daycare Q's

chayer227 · January 2011

DH and I are determined to finally remember to call the in-home daycare lady that one of his coworkers highly recommends (and who's prices fit well with our limited budget) tomorrow evening.

What should we ask her/chat with her about?

KatieLG04 · January 2011

I think I found a list of questions online and asked those during the visit. I remember asking about pets, nap schedules, food (do I provide, they provide), what I needed to provide (pack n play for sleeping, carseat etc), how often toys are cleaned, policies around sickness, holidays/vacations, if she was willing to use cloth diapers. That's what I can think of right now.

jd72878 · January 2011

Usually their guideline's spell everything out clearly and may have an informational packet you can take with you. our key questions were time open/close, cloth diapers, and who provides food. You'll get a good sense of the place just by visiting. Sometimes it's truly a gut feeling. Katie outlined a good start. GL! It can be a very daunting process.

kristen80 · January 2011

I agree to look at question lists online and to go w/ your gut. Also see if she's open to the baby having a warm-up session (or two!) for a few hours before they start longer days...GL!

mrscjwatts · January 2011

There was a list of questions on babycenter.com that I found that I really liked. Don't forget to ask about weapons, ie guns. We visited one and her son was playing with a BB gun.

hikingnclimbing · January 2011

mrscjwatts:
We visited one and her son was playing with a BB gun.

Mrs.ErikaMay · January 2011

Another thing to inquire about is daily communication- how do you tell them how baby slept, what they ate, and vice cersa how do you know if they pooped, how much they ate, anything of note that happened during the day. You can also ask (if it isn't explained in a policy packet) about who can pick up and drop off security issues.

Sick policies are a big one- what sends a child home, how long do they need to stay away, how do they handle fevers/ vomiting/ colds? And with in-home, I have no idea how they handle things if the care provide is sick.

Make sure you can drop in whenever you'd like and take note when you visit during business hours how happy and attended to the kids look and how clean the place seems- which of course is a relative term when you're talking about kids!!!

grahamsm3 · January 2011

In addition to what others have said I would read through the daycare regs. It will assist your gut when you go to visit. Ship to pg 35 for the good stuff.

Ask about any state quality awards or national accreditation (NAFCC for homes; NAEYC for centers)

http://www.nafcc.org/include/default.asp

http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/oos/cclu/documents/finalrules.pdf