Tips on picking a daycare for 3month old

Hi there,

I totally agree with the rest of the mommies take that and add this on your list if you want, what we also looked out for and asked was:
1. Do they ask for and insist on all children being immunised (for me as a mom who ensures that my baby is fully immunised this was a non-negotiable)
2. What are their attitudes towards discipline (this becomes important when they become toddlers - if we don't agree on that, no ways my LG is going there)
3. Do they prepare food for the children there and if so, what is the menu and what are the ingredients (again, when they start eating solids I want my baby to eat what she would at home)
4. Is there an open line of communication? Can I phone the teacher themselves every 10 minutes (gross exaggeration ) if I want to check up on my LG.
5. Do they have places to place a baby or child in "quarantine" if they are sick and until their mommy or daddy comes to pick them up or are they just staying between the healthy kids
6. How often do they change nappies (seems silly but my LG has a sensitive skin)
7. Do they have a structured developmental programme, even for the babies (i.e. tummy time and baby massage and baby gym etc)
8. Ask to see the changing stations - are there adequate sides to the stations or is it just a changing mat - we released later when she started rolling that this was crucial because if she wiggles then there is a need for side protection. Secondly, how do they change the babies? Do they use disposable gloves? Do they dispose of the nappies in a way that doesn't make the whole place smell like nappies? Do they keep every child's nappies and creams and things apart?
9. How do they heat the bottles? You cannot put breastmilk in a microwave so it is important to find that out if you plan to express and send.
10. Do they have extracurricular activities at the school, where for example the Kindermusik instructors would come to the school or is some other person going to be transporting your baby later on when they are old enough. If there is going to be such transport, do you trust it? Are there child or baby seats? How is the driver's driving record? (I don't allow my LG to travel one metre in a car if it is not us or our friends and family that are trusted and that have the appropriate car seats fixed - in fact, I don't think she's ever travelled except for with us or her Grandparents...

Wow, reading back on that it seems a bit hectic but we looked at each of these points. Our school has a great ratio - 16 babies in the baby class with 4 teachers and 4 assistants - as per the rest of the ladies, this is very important..

I agree with both StelllaK and Huggles, both have properly the most important points to take in!

When I was on the search for a daycare we viewed a few highly recommended places as well as places just advertised.

The one highly recommended place was the most expensive and first thing when I phoned I was given a time slot of when I could come through. Met with the principle, walked through they had 5 different rooms with 8 children in each with one childminder responsible for each room. they got an hour a day playtime in the play room (an allocated time to play- not to my liking) and all the children were sitting in their cribs, children of different ages in one room - that was a total put off and to really top it all off was when the principle said there is a waiting list so I need to let her know now if im interested or not. I felt like the place was just a money making daycare and walked straight out.

I really wanted something small and homely for my daughter and as my mom put it when we went to visit the daycare where my LG is currently at, a messy daycare means the kids are learning and having fun. Which is exactly what we saw the day we went to view the place, toys were lying all over, kids were laughing and friendly greeting us, she explained everything from how many babies she will take to toddlers, she is also registered with the government which was a huge thing as well, so she has to comply with the rules. We also caught one of the moms outside and questioned her which was also a huge relief because as they say there is nothing more convincing than word of mouth. It was the best decision we could have made.

Good luck in your search!

I very much agree with Stella, she had a number of excellent points.

Definitely trust your gut feeling. Even if you can't give any reasons why a certain school doesn't feel right to you, if you don't feel right don't use the school. you don't have to pinpoint why you feel a certain way, but always trust your gut, even if you can't rationalize it.

Also look at the teacher to child ratio. You don't want one teacher looking after 10 babies. I think most creche's have 1 teacher + 1 assistant for up to 10 (I could be wrong on that number), the daycare I chose for my son had 1 teacher + 2 assistants, plus other assistants that "float" around the school helping whichever class might need an additional hand at that particular moment. That was for 10 children. I liked that there were more teachers to care for the kids. Also watch how the adults interact with the babies. Some daycares you walk into the baby room and the adults are sitting on full sized chairs either chatting to each other or staring blankly at the kids. Other schools (like my son's), the teachers are always either on the floor with the kids or on kid-sized chairs and they ALWAYS have at least one child on their lap, in their arms, or are actively interacting with them if they're on the floor.
also watch what happens to crying babies. Some creches just leave the babies to cry "they've had their food, their nappy's clean, there's nothing wrong", other schools if the baby is crying/upset the teacher will be holding the child. You can't always calm an upset child but you can be caring and loving and let them know they're not alone.

Regarding the open door policy - definitely find out if they allow unannounced visits, but also don't be surprised if they insist on an appointment the first time you come. That happened with my son's school and the only reason was so that the vice principal could be sure she was there and available to show me around and explain everything. After that first visit she said i was allowed to pop in whenever just to look around. But you can't always arrive unannounced and expect someone to be avaialble to show you around.
So what I did was I did the first planned visit, got walked through all the classes and had everything explained. Then i popped in at a totallly different time of day, unannounced, at like 10am when they are not expecting any parents. And again another day at I think 2:30 or something. Go when you know they don't expect parents so you can see what "really" goes on.

Thanks Stella, i must say, the one i did go to, i cant really say what it was, but when hubby asked me about it, i just said something did feel right for me. And wasn't anything specific obviously. Something just felt "off". So i understand what you saying go with instinct. Thanks, for your thoughts on this, will consider in my search as i tag along. So far all of whom i contacted are open door policy, which makes me comfortable.

one of the big things for me is if you phone them and they say you can pop in unannounced at any time. schools that you can only visit with an appointment i would stay away from, cause they don't want you to see certain things. this might be a bit sinicle, but i would rather go to a place that encourage you to come at any time, then you can also see how they handle you when you show up unexpectadle.
another important thing for me was to get references from people who's kids are happy in their school, they will tell you what they dont like as well.

chat to the teacher that handles the babies and not just the person showing you around. maybe ask a few funny questions just to test her attitude.

i phoned a few places and only ended up visiting 3. one of them, the moment i stepped in, i just though i'm not bringing my child here - just something about the atmosphere

what made me decide between the 2 remaining ones was 3 things:
1. the one i chose only had 1 teacher and she handled my like her best friend and immediately was interested in my lb and interacted with him. the other one had 2 teachers - one for the morning and one for the afternoon, and neither of them really wanted to talk to me - i was shown around by the admin lady there
2. the one i chose had a fridge and microvawe and sink (at the changing station) in the room that the other did not have. me being a practical person and wanted to send breasmilk to school, what are the chances that they are going to store the milk i send in the kitchens fridge and fetch it for every feed. the one with the fridge in the class even marks out a space in the fridge for every baby, so there is never any confusion
3. i use cloth nappies. the one i chose immediately said that they will accommodate it even though they never had a cloth bum in the school. the other one just said under no circumstances i must just buy disposables

hope this helps a bit. don't feel to overwhelmed. there is no such thing as the best place. find a place that you are comfortable with and that your baby seems comfortable with.
take baby with, you will see if baby is interacting with them or not.
and with some places you will just know right when you walk through the door that this is not the one for you, no matter how good the references

Im due in a few months and starting to look for daycare for my little peanut to go to after 3 months. Any suggestions on what to look out for when visiting day care and what would be good questions to ask? I have gone to one, but feel so overwhelmed on how much to take in, id rather have a full action plan before i go again.