How to find a daycare

[ginabini]

Hi Ladies! Clueless FTM reporting for duty!! 

My husband and I are at the start of trying to find a daycare for this little one. From what we've gathered from friends and family down here, you have to get on waiting lists pretty early... but that's about as far as we've gotten. I'm struggling a little with how to find the best daycares. Typically I would ask for recommendations... however, none of our friends live near where we just moved to (or in the area where we're trying to find a daycare). So I'm just trying to figure out the best way to hunt around. It doesn't seem like care.com gives a complete picture of what's around. Any tips or tricks from any STM's that were in a similar situation for your first LO would be so appreciated!

[Ray]

Not a second time mom, but local buy and sell Facebook groups are pretty common around here and people often post on there asking for recommendations from other locals.

[katelou]

Your state should publish a list of all licensed centers and in-home daycares. Obviously all state websites are different, but you should be able to view any major violations as well. You can also look up reviews on Yelp, Google, FB, etc.

Start with what's convenient to your home or office and make appointments to go visit some. A visit is worth 1,000 words and you'll get a much better feel for the place and how you feel about certain things if you experience it in person. There are lists online of questions to ask, or we can help you come up with some. They'll be able to explain their enrollment and waitlist procedures, which might be complicated if they're very in-demand.

It is a hard process! Good luck. Starting now is good.

[tootsie]

Does your state have a Dept. of Family Services website? I'm in Texas and I check our site when I'm looking for daycare, which has happened several times due to us moving. It gives details on any infractions from inspections and rates them low-high risk. If I read something crazy like "teacher used unusual force with child" I'm OUT and won't even consider it.

Usually google can be helpful. I'd start with searching for daycares around your area. Most people like daycare to be close to home, especially if you and your H work in opposite directions. Check websites, make a list of places that sound good, then call and take a tour. Trust me, you will get a feel on if you want your kid there pretty quickly.

I wasn't interested in anything but a center, so I didn't bother with in-homes. Good luck!

[jenn83]

Feb 29, 2016 15:32:49 GMT -5 tootsie said:

Does your state have a Dept. of Family Services website? I'm in Texas and I check our site when I'm looking for daycare, which has happened several times due to us moving. It gives details on any infractions from inspections and rates them low-high risk. If I read something crazy like "teacher used unusual force with child" I'm OUT and won't even consider it.

Usually google can be helpful. I'd start with searching for daycares around your area. Most people like daycare to be close to home, especially if you and your H work in opposite directions. Check websites, make a list of places that sound good, then call and take a tour. Trust me, you will get a feel on if you want your kid there pretty quickly.

I wasn't interested in anything but a center, so I didn't bother with in-homes. Good luck!

Ditto this. The only difference is I am looking for one closer to work. I did it the other way around with DS. That way if I need to head over quickly, to check on her, attend a school function, etc. I am able to do so and get back to work quickly. The other thing that I consider is if they have webcams. This gave me peace of mind that I could check in whenever I needed. Additionally, just knowing that the teachers knew they were being watched deters anything fishy (in my opinion).

[ellebelle]

Feb 29, 2016 15:27:00 GMT -5 katelou said:

Start with what's convenient to your home or office and make appointments to go visit some. A visit is worth 1,000 words and you'll get a much better feel for the place and how you feel about certain things if you experience it in person. 

This x10000.  When we were looking for DD we visited a couple places and you very quickly get a feel for what will work for you and your family.  We were very happy with DD's daycare and will probably use them again (except they only take babies 6 months and up so we need to figure something out for 3-6 months).

[littlesthobo]

I live in a small town, so there were two options for centres (we decided to go centre over in-home, just our personal choice).

I contacted them both but one was slow on responding. Like weeks before returning my emails. The other centre immediately invited us to drop in anytime for a tour, which we did (I liked that I could just show up unannounced and see how things were running). Another mom in my baby group told me she was using that centre too, which helped! We went with that centre and it's worked out well.

So what I would suggest is checking with your local community services for lists of daycare providers, then contact the ones you think might work and make sure you go out and tour them. You'll get a vibe when you're actually there about how they're run.

Some things we really like about our centre:
- it's down the road from our house
- they provide snacks and meals, with a chef on site (it's not one of the teachers doing food prep)
- open from 7am to 6pm
- lots of outdoor play time, even in the winter

[housecarder]

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is a great resource. If a center is NAEYC accredited then it is unlikely that they are doing it wrong. In Indiana there are also systems like Paths to Quality that give them a star ranking depending on how they meet standards (like if they meet state standards they are 2 stars, NAEYC accredited they get 4). Most states will have a database of all the centers and you can narrow it down based off rankings.

When you tour the centers be sure to look at the older rooms and curriculum too, as you want the center to be able to grow with your child.

Here is a great resource. They have a section on what to look for in a day care.
families.naeyc.org/

[acorn99]

I agree with what tootsie said. Look for your state's website with licensed child care listings. That is how i found out what was available around me and then we narrowed our list down to a couple and went for tours of two centers. We were able to easily decide which we liked better after the tours.

We also decided to go with a center closer to home than to work. I really like the option of taking him to daycare every now and again when I have a day off so I can get stuff done around the house. This would be a lot harder to do if I had to drive him up near where I work. It also allows for my parents to pick him up if needed.

Things important to us were:
Will they feed infant on demand?
Do they offer meals?
Do they offer outside time?
Teacher to child ratios?
Can they medicate your child if needed?
Ability to grow with the child, ie: kids will be able to go there up to pre-K.

[ginabini]

Thank you ladies!!

[feisty]

Our state also has a website where you can search through past reviews and see any citations.

Mostly we just toured a few and went with gut feel. We are touring montessori schools for DS now, so I think its always a process.

Oh, you might want to see if you can get a feel for how long the teachers have been there too. Good centers usually have low turnaround.