New to Daycare: What Questions to Ask

Hi K.,
* I would ask what they do when people call in sick? How do they handle teacher/child ratio when staff is missing.
* What is the procedure when children are sick or injured, (how and when are you informed and when can a child return)
* What is the emergency plan (tornado, fire, etc),
* Beginning and end of the day teachers - will your child be in his own room or will you drop him off the someone other than his teacher?
* How/where to they put toddlers to sleep (some use cots others use cribs)? Can your child bring his own things to sleep with?
* When are things laundered?
* How/When do they clean toys?
* What is the policy for childrens diets (allergy, religous,vegetarian, vegan, etc)?
* How long has the teacher(s) that your son might have been with the center? Any special education that they might have.

These are just a few that I thought of off the top of my head. I would say start a list and make sure to take the list with you. When you get home and go over the written material, call them if you think of new questions. Also, take someone with you. They will see and feel diferent things than you will. When you leave you will have someone to discuss and remember things with.
DON'T LET THEM RUSH YOU! No question is stupid. It is their job to make you comfortable about dropping your child off with them.
Good Luck and Best Wishes!

You may wish to go to www.naeyc.org - it is the National Association for the Education of Young Children. It is an accrediting body and only about 10% of centers nationwide are NAEYC centers. Their standards are very strict and more than just the 'basics'. All that being said, there are many centers out there that are not NAEYC but are great. It's just a good place to start and you can search for centers using your ZIP code.

Our child has been in a center since he was 9 months old and I have nothing but great things to say about where he goes! The best piece of advice I can give you is to just show up unannounced for your visit. You will get a sense for how the place really operates as opposed to the canned dog and pony show they want you to see. Also, don't visit between the hours of 12 and 3 - that's naptime and you won't see the place in full swing. You can go at drop off or pick up time and see how staff interacts with parents and kids, or go during the kids' wake times to see how the kids are, how the staff is, and what is typical/normal. Also make sure to check out the other rooms. Your child won't be 16 months forever and will 'graduate' to 'older rooms', so you want to have an idea of what's going on there as well. Babycenter also has a great list of questions to ask on a visit.

Good luck to you!

A couple things come to mind-- make sure they are licensed, that someone there is certified in infant/childhood safety/CPR, and if anyone in the house smokes if that's important to you (if it's an in-home daycare.)

Ask for examples of how they deal with specific situations. For example, what do you do if a child is biting other children? Tell me about a time a child was hurt and how the staff responded. Tell me about how you handle kids crying when their parents drop them off. If this is a long-term care situation, ask about things relating to older kids and their activities.

Also, ask about staff turnover. How long have the current DCPs been there? If they mention someone who left recently, ask why the person left (not that there's a right answer necessarily, but the answers can be interesting.)

You said you have a nanny now. Just wanted to ask your reasons for switching to a daycare center? I am a local coordinator for an au pair agency and I always like to get opinions.
Thanks.