Need Help with Interview Questions for In-home Childcare

Will you hold her when you feed her or "prop" the bottle?

Will you maintain the schedule I have established for her?

Do you have guns in the house?

How many peole will be in and out throughout the day? IE - any crazy uncles....

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Hi A.,

I just finished our rounds of interviews with in-home providers. Here are some of the questions I asked:

How long have you been working with children?

What is your daily schedule?

How many children do you work with at once? Their age ranges?

What do you feed the children during the day?

Do you have the TV on during the day? If so, how long and what do they watch?

What is your philosophy on working with children (here you can see if they truly love working with kids or if its just a job)?

How do you discipline?

Can parents come by at anytime during the day?

Do you have anyone working with you? If so, what are his/her credentials?

Also, ask to see the providers' credentials, a tour of the facility, and what you need to supply (diapers, wipes, and medicines are pretty standard. Ive also seen playyards, bedding, and toys. For us, that was a bit much.)

Good luck!!

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This was tough for me and my husband, but you will feel so much better once you find someone that you trust and like...go with your gut!

Here are some other questions:
1. Hours they are available (just in case you have to go in early or pick up late).
2. How you pay. For example, if your baby skips a day due to a doctor appointment, do you pay for that day. Most of the time you do, but just know up front.
3. How many sick days the provider took off the past year.
4. When is "too sick" for a kiddo? I did not want my baby to be around kids that were sick, so when does she make the other kids stay home or be picked up if they are sick?
5. I also wanted to meet her kids and her husband. I went after work so that I could see how behaved her kids are and for us to meet her husband...we really liked them too. I never would have thought about that before hand.
6. Do you take the kids out for walks/rides/errands/etc.
7. discipline - timeout or what?

Good luck! I promise you will feel better about this when you find somenoe you trust. I had a hard time because I was raised with my Mom ALWAYS at home. It was difficult for me to even imagine having to put my baby in Daycare. I felt 100% better once I found someone that I liked. I didn't even realize how much better it was to meet her husband and her own children also...

Good luck!
C.

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I would also ask if she was registered with the State (the state should inspect the home) You can also go on line to see the inspection report. It is required. If she is registered with the state she should have a Current CPR and First Aid education and she would have to go to at least 20 hours of education a year on child care with at least one class a year on Shaken Baby. She should have a written contract that outlines most of the questions that are listed in the advice you got from others. She can also become Accredited with National Association For Family Child Care. After the interview you should ask if you could stop buy when the kids are awake so that you can see her interact with them. I hope that this helps. I use to do Home Child Care (15 years). There are some very wonderful providers out there but also some that are less than desirable. Good luck.

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I agree with the responses everyone else has provided for you. However, I would go a step further and ask if anyone is CPR certified or First Aid certified. We are foster parents and that's a requirement for us. Would you want someone to be certified in CPR? I would ask if they have had any type of parenting/discipline training. I would ask what is their plan if there is an emergency, where would they go?

You might want to check their criminal background, you sometimes never know about people. I know the courts information with traffic and criminal courts is public information. You might want to check the Sex Offender website for any additional information. We chose to go thru Campfire, which actually has a program to help people with this sort of thing. We did the research ourself for free, however they guided us. They guide you and you can do it yourself, they give you the resources, websites,etc.. If you don't want to do it yourself, then you can pay them to do the research. We got someone that is close to us that is registered with Dept. of Protective Services (DFPRS). The best is licensed home daycares. We don't use her very often, but at least she is checked out with the state and has guidelines to go by with them and is CPR certified. Another option is your church, which may have a daycare/drop in too. You might want to see how many kids they have total. Is it too many little ones and how many sitters? I would see the ratio is appropriate for their house/kids. You might want to ask what type of activities they would do with your child or have her engage in while she is there. Hope this helps, C.

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References of parents that know first hand is the best way to go. That way you know the good and the bad (if any) and you won't just be getting answers that sound good. You will have true advise.

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Ask for references, ask to talk to parents of current children enrolled, and make sure they are licensed by the county. Just some tips to take note of in addition to questions.

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guns in the house?
who else comes to your home during the day?
do you drink?
where do you keep medicine?
decide on paid vacation time.

(will you be paying her during your vacation time?)

discuss non-paid time off...(when care-giver plans her vacation)
pets in the house?

how will you pay: weekly,bi-weekly or monthly.
cash/check
can you pay with credit card?

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