We are moving at the end of the year and considering putting DS in a daycare. He's 2 yrs and has been with a nanny or family pretty much since birth. I'm feeling really overwhelmed by all the different types of daycare options and wanted to know how you all went about choosing a specific place/program. Bonus points for specific questions to ask the program directors 
Thanks!
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We narrowed it down pretty quickly by location and cost, then visited a few to get a sense of the teaching staff and general vibe. Some of our options that were similar in cost and location were a Montessori program, a standard program, and a language immersion program. They were pretty different as you might imagine so we simply went with the one that we liked the most when we visited (ended up being the Montessori one).
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We knew we wanted a daycare centre over a home daycare to eliminate the problems that I saw my friends facing of their daycare provider being sick/going on vacation/having something come up and having to take a last minute vacation day. After that we visited a few places. One we eliminated because they didn't provide meals and we didn't want to have to deal with packing a lunch and snacks every day. After that, like CatLady, we just picked the one we had the best feeling about.
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We narrowed it down by location and cost too, as most of the centers in my are are similar enough. I asked generic questions b/c again, most centers in the area are pretty similar/standard. I mostly just asked about some policies differences.
I had a hard time choosing an in-home vs center, but ultimately, I chose the center b/c it just gave me the security I needed even tho the in-home was sooo much cheaper and flexible.
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@catlady: @erinbaderin: @snowjewelz: thanks! looks like i have to start visiting a few places to narrow the options and just go with my gut feeling.
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NAEYC accreditation was really important to me so I looked at their list in our area. Also resources through our employers. Ultimately the daycare through our work (large academic health center) was NAEYC accredited so that made the choice easy.
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Does your state have anything that gives you access to the inspections daycares have been subjected to and any violations found? I found that useful once I narrowed down my choices to see if the daycares I liked had any violations that might make me think twice.
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We were limited due to waitlists. We only found two places that would accommodate us. We went with a home daycare due to better time flexibility and thought that the provider would be able to give better care.
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-location, how long do you want to drive in morning and night traffic to pick up LO, easy to get to if they get sick, affiliation with local schools for after school care
-cost
-comfort with director: how well do you get along with them and discussing kid issues
-center versus home daycare
-preschool environment-does it give your LO a school experience and prepare them for school
-availabilityQuestions to ask director:
-staff attrition
-certifications
-continuing childcare education of staff
-lice or other illness outbreaks in building. Our previous daycare/preschool had 3 lice outbreaks over the course of a year
-strengths and weaknesses of the daycare/preschool. It's a great question to ask as my husband put it "treat it like a job interview." Have them sell you on their program and facility
-parental involvement and communication: how do they communicate with parents, how often
-security, how is security monitored on the premisesI just went through this when we moved. I really grappled with where to send our kids and went through the "paradox of choice." There were some nicer buildings and more expensive programs I considered akin to what we had in the city. I picked a daycare/preschool where both kids could attend, nearby, has grade school aftercare program, and got along with director.
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@Adira: @MenagerieMama: thanks, those are great suggestions! off to look up accredited programs and inspection reports...
@Eko: good point, i guess i don't even know what the availability is at the various programs so might not be such a difficult decision after all
@cascademom: wow you really did your homework
thanks, this is exactly what i needed to help me start thinking!
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@Jellyfish: Thanks. When we still lived in our old condo, DH and I had a discussion in our "bed kitchen" (couldn't use the living room because baby was asleep in there) about which daycare/preschool was best for our kids. They're doing well so far.
Also, don't be afraid to visit a daycare/preschool unannounced. There was one daycare I considered, but they didn't call me back. I was driving around, found the daycare by mistake, and did a tour before an appointment. I had a chance to see the facility and staff in action during a busy time. Be wary of a place where they aren't ready to show you the facility or staff. They should be in a position to show it to you at a moment's notice. It means that they keep their facility up to standards.
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