Daycare interviews

I'm going today to check out a daycare. I'm surprisingly very nervous about this! What have been your experiences with this (if at all)?

Re: Daycare interviews

I saw two this week. I didn't go prepared to one because I went on my lunchbreak at the spur of the moment. It was nice though, but they use swings, which I don't like (Kindercare btw).

The second one was Tutor Time and they wouldn't allow me to take a tour without an appt. so that sends up a flag to me since there were two girls working so it wasn't like one was leaving the desk unmanned.

Good luck!!

Re: Daycare interviews

I have seen everything from nasty small daycare places to large school type ones.

I wanted to go running from one of them, ewww

But I didn't go to any places that i had to make an appt for, i made that mistake once and it happened to be the one that grossed me out the most.

I looked at the toys, gear, carpets, interaction of teachers, if the kids looked clean and happy, if the center as a whole looked clean and smelled clean. If the teachers had smiles on their faces and were outgoing and conversational, how new the toys and gear were, what the babies where doing when i toured.

we wound up going with a school like daycare, it offered the most for our money and made me feel comfy.

Go with your GUT! IF something doesn't seem right to you or feels off, keep going, you should be in love with no doubts with your daycare center, otherwise you won't feel comfy leaving DC there and that makes leaving them even harder that you have to worry about their safety, etc.

Re: Daycare interviews

I saw 3. I went with DH.

We did not have a "real" appointment but they gave us a time frame so it would not interfere with lunch, parents coming to pick up their kids, etc..

I looked at EVERYTHING. Staff, set up, asked TONS of questions, flexible time and how much it would cost in all sceanarios, etc..

It took at good 1+ hour for our shorter visit.

We ended up going with Tutor Time. We felt very comfortable with the "cleaness" of how they handled the infant/changing station, the infants looked very happy with the infant staff with lots of interaction. It was actually the cheapest at our surprise.

Re: Daycare interviews

All good experiences - Rainbow Chimes told me to show up whenever, which I liked a lot - I am actually going with them - and I popped in another time without a heads up to check out the baby's room...

It's daycare - is it ideal? No... are they going to do a perfect job? No - but you have to go with your gut instinct. If you just get an icky vibe - go with that.

don't be afraid to ask any questions... also, if they are rushing you, I would watch out for that as well. Also - look at how happy the kids are - thats a big sign. I loved Kindercare for that reason - all the toddlers were just sooo happy, and all smiles when people walked in - a sign that they have learned nice things about people and they can trust people who come into the room. Most of the happiest babies were the ones that have been there since the infant room.

I went with Rainbow Chimes because it is more affordable and I know the director, so there was a huge comfort level for me - plus, there are lots of happy smiley toddlers and preschoolers as well there, and the facility is beautiful!!!

Re: Daycare interviews

Thanks so much for your input!

I do have an appt at the place I'm going, but to be honest, I don't really understand why that's considered a "bad" thing -- shouldn't they be devoting their time to the kids and have a set time to meet people like me? Who knows, I'll see.

The place comes highly recommended and my friend who works at a daycare gave me a bunch of questions to ask and some things to look for. It's so weird doing this since the baby is still INSIDE of me!!

Re: Daycare interviews

I used thie Child Care Council website which gave me a good idea of what to look for and what to ask. Here is a link to the site:

Child Care Council

We ended up going with our gut feeling on the one that just made us most comfortable. There is also the office of family and child care services where you can check on a centers history and violations. here is a link to their website:

Office of Family and Child Care Services

Good luck!

Re: Daycare interviews

We looked at 3. 2 were large chains and 1 one was independent. All said we had to have an appointment for the official tour, but that if we wanted to come by to do a pop in at any point, to feel free. We went during lunch time and into nap time for all 3. We looked to see if the changing area and kitchens were clean. How they handled bottles and toys the children put their mouths on. We peeked in the other rooms and saw the workers all wearing gloves when they were changing the kids and they were cleaning up messes. Everyone seemed really nice and the kids all seemed to be having a good time. We looked for adequate staffing, safety hazards, cleanliness, temperment of the children, things for play/activity/stimulation. We also looked for references.

I found this to be helpful and brought the list with me to ask about any specifics:
NYS Child Services
I also took this list with a grain of salt as it's very hard to be perfect and most places seemed to all have the same minor infractions. It was more the big ones like one place said, "Locking child in dark closet is not an acceptable form of punishment," that steered me clear of places.

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Good Luck! I looked at quite a few before I found out that I felt 100% comfortable.
Don't be afraid to ask alot of questions.

Re: Daycare interviews

Message edited 2/22/2007 3:28:35 PM.