My kids have always been in big daycare centers, but I'm looking to move my baby elsewhere and the only places I can find with availability are home daycares. Do you have specific set of questions you ask for daycare in someone's home with only one provider? I have really stupid questions that I'm not sure I'm allowed to ask like - "How do you go to the bathroom?", but its because I have ZERO experience with home daycares / single person providing care for multiple kid situations! I need to Google some ideas for specific things to ask but wondering if you guys have tips as well!
-
My Mom ran a daycare out of our home when I was growing up and this is the list of questions she sent for me when I was thinking about in home providers...
-tell her the hours that you would be looking for and find out what hours she's open and what the late pick up policy is in case you should ever be late.
- check on sleeping arrangements for the baby/babies. In what? Where in the house? Monitors on site if they are out of view?
- how does she manage feeding and tending to other children? Are there others in the house that help out? Ages?
- What are the fee policies. How much per day. Pay whether your bring the baby or not? Are you allowed vacation time at no pay (i.e. a week per year or...?) What happens when she goes on vacation? Is the center closed then?
- What is the illness policy? When can't you bring the child? Still pay for that day?
- Food - bring your own especially as an infant? What about when baby's older? What does she provide?
- Does she ever take the children out of the home? Walks? Field trips? Play area in backyard? What type of transportation does she have if she takes the kids out?
- Does she have all of her policies and procedures written down and could you have a copy?
- References? How long have those families been with her? -
@kiddosc: AMAZING, this is perfect, thanks so much!
-
Big ?'s regarding safety - pets, outlets covered, door locks, pool, stairs, guns in the house.
Does she have a schedule as far as nap time, meal times, etc. What type of activities are they doing throughout the day.
Ages of kids that go there..
Maximum # of kids that she will have - including when school is out.
TV time..
Cleanliness is big, our current in-home is amazing at this. -
I would also ask about other people in the home, do all people who will visit during the day have a police clearance/vulnerable sector check (this comes because of a situation locally where a family friend was by repeatedly and sexually assaulted children in care - and he had a record)
-
@HappyBaker: I agree with @MsMini: that would be my biggest concern regarding who else would have access to my kids. I think since you will potentially be entrusting your kids here you are allowed to ask anything that affects them.
-
@josina: awesome thanks! And yes to the cleanliness, a friend of a friend runs a home daycare and posts pictures all the time and it’s a total mess, which made me cross that one off the list even though I know her!
@MsMini: oof this makes my heart hurt and why home situations freak me out in general! Definitely will ask who else is around them!
-
@HappyBaker: what does she do when she's sick? what about if it snows? (one of the best parts of our in-home its that there are no snow days since it's literally in her basement)
-
- how willing is she to stay to my preferred schedule? Or does she have a standardized schedule she puts all kids on? At what ages (like do 1 year olds have a standardized schedule, 2, etc)
- how much effort do they put into sleep (but naps are high priority for me)
- what are the sleeping arrangements?
- how many kids in the center and how old are they?
- who else will be allowed in the home (like can she just decide to have a friend visit that day? Or during business hours is it strictly employees and charges. )
- examples of activities she does with kids (if she struggles to answer or says none that would be a problem for me)
- how much screen time/ how are they utilized (I’m not anti-screen but i still prefer its limited at childcare providers and I’d want to know her policy)
- does she provide updates through the day/ is there a written summary each day (sleep, ate, diapers) / what is the communication you can expect -
@HappyBaker:
My biggest question would be who else is in the house? Background/drug:arrest history... ?
males in the home? Who is changing my child’s diaper? How would she handle contractors if something goes wrong? My point is how does she control the in and out of people in the house.... centers/schools it’s much more secure so i would definetly question a lot on that.illness policy for when kids and she are sick?
how does she “discipline “?
schedule?
a lot of the pp had other good questions! -
@HappyBaker: We had really good in home daycare that I was sad to leave but we also had some issues along the way. Adding to the questions above...
