When to Interview Daycares

If you were in Seattle, you'd be too late. There is a year to a year and a half waiting list, if you're lucky.

I suspect the timing in Ohio is a bit better. You could also consider home daycares and nannyshares. We did a nanny share, and it was awesome.

We have also had au pairs, which I would recommend for some. That's kind of a combo of hosting an exchange student and having live-in childcare.

Infant spots fill up quickly. I already have 2 booked for March and April of 2015.
I would start interviewing ASAP, so you can get into a place you really like, not just one that has an opening.
Good luck!

I am an in-home childcare provider and I already have a little one that I know will be coming to me next August.

I care for only little ones from newborn to about three years old so I am able to forecast when I'll have openings.

Definitely start calling and making some inquiries.

1. Cost
2. Holidays and or In-Service Days
3. What, if anything is provided? (Diapers, Wipes, Formula)
4. Hours of operation
5. If a facility child/adult ratio, turn over rate for employees. If home care how long has she been in business.
6. References, CALL THEM!!!

Good Luck :)

I did not want my newish born in a full nursery so I started asking at my church. I found a wonderful retired woman who kept my son until he turned 4. She helped to potty trained him, fed him nutritious meals, and made him a part of her family. She was also keeping her grand daughter (same age). He and the grand daughter are still friends.

He stayed in touch with her and even attended her funeral years ago.

Now. In my area, some very good daycares had 6 month waiting lists!

Important things to notice/ask:
Are the kids clean
Yes, kids in daycare will have colds, but do teachers keep noses wiped, etc?
Are the infants all in swings (a red flag), or are they being held or on the floor getting tummy time, etc?
For feeding of infants when they are not yet old enough for a high chair, how are they fed? Do the staff hold them and give bottles one baby at a time, or do they line them up and try to feed multiple babies at one (or worse yet, prop bottles)?
What ages of kids are in the room together? If its a small place with a variety of ages together, how do they keep the toddlers from stepping on the babies, how do they keep bigger kids from being too rough around toddlers?
Is there a TV in the room (a very big red flag)?

Start looking immediately. I started looking at 11 weeks into my pregnancy and was waitlisted 3 different places. Go visit and talk to them about things like your feeding preference (will you nurse FT, PT, pump milk, provide formula? some of each?) One place I turned down b/c they offered 2 brands of formula, but gave no discount if you didn't use it. So I would have subsidized someone else's food. I also felt the were too regimented for a newborn. What 12 week old is going to sleep exactly from x to y every day? It just didn't fit how I wanted my baby's day to be. The place I did end up was a small center (so if someone was sick, there was still a caregiver) and they allowed her a lot of freedom in her day as an infant. It was very homey. I was sad to leave them when my job changed.

I started at 1 month before my leave was up.
I had 12 weeks of leave so our son was 2 months old when we interviewed.
We ended up using a commercial daycare.
It worked out great for us.

This isn't really a question we can answer. I know what you're looking for though.

We don't know how many child care facilities are in your area between where you live and where you work. We don't know how many small children there are in that area needing child care much less how many infants will be needing child care at that time either.

There's no way we can know how many infants there are in those infant rooms right now and when they turn 1 year old and move up to the next classroom. If a hundred babies are born in January and February then there would be an abundance of infants all fighting for the same few places. If there aren't many babies born at that time but all the babies in the infant rooms are all 6 months old then there won't be any spaces until they all turn 1.

Most parents want to have this all set up in advance so that's one less thing to worry about.

Can I suggest that you simply get a list of all the licensed child care options you'd have, such as those who don't take infants or that are just too far from your home, those can be ruled out until you have tried and failed at all the possible options.

Please call around to the child care centers and find out what their infant ages are expected to be and if they'll have any infants aging up to the toddler room when you'll need care.

For instance if your child is born February 15 and you get 6 weeks off then you won't need care for your baby until March the 29th. You'd be going back to work that Monday. So you would need to find a center who has some babies turning 1 year old at that time so they'd have an opening starting that week. If they don't have any March or early April birthdays they won't have any openings no matter if you're on their waiting list or not.

I don't know if I'm saying this well enough.

In Oklahoma 1 teacher in the infant room cares for 4 infants ages 6 weeks through their first birthday. As soon as they turn 1 year old they move to the toddler room. Walking or not. The reason this happens is because they can have 6 toddlers per 1 teacher so they make more money in that room. They might have a lower toddler room and a older toddler room. Those that aren't walking and able to do those things that they need to do to not get run over by running toddlers. The older toddlers would be more adept at running around and feeding themselves.

So moving kids out of the infant room is important so they can get more infants in but also so they can get more kids with one teacher for the charges.

I do think that calling them each and keeping some notes as to those who'll have more slots coming open at that time is a good thing. This will give you a timeline, sort of, so that you can figure out which ones to rule out or actually put down on your list of possible options.

There could be infants moving away, mom's deciding to stay at home, and other life changes that would take an infant from that room early.

