Three Tips for Picking the Best Daycare for Your Baby

As a parent you want the best for your baby. That’s why you probably feel anxious whenever you think about returning to work and leaving your child with a daycare provider. To help ease your pain, you’ll want to be certain that your baby is receiving the best childcare possible.

But how does a new parent figure out what daycare provider will be the best fit for Mom, Dad and baby? The process of finding good childcare sounds overwhelming. But by using common sense and good judgment, it can be easier than you think.

The essence of picking your baby’s daycare provider is really about three things: people, places and things. In making a choice for your baby, your focus should be on the people she will see each day, the place she will experience, and the things that will impact her life day to day life.

Tip 1: People

An ideal daycare center will be staffed with teachers who have been educated in the field of early childhood development, teaching or a similar specialty. In other words, they should be specialists in babies and children.

If the childcare center’s lead teachers don’t have degrees or certifications, you’ll want to make sure they have significant experience and training. Ask the childcare center director to provide you a list of the daycare staffs’ educational credentials. If the childcare center director doesn’t have a list or refuses to provide one, check that daycare center off your list. Your baby deserves better than that.

Don’t stop at formal education. You’ll also want to gauge the attitude of the childcare center’s staff. Before deciding on a daycare center, speak with the teachers. They should be happy, helpful and supportive. These are the people your baby will spend her day with. If they don’t love caring for children, you don’t want them rocking your baby to sleep at nap time.

Tip 2: Places

Take your time and inspect each daycare center carefully. Don’t just look at the baby room. Ask to see all of the spaces. Inspect the daycare center’s classrooms, the outdoor space and the kitchen.

Peeling paint, dirty floor and broken swings are bad signs. Instead, all of the spaces, indoors and outdoors, should be neat and clean. You should never see broken toys lying around. If the daycare center appears dirty or disorderly, or if major repairs are needed, move along. This isn’t the place for your or your baby.

Don’t rely on looks alone. Take a deep whiff of air through your nose. A good childcare center will not only be clean, it will smell clean. If the place looks clean but doesn’t pass the sniff test, you should pass it by.

Tip 3: Things

Spending his days in daycare isn’t a prison sentence. Instead, your baby should have a fun and rewarding experience. You should expect baby’s days with his childcare provider to be as happy as his days with you.

Ask to see a schedule. Note how much time the daycare teachers devote to free play, developmental activities, motor skills, learning, reading and napping. You want a childcare center that encourages exploration, imagination, socialization, learning and self- awareness. If the daycare staff doesn’t have a good plan for your baby’s day, they probably haven’t given enough thought to your baby’s needs.

If your baby has special needs, such as allergies or a disability, you’ll want to interview the daycare center director about how the center will accommodate those needs. You’ll also want to discuss the daycare center’s position on religious observations or strongly held personal beliefs. Whatever your baby’s needs may be, bring them to the attention of the daycare center director before you make a choice. If you’re not satisfied the childcare center will fit your family, keep looking.

For a new parent, finding the perfect childcare center for your baby may seem overwhelming at first. But if you focus on finding the right people, the perfect place and the best things, you and your baby will both live happily ever after.


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