How to Select the Best Daycare for Your Family

How to Select the Best Daycare for Your Family

Mar 01, 2021

Many parents can’t get over the thought of leaving their baby with someone else all day, especially if it’s their first baby. The best thing is that you are not alone. Enrolling your child in daycare is undoubtedly a big decision.

However, if you plan on getting to your regular 9 am – 5 pm daily work routine, you are in good company. Some estimates suggest that more than 70% of all primary caregivers are away-from-home workers. This means that there are many primary care service options, including nannies, babysitters, and more.

Among the best options you have is a daycare near you. This can be a group center or home-based daycare. Many centers provide licensed and trained caregivers in an all-comfortable environment for your young one.

Types of Daycare Services

Daycare service is a facility where parents drop off their children, usually for a whole day. They are generally for kids of varying ages. Here are the options you have:

  • Group daycare – These are state-licensed daycare services and are usually run like normal schools. Kids of different ages are cared for in various groups. Some of these facilities are run by direct owners.
  • In-Home daycare – This service happens from the provider’s home, as he/she as the parent cares for their child too. In-home daycare providers do not have to be licensed n all states. Therefore, you need to make sure you know the regulatory requirements before enrolling your child.

Selecting a Good Day Care Facility

Below are tips for landing you in a satisfactory daycare facility.

    • Look Down

This applies when you are visiting a potential site. You need to pay attention to how the caregivers interact with the children. Ideally, you should see a caregiver on the floor, playing with kids while holding one on the lap. Babies need absolute care and attention in their early stages. Through good interpersonal relationships with adults, they will thrive.

If you are confident that the caregivers are warm and responsive, you can consider it the right place for your kids.

    • Inquire about Commitment

Babies need a consistent primary care service. It enables them to develop a secure attachment to their caregivers.
If you are considering an in-home daycare service, you can ask for a one-year commitment with the caregiver. If it’s a center, find out the duration those caregivers have been working there for. The turnout the center experiences is also a worthy piece of information.

    • Conduct a Policy Check

This is for your personal scrutiny. Check out if the daycare center near you shares the right parenting philosophies on discipline, television, feeding, and sleeping. Ask about the sick child policy.

Inquire if a backup plan is provided if the child’s care provider gets sick and can’t work anymore. The more questions asked earlier, the more future disappointments you avoid.

    • Check-in and Spy

Word of mouth from other parents and trusted resources is crucial, but you need to assess the place yourself to determine whether your specific needs are met. Just like Cypress Primary Care, every childcare facility should be stacked with sturdy books, kept clean, and with age-appropriate childproofed toys.

Ensure the center has a separate place for infants and babies, where they don’t mix with older toddlers. Ensure there is plenty of floor space for growing babies to strengthen their muscles.

    • Keep Talking

Until your child develops speech, you will only get what the caregiver gives you about the child’s day. Ensure the communication is comfortable between you two. Before handing over your little one in the morning, provide all the vital information about the baby’s body condition.

Let her know if your baby is teething, how the kid’s sleep patterns are, the number of diaper changes s/he needs while asleep, and so forth.

    • Safety Measures

Ensure the daycare near you has a safe environment for your kids. Make sure they employ the safety precautions you have at home and even more.

Check that the toys do not contain any choking hazards. Cribs shouldn’t have pillows and fluffy beddings. Open stairways need to have gates.

All upstairs windows need to have window guards and a spick-span clean kitchen and bathroom. The floors should not be littered with toys. Smoke detectors and fire extinguishers are also worthwhile security measures.

    • Cleanliness and Hygiene

Cleanliness is a significant rule for a good daycare center. Lycee Montessori daycare caregivers always clean hands after every diaper change. Feeding utensils need to be cleaned in a dishwasher or be of a disposable type. Sections for diapering and food prep areas are always separate and need scrubbing after each use.

Items like pacifiers and toothing rings, also washcloths, should never be shared. Rinse off toys with a sanitizing solution, or get each child a box. Also, ensure that all children and caregivers wash hands before entering the classroom.

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