Daycare Questions to ask?

Question

My husband and I are going to visit and tour potential daycares for our daughter who will be attending in the fall at approximately 7 months old. Our first baby and no experience with daycare. 
What are some questions we should be asking???

Answer

I would make sure there are cameras present. My child has never been in daycare (he’s 4 now) but if I were to ever put him or another child in, it would have to be a facility I can watch the camera from my phone.

Answer

Ask the ratio of kids to staff members. I once worked at a daycare and was left alone with 2 infants and 10 kids(I was 19 and handled that shit like a boss but still...) Not a good situation overall.

Answer

I’ve worked in several daycares! It’s definitely important to ask good questions. I’d ask to see if 
1) employees are cpr certified (super important and not all day cares require this) 
2) if they feed on demand, how they do feeding with breastmilk/ formula (some do it on a schedule after 5 months) 
3) what you need to provide (diapers? Formula? Diaper cream? Blankets?) 
4) any additional training for employees (active shooter training, fire/natural disaster training) 
5) price/ requirements for how often baby needs to attend. Some will require that baby be there so many hours a week to maintain spot. So I’d double check. 
Good luck! Be observant and make sure the building looks safe, watch the kids and how they behave (if they are happy and look well taken care of or if they seem fussy and unhappy).

Answer

employees have to go through so many running hours of workshops a year so are the employees up to date on their workshops do they have CPR do they have water training are any of them accredited. 
does the center have cameras? what are the rules on your child being sick? or holidays & vacations, snow days? 
what's their developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) like, does it follow your own values? 
example some people don't allow their children to play with food materials because it can be a "waste" 
examples being a works at one center with that belief so they didn't have a rice or pasta in the sensory table. but I've worked at other centers where we let the children explore with Foods.

Answer

Basically all the questions I would ask have been suggested already. Ask what happens if you miss due to illness, vacation, etc. Some places make you pay anyway.
Just keep your eyes open. My husband and I visited 4 daycares before we chose one. One of them kept 1 bottle per baby in a drawer and just used it over and over. Grossed me out. Another one left us alone in the room while she ran to grab paperwork while babies were in high chairs eating. Needless to say we didnt choose those lol.

Answer

How many staff members, are they certified, what is the schedule like, is there screen time (important if you’re for/against that), discipline plan/policy, and sleeping arrangements. I also agree with the cameras. I’m not sending mine to daycare, but that would be a huge relief if I were to.

Daycare Questions to ask?

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