Hellobee Boards

We our in-home here are some questions to ask:

How many kids?
Are they state-certified? (I'd guess yes bc of the taxes)
We cannot pickup late. If it's within 10-15 minutes I just let her know but other than that I need to have a plan.
We pay every Monday for the week ahead.
I get a quick verbal report from her but nothing detailed, I hated it at first now I like it bc I can't obsess.
What's naptime like? At ours under 1 they nap whenever, after that everyone naps from 1-3.
What do you need to bring/what do they provide? We bring everything now but after 1 we'll only bring diapers and wipes.
What's the screen-time policy?
We like it bc all ages play together but you may want to ask what their policy is.

One thing that shocks me is that all the 3-4 year olds have tablets. She has set hours they can play but it's too many for my liking

We our in-home. Mostly, E loves T....and that is all I care about at this age. She gets great care and is loved and thriving. What I love about our in-home is that T does what the parents want. There are no regulations/rules regarding formulas and bottles, I don't have to label a million things, I don't have to worry about her being on a certain schedule or nap schedule or sleeping a certain way. T just does whatever works for us. I leave diapers and wipes and a change of clothes there and I just bring E every day. It's just so easy. And in the subdivision right next to mine, heh.

Do you pay extra if you're late picking up? I've never had to pick up after 5pm. We've gotten close a couple of times and T brought it up with us. We made sure to get her earlier. It was a miscommunication issue.

How do you do payment? We pay every other week

When your LO was an infant, did you get detailed info back regarding their food, naps, diapers during the day? No. DH would ask how her day was. T says she ate great/poor, was happy/sad, poo'd X times, slept X times...it's pretty loose and casual. And honestly, I like it. I'm not a neurotic parent, I don't need a chart telling me how E did when I wasn't around her. I just want a quick synopsis from DH, who gets the update from T. I just want to know that my baby girl had a great day with her friends

Our in-home is small. There are 4 children and T watches them. It's in her basement and it's very home-y. It's not structured. They play, they do crafts, T cooks for them.

Other things: definitely ask about back up care (T has one!), sick policy (for us, it's more casual thank daycare center,s thank goodness), if they'll administer medicine (mine will give advil/tylenol with my consent) and holiday pay/if YOU take off. We get one week off a year, so we don't have to pay if we keep E home for a week (or when we take her on vacation next month). Potty training, too!

Also if the doors are locked during the day!!!! That was important to me.

We love our home day care (LO goes only once per week) but they are not good at giving detailed feedback at the end of the day. They were better about it when he was a younger baby, but now that he is one I never really know how much he ate or drank. They have a little white board in the kitchen where they write down the time and number of ounces LO drank and when he napped. Its nice that I can just look there to see what happened instead of feeling like I am grilling them at the end of the day. But again now that he is older they often forget to write stuff down and I'm guessing will probably stop keeping track now that he's older.

We pay monthly. Bring in our own diapers(cloth) and wipes. We've never picked up late, so not sure about that. But they will let us do occasional make-up days for free (like if LO missed a day due to illness). They give LO Tylenol (we provide) when he is teething if I sign a form.

I use an in-home and love it! I don't know if my feelings are biased because she's a good friend though.

Trying to think of some new questions to ask:
-How often do they try to get the kids outside?
-What are her sick policies? How long fever-free, etc.
-What kind of meals are provided?
-Holidays/Vacations where you have to find back-up child care?
-Does she administer medicine without Dr note? (I think this varies by region, but mine said she's technically required to have Dr note to even give Tylenol)

I think PPs mostly covered everything!

What are some things you love about your in-home daycare center?
-I know L is getting lots of love, and that D won't just let her cry and be sad.
-She is SO flexible with just about anything. She has hours, but if I need her to be a little more flexible one day, she can easily accommodate that and isn't going to charge me for it.
-I don't feel like she's just some sort of revenue to a center. I know that D really forms an attachment to the kids she watches, and maintains relationships with them even after they leave. It's the best peace of mind I could have!
-It feels safer to me. It seems like it would be easier for a rando to get her from a center than from an in-home, because since she's only watching 2 extra kids she obviously knows who everyone is!

Do you pay extra if you're late picking up?
-No, but DH and I try to be *very* respectful about this, since she's also a friend and we don't want to burn bridges. Plus, I work 5 minutes from her house so it's not a huge issue.

How do you do payment? Every week? Every other week?
-She let us choose whatever we wanted, and I chose to pay every other week on Mondays. Heck, the first couple months I was even late almost every time by a couple days and she was really easy going about it! Just gently reminded me.

When your LO was an infant, did you get detailed info back regarding their food, naps, diapers during the day?
-No, I didn't. However, the other child that started the same time as L, his parents sent a sheet of paper for her to fill out every day with all that information. She did it (but sometimes complained to me about it).

What do I provide?
-Only diapers! Under 1 year I had to provide formula/BM and food if I didn't want her eating table food. But she provides wipes, all table food (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack), water, milk, cups, bottles (SO nice to not have to wash bottles after work every day!)