https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 24 May 2026 14:23:14 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1169819 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 19:37:43 +0000 californiadreams 1169819@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>one thing i asked all daycares (n addition to the advice given above) was if i could send in bottles of breastmilk if needed - given that LO would be starting daycare at 18 months in a toddler program. some actually said no, so i ruled them out. </p> <p>Also, if it wasn't already posted, i asked for a sample menu and a sample daily schedule. a couple of day cares had no schedule whatsoever to give me - said they don't follow one as it is all child-led. i personally preferred something a little more structured. the menus were always available online or posted on the wall and i took a camera pic so i could look at it later.</p> <p>i also scanned the rooms for any obvious safety hazards - like are things tied to wall that need to be.</p> <p>And i also scanned the rooms for to see if it was toddler appropriate, like were posters/toys/educational stuff on display at their eye level, etc. - i learned to scan for such things from a previous job i had where i evaluated early learning programs - we had to look at how the rooms were set up educationally and safety-wise. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1169799 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 19:31:10 +0000 ALV91711 1169799@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone for all the great info! I feel more prepared to start looking now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1168420 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 11:14:38 +0000 Bluebonnet 1168420@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Other posters have given you great questions. We toured several daycares, asked all the important questions, but made our decision primarily based on gut feel (and we've been extremely happy with our decision). The school we chose just seemed like the best fit for our family (parenting style, etc). You'll know almost immediately if its someplace you'd feel comfortable leaving LO or not.</p> <p>Regarding food - if the school serves food, ask for a weekly or monthly menu to determine if they are serving food you'd give to LO. Some of the schools that provide food for toddlers and up had menus that I wasn't comfortable with (too much processed food, not enough fruits/veggies). Its just not the way we feed LO at home, so that was a consideration too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1168351 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 10:49:59 +0000 mediagirl 1168351@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For me, with an infant, the most important thing was how loving the teachers were. I refused to leave her at a center with teachers who I felt were there for a paycheck. We ended up with a less secure building and teachers who treated the babies like their own kids. That made a world of difference to me.</p> <p>Now that she's older and we're looking for a 2 year old, we're looking for better curriculum and teachers who have degrees in early childhood education or who have undergrad degrees. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1168324 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 10:43:53 +0000 Sparkler 1168324@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Agree with previous posters regarding years of experience, ratio and security measures! Some things that over time have become important to me are how many hours are the teachers working a day (can you imagine caring for 6 infants for 10 hours??), how much vacation do teachers get and how do they handle substitutes, the vibe/communication you get from the teachers, the teachers interaction/respect for each other (I think like a great marriage, you need teachers that are a well oiled machine), whether parent/teacher meetings are regularly held, how and when transitions to new rooms happen. I think it's important to give yourself a trial run too...when my son first started daycare I thought they were doing everything wrong and now I would love to have any of the teachers be our nanny (it's an employer run daycare though so the benefits and pay for our teachers are impossible to match)! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1168173 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 10:01:45 +0000 hummusgirl 1168173@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>After our tour, my husband and I were talking outside when a dad came out from dropping his kid off, so we asked him if he was happy with it, had any concerns, etc. I thought talking to him was more useful than the official tour. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1168133 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 09:51:45 +0000 NovBaby1112 1168133@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>what is the sick policy?<br /> hours?<br /> holidays?<br /> do they provide food?<br /> years of experience?<br /> references<br /> child/teacher ratio?<br /> security measures? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1168120 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 09:47:48 +0000 mediagirl 1168120@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also, look for your state's division of child services website. There you can search the daycare centers, find out how many stars they are and if there have been any infractions. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1168112 Wed, 23 Oct 2013 09:44:41 +0000 ALV91711 1168112@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@danda: @googly-eyes: Thank you ladies. Good questions and things to look for. </p> <p>@wheres_c: @raintreebee: Hope that you tours go well. I'm kind of nervous about it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1167420 Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:24:46 +0000 googly-eyes 1167420@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@danda gave you a good starting point.. I'd also ask about the infant to toddler transition. If they offer continuity of care it could be harder to pinpoint when it'll happen (because the caregiver's whole group moves at once generally) but in any case I'd want to know what their policies are.</p> <p>How do they handle biting/any of the "big" toddler behavioral things...<br /> Do they use time out?<br /> How do they get the kids to nap?</p> <p>It's important to know what you're going to ask but also make sure you know the things you want to look out for... child size furniture, what the changing area looks like/has and where it's located, types and amounts of toys available to children (which teachers may rotate out so you might want to ask), different types of surfaces for los to climb on/play on, etc etc. </p> <p>The #1 factor that influences outcomes for young children in child care programs is the quality of teacher/child interactions, so I'd want to make sure those teachers look happy and engaged! The lower the ratio the better! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1167407 Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:08:24 +0000 danda 1167407@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1) hours?<br /> 2) caregiver to baby ratio<br /> 3) what is the plan for emergency exits and frequency of fire drills?<br /> 4) if you care - are cloth diapers allowed?<br /> 5) is food provided by the center once solids are started?<br /> 6) what is the educational background and experience of the providers? How long have they been working at the center?<br /> 7) what is a typical day like?<br /> 8) can you drop in at any time? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1167405 Tue, 22 Oct 2013 22:05:35 +0000 raintreebee 1167405@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Me too! We have our first tour tomorrow. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1167387 Tue, 22 Oct 2013 21:42:49 +0000 wheres_c 1167387@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm about to do the same thing and my LO is the same age. Interested in responses. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-tours#post-1167273 Tue, 22 Oct 2013 20:28:15 +0000 ALV91711 1167273@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We will be starting to tour daycares at the end of this week. DS will be starting in March just before he is one. </p> <p>What should we be looking for and what types of questions should we be asking?</p> <p>I've been reading their websites buy I don't know what makes them good or not. </p>