. I would also recommend checking your states childcare licensing to see if there are any issues that she had in the previous years that would concern you.
I would agree that your gut will help you make the decision. That and their waiting list. We waited to get into our daycare for 12 months and it was worth it.
-What are their security protocols?
-What's their policy on parents dropping in at anytime? Apparently in Oregon it's state law that parents can come in unannounced to see or pick up their own kids at anytime, but she said that a lot of daycares try to make policies against that because they think it's annoying, but it's not legal.
Ask about security.
If you are planning to breast feed, ask about facilities for that if you want to do a drop in. How they store breast milk is important too.
1. What training/education do you require for your employees?
2. What forms of discipline do you use?
-what is your philosophy on discipline?
-what would the process look like if a child was not following the rules?
3. What are some things a child could do that would get them kicked out of daycare?
we also asked our daycare about cloth diapers (if you plan to use them ask if your daycare is okay with that because some aren't), alternative diets (we're vegan and don't want our child to eat animal products), and any deals they might do for paying early or by a certain date.
Also ask how many days your LO has to be in daycare. Our daycare is super flexible so some weeks DS is in daycare two days a week others five days, depending on our schedules and MILs schedule.
Ask about drop in days (days LO isn't scheduled for daycare but your babysitter falls through). We pay a flat rate for a drop in day.