What are good questions to ask day cares?

Question

My daughter was born Jan 14, 2007 and we have a couple of day care places in mind, but what sort of things should I be paying attention to while i'm observing them before I enroll my daughter. Anything I should be on the watch for? What are some questions I should ask? Thanks

Answer 1

Number 1 thing I was told to ask is: How long have the teachers been here?

Red flag if the teachers rotate every 3 months.
If you find one where the teachers are happy, and have been there for years - you know they love kids and aren't just there for extra spending $$

Happy teachers = happy kids. Everything else will fall into place.

Answer 2

I have worked in child care since 1995. Here are some things to look for.
Drop In unexpectedly, look for Clean Floors, Walls, Cabinets, toilets, toys, ect. Make sure the Daycare is not just cleaning with Water, you want the place to be disinfected well. Check to make sure there are no broken beds, toys, equipment ect. that can hurt your child. Make sure the employees are wearing gloves when serving food and dealing with toiletries. Talk with everyone who is employeed there to get an idea of personalities and behaviors. You want to be sure that each employee has been trained and has had a full background check!! Mark your babies Diapers to make sure they are changing her. Ask if they have a Dailey Task sheet that tells what your child did during the day, what they are eating and drinking when and how much and how many times they were changed. Make sure that when you drop your child off there is always someone with Each age group and and that your infant will be seperated from older children and that there is someone to take care of the infants in a seperate room. You dont want to drop your baby off and have them sit in a car seat for 2 hours while the center is waiting for the Infant Care Staff to come on Duty. Does the Center have and Emergency Plan? Always Call the State Health Department to find out whether or not there have been any complaints against the Facility. Look for baby monitors and cameras, hopefully each room is monitored well by the director. Make sure that there is always a Certified Director on Staff. When you do your drop in's dont just look in your childs room look in all the other rooms too cause you never know what you might see. Please Pay special attention to all of these suggestions, I have worked in Several Daycares and Ive seen it all!! I have a 4 yr. old daughter and these are all things that I would look for first, anything to protect our children. Hope this all helps. Good luck

Answer 3

How many care givers per child
How many care givers for newborn babies
Are the older children kept away from the newborns

I would also look and see what the rooms look like that the children are kept in. Are there windows all around so that no one is hidden in any room with a child. The day care we had for our daughter had 3 rooms, 1 exclusively for the newborns and the other children were kept away from them. Also, each one of the rooms had windows all around from about waist high to the ceiling. You could stand at one end of the building and look straight through to the other end. The only rooms that were closed off were the rest rooms.

Will they allow you to stop by any time during the day to check on baby

Are all of the care givers licensed or registered with the county or state

Do you bring your own diapers and wipes

Do you have to sign your child in each day and then sign them out

Do they keep a list of people allowed to pick up your child

Do they check ID

Answer 4

what the ratio of is adult to child.
are they accredited
do they run a kinder program
what food they serve
do they have an individual food if a child dislikes what is on offer
what is there policy for behavioral problems, how do they deal with the bully as well as the one being bullied
Do they have a high staff change over (you don't want one that does. Why are the staff unhappy that they leave. Also you want your child to have consistancy of care)
are children in age appropriate rooms ie: 0-6 months, 6-12months, 12 m-2 trs, 2-4yrs, 5+
Do they put siblings together at anytime in the day (if you plan more kids)
look at the playground for safety.
Also go on your gut instinct. If you walk into a place and get a bad feel then go with it and look elswhere

Answer 5

first and foremost how long have they been licensed and is there license up to date
2 what are there qualifications to take care of the children are they licensed to take care of certain ages and how many adults are there that are qualified to take care of the children
pay attention to how they take care of other children your daughters age
how often are there complaints made to the better business buro (do they have there licnce poted to where u can see it
what is there drop off and pick up policy are there fees if u drop up to soon or to late and what is the time frame
do they use rubber gloves when changing other babies as well as your own do they wash there hands watch for this stuff when u observe , another thing see what there policy is on observing them u announce d like can u come in at 11 to watch them but i wouldnt tell them when and what time u will do this
look at how clean the place is do they have extra formula and diapers just in case the baby eats or goes pott more than expected , if u have child on a feeding schedule do they keep record of that as well
theres many more but above are a few

Answer 6

Some good questions to ask are:
1. What is the child to staff ratio - and how do they do staff lunches and drop off and pick ups.

