Today, I am providing you with important tips to help you choose a daycare for your baby. If you have been following this blog post series from the beginning, you should have already accomplished a lot throughout this process.
This step of choosing a daycare should be pretty easy if you have completed the previous steps. If you are just now joining me in the process of finding a daycare, make sure to start with Part 1 so you can start identifying your needs.
- Part 1: How to find a daycare
- Part 2: Find a daycare near you
- Part 3: Daycare Tour
5 Important tips on how to choose a daycare
Look for a reputable and licensed daycare
There are different ways to find a reputable, licensed daycare. Yes, things can happen at a licensed or unlicensed daycare. But at least licensed daycares are regularly inspected by the state to make sure they follow the required standards, regulations, and laws. Those inspections are conducted in areas like certifications, trainings, background checks, safety, staff to kids ratios, and more.
But, just because it’s a licensed daycare, doesn’t mean that it’s the right one. There are still several factors to take into consideration such as other people’s opinion about that daycare. Find out what people are saying by checking the comments and reviews that they have posted on the internet, including websites, forums, and social media.
Meet the daycare staff
After years of working in Human Resources, I can tell you that there’s a difference between employees and engaged employees. You want to choose a daycare with an engaged staff who truly like their job, workplace, and who enjoy working with kids. You want positive, happy role models around your child who can inspire and motivate them every day.
You also want a staff who believes in having an open communication with parents. As a parent, it’s important for you to know what has happened with your child that day and anything new at the daycare including minor incidents or even illnesses that could affect your child.
An awesome staff with seniority is definitely a plus! At Corporate America, having a group of employees with many years of service is always a sellable point for any prospective employee. Because seniority usually translates to happy, loyal and engaged employees. And that’s normally achieved through a positive work environment that results in less turnover.
What does all that have to do with a daycare?
Everything! 🙂 A positive work environment is a plus at the time to choose a daycare. When the daycare staff members have worked together for a while, they know each other and have already found out ways to work better as a team. That not only benefits the daycare but parents and kids too. Having the same staff members showing up to work every day, make kids feel stable, safe, and give them the opportunity to build a better relationship with their caregivers.
People in charge of kids have to be properly trained to handle different situations. That’s why it’s important to keep their skills current and to complete every training on time. That supports the importance of the first tip: choosing a reputable, licensed daycare.
Check the daycare’s organization and cleanliness
An organized daycare benefits your child in many ways. Because the organization is more than just the way it looks. It includes the daycare’s decoration, curriculum, routines/schedules, and of course, orderliness.
The daycare should be decorated in a way to make kids feel happy and welcomed. And, it should be designed for kids to explore and learn at the same time. Since kids react positively to bright colors, it’s not a coincidence (or lack of creativity 🙂 ) to see many daycares decorated in a colorful way.
Make sure to choose a daycare with a well-structured curriculum because of its benefits. It provides guidance to daycare providers on what needs to be covered. It focuses on helping kids to develop different learning areas and skills, helps to create consistency across different locations and among staff members, including new employees. Having a structured curriculum also makes it easier for the daycare to share with parents the upcoming topics and activities.
Routines and schedules have positive benefits for adults as well as in kids. That’s why a curriculum is as important as having a daily schedule in place. Experts agree that a daily routine helps kids feel less anxious, more confident, and able to handle changes more positively. Plus, let them sleep better at night which is a huge plus for you! 😉
In addition to evaluating the cleanliness during the daycare tour, check how often they clean the toys and furniture included in your kid’s area. And, ask them about their procedure when a kid gets sick. Many daycares have a designated area where sick kids rest until a family member arrives.
Last but not least, orderliness. An unorganized daycare can create an unsafe environment where kids can trip over, cut themselves, or have major accidents. And, that takes us to the next tip…
Ensure a safe environment for your child
As I just mentioned, the organization goes hand in hand with safety because an unorganized daycare creates a dangerous environment for kids.
Take everything into consideration when assessing the level of safety in a daycare. It’s not uncommon to only focus on evaluating the indoors but keep in mind that outdoor areas are important too. Look for red flags such as hanging cables, uncovered electrical outlets, unlocked entrance doors, unfenced patio, unmonitored drop-off/pick-up process, etc.
Some things are not necessarily considered red flags but you may prefer to have them in a specific way. For example, you may want to choose a daycare with covered playgrounds in hot weather states or one with security cameras throughout the facility.
Trust your gut feeling when choosing a daycare
After following the previous tips to choose a daycare, make sure to trust your gut when making the final decision.
And, that’s what I didn’t do! 🙁
I searched, pre-screened, and toured different daycares. But, because of our corporate jobs, I felt the pressure to make a quick decision. I had a bad feeling about one of the daycares but still decided to focus only on the facts such as its close location, affordable cost, and extended hours of service. I completely ignored my gut feeling and ended up enrolling my little one in that daycare.
On that first day, I kept telling myself that there was no reason to have that bad feeling. That day, I planned for my baby to stay at the daycare only for a few hours. But, not even that discouraged me from calling the daycare twice to check on her status.
