Daycare & Doula Interviews

[marshian]

I'm about to set up daycare and doula interviews. Anyone already have lists of questions? Anything you've learned over time is super important to ask up front?

ETA: We'll be here only for another year and a half, so only need to focus on the time frame of 3 or 4 months to 1 year.

[sdlaura]

I just realized how long this is - sorry!  Can you tell it's a quiet day at work and I'm procrastinating?

We didn't use a doula so I can't comment there. But I've now had experience with several daycares/preschools. In my opinion, the most important thing is the feeling you get when you are there. Do kids seem happy and well-adjusted? Make sure you're welcome to drop in anytime.

Also, I've learned that there are different things I want from an infant daycare vs. a toddler preschool. For an infant, I want loving, experienced people who are going to hold my baby and make baby feel safe and loved. It's important that the employees have been through a baby who won't take a bottle or doesn't want to nap, for example, many times before. It really doesn't matter to me whether the employees speak perfect English or have whatever specific degree. For a toddler program/preschool, I think it's more important to have teachers who are trained and up to date in learning methods (and I prefer play-based over any specific school-prep program). I think it's important to ask how long the teachers/employees have been there - you don't want a ton of turnover.

On the practical side of things, I would want to know:
-What is your calendar/which holidays and breaks are you closed? I know every working parent's work schedule is different, but you want them to be open as much as possible. It's not fun to exhaust all your vacation time to stay home when daycare is closed for two weeks at Christmas, plus spring and fall break in addition to every possible holiday.
-What is their specific sick kid policy? Sometimes a baby will have a low fever because they're teething, or whatever.
-What items do they provide? Do you have to bring your own wipes in addition to diapers, and snacks in addition to lunch (when they get older)? What I would pay to have the option to have daycare feed them instead of me packing stuff everyday...
-Where do the kids nap? Do they encourage any kind of schedule? In my mind, one of the biggest benefits of daycare is that they can help baby get on a schedule and you can just keep it up on weekends.
-What kind of updates do they give you? For an infant, they should provide a daily sheet with times that they napped, bottles/amounts, etc.
-When the child is ready, do they help with potty training?
-Will they take kids who haven't been vaccinated? I didn't want to send my infant to a daycare where they could pick up whooping cough.
-Are there any "extracurricular" activities offered? One of DS's daycares (the most expensive one we used, of course) brought in a guy a couple times a month to lead a music class, and other fun stuff like that, which he loved.

Lastly, ask to check references. I'll try to see if I think of anything else We have so far used an in-home daycare when the kids were infants, then a large, fancy national chain, and now our local YMCA full-time preschool, and all have had their pros and cons.

[marshian]

sdlaura - Great list! We'll only be here until baby is 1 year, so only need to focus on the time period of 3 or 4 months to then, which helps immensely. I probably should have clarified (will add that now).

[bewise]

I think sdlaura provided a thorough list of questions for daycare centers! I would ask about ratios of children to adults. The state sets a requirement but some centers have stricter standards. I would also ask how it's when staff calls off or there is a low number of kids that day (do they combine classes, etc).

We toured a few centers but decided an in home childcare provider was the best fit for our family at this time.

[honda13]

The one thing that I had to have in a daycare was the ability to drop in whenever I want unannounced. I know that probably sounds really obvious, but it wasn't something I thought of as a FTM.

Also, check out general security when you go in. We toured one that had no lock on the door, anyone could walk in. There was a long hall with classrooms and you had to turn down two different halls before you saw an adult. I did not like that, at all. Anyone off the street could just walk in. There were also no cameras in the facility.

Payment. Some daycares you only pay for the time your child is there, others you have to pay for the whole week whether your child is in attendance everyday or not.

[applemuffins]

My priority would definitely be the ratios. There is the legal state limit to consider, but if you find a place that sets their own stricter standards, that shows they really, really value quality care. And ask if they hire any permanent floaters (basically extra assistants who help in any of the classrooms that needs help, or fill in for sick teachers). Ask to see where the babies sleep, and be sure they can adequately see the sleeping children at all times.

[violetrose]

Dec 29, 2016 15:14:08 GMT -5 honda13 said:

The one thing that I had to have in a daycare was the ability to drop in whenever I want unannounced. I know that probably sounds really obvious, but it wasn't something I thought of as a FTM.

Also, check out general security when you go in. We toured one that had no lock on the door, anyone could walk in. There was a long hall with classrooms and you had to turn down two different halls before you saw an adult. I did not like that, at all. Anyone off the street could just walk in. There were also no cameras in the facility.

Payment. Some daycares you only pay for the time your child is there, others you have to pay for the whole week whether your child is in attendance everyday or not.

+1 to all of this.  When we were looking for DD (and eventually DS), security was very important. There were some that had NO security and I immediately left. The same goes for being able to drop in. The daycare we eventually went with had cameras/security everywhere- a front desk that you had to check in to right after entering in the front doors, and I was able to stop in anytime to nurse DD. 

[eucalyptus]

I haven't had any daycare interviews, but I did just finish doula interviews.

I didn't really have a specific list of questions, I asked a few things that came up naturally. It was really about looking for a personality match that my partner and I were comfortable with. I wasn't too concerned about having different opinions about birth interventions because I think most doulas are going to have similar philosophies.

I did have some logistics questions about availability closer to my due date. You will want to find out her policy for being available to you, how many other mothers she will be supporting that same month, etc.

[starsandshamrocks123]

As for day cares, unfortunately schedule was a priority so we needed a center that was open early. I also got a discount through my job which it stinks to make a decision based on but in the end it made a huge difference. We preferred a center because we figured that ratio guidelines were enforced. I have to say they are much better with the older kids vs infants.

My main issue with our center is that the teacher turnover is absurd. I don't know how you could figure it out based on visit other than asking and trusting what they tell you.

At the end of the day there are great teachers and not so great teachers but the directors are approachable and willing to deal with my concerns. So I suggest you really go with a gut feeling.

I have a few documents with lists of questions to ask but not sure how to post them here.

[wineoclock]

This is likely an unpopular opinion but since there are other teachers I thought I'd throw it out here. We purposely chose a Montessori school that is closed ALOT and open for a short window each day. They are open from 8am-5:30pm only and close for a week during Christmas, spring break, almost all school holidays, etc. They closely follow the school calendar so while it would be problematic for someone who works in a corporate setting it's fine for us since I'm already off and prefer to keep DS home with me if I'm not working.

We love it because the teacher quality is amazing and turnover is non existent. Basically because it's the only preschool in the area where the teachers get so many paid days off. The hours alone are enough for some families to say no way but we've flexed our jobs to make it work. Either my H drops off or I go to school ten minutes "late" (for teachers but still beat the kids in.)

There are no "floaters" because the hours are short enough to allow all staff to be in each day with a break for lunch. This was important to me especially when DS was an infant. I did not want someone walking in who did not know my child and accidentally feed the wrong bottles, food, etc. which happened at a larger center we had him at in the beginning. That lasted 3 weeks before we pulled him out.

TL;DR: if you have flexibility as a teacher who has many off days you may want to be open to schools with limited hours and days open. There are pros there too.

[teachermomtobe]

wineoclock, your point is a good one for teachers. There is a home daycare next to my school that basically all teachers at my school send their kids to. She's open 7:30-4:30 and follows the school schedule exactly which is nice because we only pay weeks school is in session and will have the baby home when I'm home on break. I would hate to pay for summers and vacations when the baby isn't even going.