12 Things to Consider When Choosing a Day Care

When I was pregnant, my Google search bar was filled with questions such as “how will I know when I am in labor?” and “how much coffee can I drink while pregnant?” This was my first pregnancy and I am pretty sure I Googled or bought a book on just about every pregnancy/baby topic you could imagine. Most of my searches resulted in a plethora of information– too much to even wade through it all. When it came time to begin researching child care providers I was at a loss. I did not find much help on the Internet and most of my friends with children either stayed home to care for them or had family members near by to take on the task. After a lot of searching, we were able to find a wonderful day care for my son!

I have compiled a list of twelve topics that helped guide our search:

1. Start Early

When I announced I was pregnant, many people began asking me if I had a day care picked out. What?! My son wasn’t even here yet! Why would I need to be searching for a day care? Well, I quickly realized that infant care in Knoxville is very competitive. Some places can take years to get in! In fact, there are some places where we added our names to the waiting list that still haven’t had a spot open up and my son is now 7 months old! I began really researching child care options when I was around 4 months pregnant. I scheduled the visits when I was 5-6 months pregnant. By the end of my 6th month we had decided which places we wanted to put our names on the waiting list. Of the 6 places where we were on the waiting list, only TWO had spots open by the time we needed child care. So, don’t procrastinate!

2. Child Care Providers Map

The state of Tennessee has a Child Care Providers Map that can be very helpful when beginning your day care search. You can search providers by county and zip code. This resource will tell you if the provider participates in the Star Quality Rating system and if they do, what their current rating is. You can also look up the recent infractions on the compliance reports. This map will also show you the open and close times as well as the minimum and maximum age accepted. I made a list of day care facilities that were near where I lived as well as near where I worked. If it is possible, you will want to keep your day care, home, and office as geographically close as possible. Depending on where you live, it may not be possible to find a convenient day care that also fits your other criteria. In that case, just continue to expand your search by whatever distance you feel comfortable with.

Once you have your list, you will want to check to see which providers have a website and/or a Facebook page. I also searched online for a contact phone number/email address to set up a visit.

 3. Cost

Day care is expensive. I didn’t realize just how expensive it was until I began doing my research. Some places will allow you to choose your own schedule and only pay for a certain number of days per week. For example, if you were just going to work part time you could send your child on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. Some places require you to be full-time. Another big question for cost is whether they charge when your child is not there (most of them do). Some places we visited allowed two weeks per year of vacation where you did not have to pay. You can also check with your church to see if they offer a day care– sometimes church members will receive a discount!

4. Availability (hours/days of operation)

Some places only offer a program with an abbreviated day and may not cover your whole work day. You will want to make sure the day care opens early enough that you can drop your child off and still have plenty of time to make it to work. You will also want to make sure they are open late enough for you to have time to pick your child up before they close. Late fees can be very expensive!

5. Policies

Many child care providers will have their handbook posted on a website. This can be a very helpful tool. If you work full-time you will want to be especially mindful of the inclement weather policy and the sick child policy. Some day cares will follow the local school system schedule which can often mean a lot of weather related closings. Others may follow a more stringent policy such as closing only when the University of Tennessee is closed (which if you went to UT you know this RARELY happens). Then some day cares march to the beat of their own weather drum and will make the closing decisions themselves. If this is the case you will want to ask how they notify parents of closings. You will also want to find out the sick child policy. Most places have a fever requirement but some will send home with the first sign of a sniffle! If your child is sent home with a fever they may not be able to return to day care for 24 hours after the fever breaks.

One of the most important policies you will want to investigate is the security/safely policy in place. Some places will have very tight security such as a keypad entry door. With this type of entry, parents usually have a unique code that allows them to enter the building. Other places will only require that you knock or ring a doorbell in order to enter the building. One place I visited I was able to walk in the front door and walk all the way to a classroom before I ever saw an adult. Needless to say, I left that place pretty quickly!

6. CPR/Teacher Training/Background Checks

It is pretty standard for day care centers to require CPR training for the teachers. However, I found that with a lot of places not everyone was trained. You will want to ask exactly how many people are trained in CPR and if the direct caregivers of your child are trained. Teacher training is another important aspect. Ask how many days per year of in-service the teachers receive. Background checks are also pretty standard especially if the provider is part of the Star Quality Rating. However, it never hurts to ask just to make sure!

7. Teacher turnover

Teacher turnover is something that did not initially cross my mind. My mom was a day care director for years and she emphasized that I needed to ask about teacher turnover during my visits. If people do not even want to work there I doubt you will want to send your child there! Of course, there will be some degree of turnover because many day care facilities hire college students. However, you will want to make sure that they have several teachers who have been there for more than a couple of years. It is also a good idea to find out how long the director and any other administrative people have been with the day care.

8. Cloth Diapers

This obviously only applies if you are using cloth diapers. Most of the places I visited were either already familiar with cloth diapers or they were very willing to learn! If the place you choose will need some training you could offer to come by one day while you are still on maternity leave to train the workers. I would suggest using pocket diapers or all-in-one diapers at daycare to make it as easy as you can for them.

9. Meals and Snacks

Even though I knew my son would not be eating solids for a while, I was curious about whether the day care provided meals or if I would be responsible for packing them each day. This is one of the things that varied greatly among all of the places we visited. Some will provide breakfast, snacks, and lunch. Others may only provide a snack. For some places, the parent is responsible for packing all of the meals/snacks for the day.

10. Breastfeeding

Most day cares are fine with you sending breast milk. However, you will want to make sure they are knowledgeable about the safe handling of breast milk. Some places have nursing rooms where you can swing by any time and breastfeed your child! If your child is exclusively breastfed, you may need to make it clear that your child should only receive breast milk. I told the teachers in my son’s class that if for some reason he ran out to call me and I could either come over and feed him or bring some freshly pumped milk.

11. Scheduled vs. On-Demand Feeding

Scheduled versus on-demand feeding is something that will be important if you are looking for infant care. By the time my son started day care (at 12 weeks old) he had pretty much put himself on a feeding and napping schedule (I know, don’t hate me). I found that slight changes in this schedule did not matter much but if he got way off of the schedule it made our evenings a nightmare. So, I wanted to make sure that the day care would try to stick to his schedule as much as they could. Many day cares have as many as eight infants in a room so obviously some days it can be impossible to keep each child on a set schedule. On the flip side, some parents want to make sure that their child is fed on-demand. Whichever method you choose, just make sure the day care is willing to abide by it!

12. Trust your instincts!

My last piece of advice would be to go with your instincts. As a mom, you know what is best for your child. We visited several places that had actually been recommended to us by friends but while we were there we just got a weird feeling. The places were probably perfectly fine but they were just not a fit for us.  Going back to work after having a baby is hard enough as it is. You definitely don’t want to also be stressed about whether or not your child is being adequately cared for.

Have you recently been on the hunt for a day care? Were there other issues important to you?