After my husband picked her up, he mentioned that all the infants in the room were sleeping at the same time. All infants sleeping at the same time?!! That really concerned me. My daughter was sleeping so profoundly that she wasn’t responding to anything. She looked very weak and couldn’t eat or even open her eyes. She was completely out!
Her behavior was so awkward that we ended up calling the Pediatrician who asked us to take her immediately to the hospital. After several physical check-ups and a few hours, she finally woke up! As a mom, it was such a scary situation that I still get chills every time I think about it. I was lucky that she went back to normal but I didn’t take her to that daycare ever again!
After that scary situation, I decided to trust my gut feeling (after following a process)…
As you can imagine, after that incident, I started my search for a daycare all over again. But this time, I decided to trust my gut as part of the process. After evaluating different daycares, I chose a daycare for my baby. This time, I didn’t have to convince myself that my little one would be okay. At the end of the day, I felt even better when I picked her up and her behavior was completely normal.
My advice to you?
Do the research AND trust your gut feeling. If you feel that something is not right, then keep researching until you feel more comfortable with that daycare, or just move on to another one. Listen to your gut feeling and you will have peace of mind!
Final Thoughts on Choosing a Daycare
You did it! You have completed the last part of this blog post series on How to find a daycare.
This time, we went over five tips on how to choose a daycare. These tips include researching, observing, and following your gut feeling.
Before finishing, don’t forget to get the free daycare worksheets if you haven’t done it yet. Those forms include a ranking system to help you choose a daycare.
I would love to know how the information covered in this series has helped you. Best of luck to you and your family on this journey and let me know how it goes!
Do you have a tip that you would like to share? Let me know in the comments section.
Enjoyed it? Please share it with your friends. Thank you! 🙂
I couldn’t agree more when you said to look for a reputable and licensed daycare for your child. It is recommended that you choose one that is legally authorized to operate their business in the area. Also, it’s good to do a little bit of online research to see what other clients have to say about a particular daycare facility. Their comments and feedback would give you more or less an idea if the said daycare is indeed credible. If I were to look for the perfect daycare for my son, I would make sure to take this into account. Thanks.
Hi Bobby! I definitely agree. Conducting a quick online research is very helpful too. Because in addition to the credibility you mentioned, it’s also a great way to see the human side of the business and if it matches what you are looking for in a daycare.
I do like that you suggested choosing a daycare that’s decorated to make the children feel happy and welcomed so they can explore and learn easily. This is something that I’ll be sure to keep in mind because I’m looking for a daycare facility for my son. It’s his first time entering a daycare, so it’s important for me to ensure a positive and encouraging environment for him to make his adjustment a lot easier. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi, Ava! I’m glad that it helped and good luck in finding the best daycare for your son.
I am returning to work after staying home with my daughter for two years and I know that it is going to be hard to drop her off at a daycare center, so I am looking for a center that I can trust. You make a great point that you should meet the daycare staff. I will make sure that the workers enjoy their job and love working with kids. I will definitely take a tour of a few different facilities to see how organized and clean the facility is because this will give me peace of mind that it is a safe place for my daughter.
Hi, Rosie! Finding a good daycare definitely gives us a peace of mind. Good luck in your search and best of luck in returning to work!
My sister is going to be needing to find a daycare for her kids soon. Lynelle, I really liked your tip about making sure that the place she takes her kids has a safe environment. My nephew loves to get into things he shouldn’t. So, it seems like my sister should look for a place that has a lot of child-proof locks on things.
Hi Penelope, I agree with you about the child-proof locks. In addition to that, I would also recommend that your sister pays extra attention and asks about the staff-to-kids ratio. The lower the ratio, the better. Good luck! 🙂
My wife just recently started working, and so we’ll be needing a daycare for our daughter. I really like how you pointed out in your article that it’s important to trust your gut when it comes to making a decision on which daycare to send your child to. I’ll definitely keep that in mind as my wife and I go about choosing which facility we trust our daughter to.
I’m glad you liked it. Feel free to download the daycare worksheets and good luck with your search! 🙂
I think it is a great idea to meet the daycare staff. I want to know who is taking care of my kid so I can know they are getting proper care throughout the day when I can’t be there. My kids mean everything to me, and I want an engaged staff!
My sister called me this morning looking for insights into picking a preschool. She needs some tips to make sure that what she picks for her child is a perfect fit. Looking into her gut feeling and doing basic research, in general, might help her a lot.
Yes, conducting some research can help her avoid some headaches in the future.
I really appreciate your tip to check if there are any exposed outlets! My wife wants to get a job, so we are looking for a daycare that we can take our young son to. I will be sure to look around for any exposed outlets!
Good luck in your search for a daycare!
There are actually several factors that you will want to be on the lookout for when choosing a daycare for your child. I particularly like that the article emphasizes the important of a safe environment. After all, you want to make sure that your kid is protected while they are away from you at the daycare.
Yes, and that definitely gives you peace of mind. Thanks for stopping by!