What to Look For in a Daycare

Tips for Daycare

While you are deciding the criteria you will use and exactly how to choose a daycare center for your child, you should keep in mind the various advantages and disadvantages of infant daycare, formal daycare centers, and home care operations. Here are some parenting daycare tips you can use along the way:

• Check references and make sure each infant daycare, daycare center and home-based daycare you visit has a license. For in-home care providers, ask for five years of references and talk with parents of children previously or currently cared for at that facility.
• Check the experience level and hiring qualifications for daycare providers. Do the providers have any child development experience?
• Is there a high turnover rate of caregivers? A high rate of turnover may be indicative of a larger problem.  Also remember that you should always be allowed to make unscheduled visits to your child’s daycare.
• Make sure that there are no more than 3-4 children per one adult caregiver for groups of children under 2 years of age. From 2 years old and up, the ratio can be between 5 and 7 per one adult caregiver.
• Daycare info should be available on the policies of each daycare provider regarding illness, infection control, exclusion of sick children and immunization verification. Does the policy involve notifying you if your child is exposed to a contagious illness?
• Check the daycare (especially infant daycare centers) for childproof rooms, doors, windows, cabinets, hot water taps, etc. Check to make sure the facility has the necessary smoke alarms, fire distinguishers, and that the building has been inspected recently and was found to meet all town fire codes. Make sure that there is a plan in place to handle emergencies and that the caregivers know basic first aid. Also check for the level of cleanliness and overall hygiene.
• Make sure that the goals of the daycare meet your desired goals for your child. Whether you want your child to develop in a structured or open environment, to socialize and play or to learn and gain independence, the center’s daily schedule provides valuable daycare info.
• Does your child have any special needs, such as learning disorders or disabilities, socialization problems, trauma, allergies, etc? If so, is the daycare center adequately equipped to handle these special needs?
 
These are only a few tips for parents on how to choose a daycare. Parents are encouraged to ask as many questions and explore as many options as possible before settling with a daycare provider, so that they can pick the environment in which their children can be safest, healthiest, and most successful.

4/30/2007 11:53:35 AM