2. How strict are they with sick policies....do they require a drs note to return to daycare

3. What is the sanitation policy - how often do they do the toys, do they do the chew toys as soon as they put it in the mouth

4. How do they do infant feedings - do they prop bottles

5. Do they take the infants outside or for walks, what about the weather conditions - hats, sunscreen, etc

6. What is the diaper/wipe policy? Do they bring it in to share with everyone, or do they just bring it in and use it on your child only?

7. What is the nap schedule? Feeding schedule?

8. What are the staff qualifications?

9. When is the move up day - when they are a certain age, when they reach certain milestones, etc?

10. What is the daycare policy on biters?

Good Luck and congrats on your new baby girl! SD

Answer 7

.Okay... Some good advice would be to google the Owners name... Google the daycares name. Honestly thats the best thing you can do. Walk around, check for bugs.

Honestly I used to work in a day care, I was only 15 at the the time and I cleaned the place, and the "teachers" were told to say they were older, and I went to school with one who was said to have EC Credits ( Early Childhood credits ... most states require a certain number) But she didnt. I would just talk to the "teachers" get vibes, Look at other children for buises and things like that. A child cant speak so check over them well. My sister cam home a lot with buises and they said she fell a lot til one day she came home with the end of a ruler type bruise on her butt.

Just really ask questions and do some research on them. Ask to see their license and "Google" the name of the group that licensed them.

Be Careful

and Good Luck
.....

I know I might have scared you a little but it is better to be safe than sorry!!!!

God Bless
jess

Answer 8

I loved CM's answer until eventually it have been given to the 20 300 and sixty 5 days previous section..There are a distinctive group of human beings who artwork in toddler care centers. and not all are what she escribed. confident, there are some (lots actually) youthful human beings, yet there are additionally older females. and many them are mom's themselves. And maximum (if no longer all) toddler care centers do necessary historic past exams on new hires. I do think of nevertheless, so you might pass examine the region out somewhat than calling and asking over the telephone. maximum places provides you with a excursion of the ability and answer any questions you will possibly be able to desire to have. and that they provide you the alternative of watching the aptitude college room. once you do pass, ask questions like ratio for the college room (instructor to toddler), rules on ill little ones, etc. they provides you with a coaching manual which you would be able to examine with besides. yet they do oftentimes answer all questions while giving a excursion. maximum places additionally do no longer require an appointment to do a excursion. you're able to do a walk-in sorta component, even nevertheless, it is respectful to call forward, in case the college has something happening to the place they might't get to you staggering away. good success!

Answer 9

Ok, I am a college student studying the child and child development- because I am a education major, right? Well, you need to ask about there policy for discipline. You want to know how they discipline your child when he /she misbehaves, and other children when they are rude or misbehaving. You need to observe the playground Ask about drop zones. Drop zones are the areas around playsets(swings, slides, etc.) that extend15 ft around. Grass is no longer acceptable because they can still cut there legs and hands if they fall and you know how blades of grass cut....so.
Make sure if they mulch down it is secured with the black paper underneath. Make sure the paper is in tact and that the mulch is high enough and not sparse looking. Walk the playground and see if anything is rusty or bend.Make sure the kids head cannot fit in between any nail, and that the surroundings are secure.

Answer 10

References (then actually call them)
Experience
How is discipline handled?
Do you pay for the days your child does not attend?
Are her days off paid or unpaid?
Does she have a back up?
Is she trained in first aid/CPR?
Does she smoke?
Is she licenced?
What supplies does she furnish?
Can you come observe her daycare for a few hours?
Does she have any helpers?
How many kids does she watch?
If you have more than one child, does she offer a discount?
Does she have transportation for the kids every day in case of emergencies?
Do I pay for holidays when daycare is closed?
Ask for a tour of the daycare.
See where the kids play when they are outside.
Make sure things look safe.
Ask about anything that you are unsure of. This is the person that you are going to trust with your child. Be safe! There are no stupid questions when it comes to your childs safety.

Good luck! I took child developement and have 2 kids of my own so these are from experience.