So call each center and ask. I don't do home options simply because there is no one there to observe and know what they do all day. In home child care the adult can go take a shower, take a nap, talk on the phone all day, sit and watch TV all day, and more. I know they usually don't do stuff like that but I'd rather have the counters and check-ability that a facility offers. Plus if the teacher is sick someone WILL be there to fill in that the kiddo's know or are familiar with.

Overall I think it's way too early for anyone to know anything. But they may put you on their waiting list and then you may have a place when the time comes or not but still, they'll have you on it and can call you as soon as they have one.

Depends on the availability and wait lists in your area. We made use of a manny at first, and used a daycare that had been vetted by a close friend with an older child. We know she has exacting standards. We went and were satisfied it would be a good match for us and for our child. We enrolled him right then and there, and didn't look at anything else.

We enrolled him at 15 months.

Best,
F. B.

depends on your area. I got started in my first trimester and good thing because of the rapid residential growth in the area at the time there was typically at 4-5 month wait list. If there tends to be wait lists in your area pay the small fee to get on two different ones you like the best. That way you have options.

I started in July when I was due in December. The reason being is I'm a planner and wanted to know all my options, along with the details each would bring (morning routine, times, costs, etc). I didn't want to be caught off guard and not have something lined up or rushed and be forced to go with a provider I wasn't happy with.

I first narrowed down the local choices, made a few calls and weeded out some "flakes". Then I went to the top three with the intent to start all over if necessary. Luckily, my top pick over the phone (and location) was my top pick after interviewing in person and my husband agreed.

There is often a waiting period (because of current enrollment) especially with newborns so it's best to start early. Say you need care in March, you may find they don't have an opening til April or maybe they will in February but won't hold the spot without a deposit or payment.

I started interviewing the final month of my pregnancy. I only came across one program with more than an 8 week backlog. They were 24 months. Really - who knows they will need daycare 24 months in advance????

What is the adult/child ratio? There is a state minimum but higher is always better.

What are their hygiene protocols? They should ALL wash their hands before and after handling an infant. Watch the caregivers when you are there. Do they wash the toys after each child or just once a day.

What are their illness protocols? How long after a child has a fever/diarrhea etc can they come back? Can children attend with a cold (in reality, I was all in favor of this one - who can take off work because a child has a runny nose?).

Will they follow your/your child's schedule or do they insist on putting all the infants down at the same time? This was a definite deal breaker for us. DS was a great sleeper and no way were we messing this up.

Do they have any screens? The correct answer is NO NO NO.

Who watches the infants if one has an emergency? When the caregiver goes to the bathroom? Takes lunch?

Will they feed what you want and when you want. We brought our own formula and DS was fed on demand.

What age does the facility go up to? How are the infants segregated from the toddlers? What age do they advance to the toddler room?

Do they go outside every day? How often? What are the weather restrictions (these should be set by the state but some facilities don't take the kids out just because they don't feel like it if it seems a little cool or damp).

How long have the employees been there? Turnover in childcare is high but at least the lead caregiver should have been there for a number of years.

Are all employees certified in infant CPR?

Start now, for sure. You don't want to be in a situation where you have to take the first spot that is open! The best way to go is to ask for recommendations from friends and family, then go interview everyone on that list who has a spot and is geographically desirable. Go with your gut on your final choice.

When I was trying to get pregnant, I asked at our daughter's daycare what their waiting list was like. They said we should get on it as soon as we know we're pregnant, and they give priority to people who already have a kid there. When we had our first, we started looking when I was 6 months pregnant, and we ended up in a home daycare that was just starting up down the street. I'm not sure what the wait lists are like where you are, but you might want to start calling around and asking. One of the in-home daycares my daughter was in for 3 years had a 6-9 month waiting list.

Start today! I'm 100% serious! When my daughter was born we were on several waiting lists. For some of them the waiting list was several months long. I was still getting calls when she was a year old to let me know they now had an opening. One daycare wouldn't even let us tour because their waiting list was so long. I had started looking at about 6 months. In my husband's department there were 23 babies born in about a 9 month period.

We are having a baby boom here again. Our son just stopped going to daycare when he started kindergarten. The daycare we had used for 7 years told me that they had enough inquiries for infants that if they had the space they could have easily filled at least one more infant room.

Infant spots can be booked up to a year in advance around here for the really good in-home daycares. Start looking NOW. You'll know when you find the right place, and then have to hope they have a spot. I would let them know you are looking for an infant spot in the April timefame (assuming 6-8 weeks off) and make sure they will have a spot then. Normally they ask for a week's deposit and your spot is secured.

Honestly, I'm not sure what questions to ask for newborns. My youngest was the only one who went to full-time daycare, and he only did it for 6 months before he started half day pre-k.

But you'll want to know about naps, feeding schedules, how many adults per child/baby, what you need to provide, what they provide, basically everything. Any good day care will have a set schedule they follow, even babies will come home with art work :).