-Do you smoke? Followed by more about that if they do. I asked this at the first center I took LO to and forgot at an in home daycare. I came across one of the assistants smoking while hiding in a bush. That could happen anywhere but if she's the only one watching the kids that obviously makes it worse.
-What areas of the house will the kids have access to?
-What do the kids eat?
-What kind of urgent situations have caused you to interrupt service/miss days? I signed a form with on DCP saying that LO could be transported with a car seat in case of emergency. I was surprised to find out that DCP thought her husband being locked out of his car a mile away 30 minutes before pickup constituted an emergency. -
Our list:
What is the adult to child ration? How many kids to you care for? What are their ages?Do you care for the same group of kids every day?
Do you tell a parent when their child has been bitten or hit by another child?
How do you communicate with parents… daily report ie: nap times/feeding time
Policy regarding sick kids? Will you administer medicine if needed?
Do we pay for days when baby is out due to SICKNESS? VACATION?
Back up care if YOU are sick?
What holiday/vacation days do YOU take? MLK? President? Yearly vacation? Do you work out back up care for those days?
How do you discipline the children?
Do you have any assistants? Who lives in the house/has contact with children? Do you smoke? Does anyone in the house smoke?
Visitation policy? Can we stop by unannounced?
Do you offer sibling discounts? Age discounts?
Describe a typical day. (activities/play areas) Do you let the kids watch TV? Where to you go for outdoor time?
Do you drive the children anywhere? Do they all have carseats?
What is your billing policy (how/when billed)? Form of payment you require? Receipts for taxes?
Release policy? Who may pick up my child…. Can we pick up early or late some days?
Food….. do we provide all snacks/meals? Do you provide any?
Do you think the baby should be held when fed?
Do you pick up the baby when she cries? What would you do if she doesn’t stop crying?
How do you get the baby settled/sleeping? Are you aware of SIDS and how baby should be laying?
REFERENCES
-
I love my home daycare, but some questions I'd ask are:
- what times can you drop off? What times can you pick up? (Mine wants all kids by 9 and then you can only pick up at 12:45 or after 4. Makes doctors appointments tricky)
-, what are the ages of the kids?
-what is the frequency of turnover?
-do you have treat days? If so, how often? Why? (I'm not a fan of the daily freeze pop, but am okay with them baking and birthday cakes)
- (if applicable),how do you handle breast milk? Do you refeed from the bottle after an hour or toss the milk? Can I leave extra frozen milk with you? Do you feed on demand or on schedule?
- what's diaper changing like? A schedule or as needed? (My kid frequently is changed once in 7 hours. I'd prefer more frequently)
-
@Pollywog: what is the reasoning for the restricted pickup times? This would not fly for me. I purposely pick up early periodically just so I check daycare out.
Oof on the infrequent diaper changes! My kid's diaper would be so heavy and she would be covered in diaper rash.
-
@SweetCaroline: it's because there are certain times things are a bit crazy and having a pickup in the middle of that throws everyone off. The kids nap from like 1-330 and then have potty and a snack. She asks you to wait until they are up so they don't wake up the other kids.
With the diapers, it does depend on the kid. DS1 pooped all the time and went through 4-6 diapers a day. DS2 poops weekly and holds his pee then floods his diaper. I frequently check him at home and he's dry after a 3 hour nap. It's crazy, but I only realized the infrequency of changes because we cloth diaper and neither kid has gotten a rash. I think he's changed around lunch time and then we pick up right after nap. I suspect his diaper is dry and then he pees as we walk home.
-
You've gotten lots of great suggestions. Just wanted to tell you that when I had a small in home I would put a baby in a rock n play or an exersaucer while I had a quick bathroom break- pee as fast as possible, then scrub my hands in the kitchen where I could see everyone. I would tell the big kids. "I'm going potty. You keep playing blocks and I will be back in one minute." If there were any concerns about babies and bigger kids I'd move the rock n play to the hall outside the bathroom away from the other kids. Anything I needed to manage that needed more than a minute I dealt with during nap.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
15 comments