Choosing a Child Care Center

If you work outside the home, your choice of child care may be one of the most important decisions that you make for your child. This decision should be thought of as a fluid situation that may change, depending on your circumstances. For example, during pregnancy you may select a day care center near your office and register your child for a future time period. However, if your baby is born prematurely or has other health issues, you may want to wait a few months before introducing baby to this center, especially during cold and flu season.

Before we begin with our child care center checklist, let’s discuss some pros and cons of different child care options.

Child Care Center (Day Care)

Pros: state regulated, possibly accredited beyond state requirements (National Association for the Education of Young Children or NAEYC), extra resources for toys and supplies, other children to play with, accountability, additional safety, higher supervision of caregivers

Cons: a strict schedule requires precise drop-off and pickup times (i.e., incurring fees for every minute late), potential overstimulation, lack of peaceful sleeping options, germs and more germs, other children may adversely affect your child

Average Cost: $380 to $1560 a month for babies and toddlers, depending on your location. Costs can be higher in U.S. cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and San Francisco.

Home Day Care

Pros: usually less expensive than other options, home environment, smaller group than a day care center, other children to play with, usually more flexibility with drop-off and pickup times

Cons: no backup if the care provider gets sick, less stringent accountability and licensing, safety standards may be lower, more germs than a nanny, closed during holidays and vacation time, TV may be used excessively for younger children who can’t tattle

Average Cost: $300 to $1000 a month for babies and toddlers

Nanny

Pros: more convenient than day care, flexibility in scheduling, peaceful sleep in familiar surroundings, consistency with one caregiver, one-on-one attention (interactive conversation with an adult), a nanny may care for a sick child when a day care center would require backup care

Cons: nanny supervision is low, a baby or toddler cannot communicate indiscretions, dependence on one person, need for backup care, the extra expense and paperwork of being an employer (nanny taxes, paying for sick time and vacation time, etc.)

Average Cost: $2170 to $3030 a month for babies and toddlers

Now let’s proceed with how to choose a child care center, but don’t worry, the Hiring a Nanny checklist is coming up next.

Start Early

Start researching childcare as early as possible. This process may take time.

Assess Child Care in Your Area

Begin your search by talking to friends and co-workers in the area.
Call local experts, such as a local Child Care Resource and Referral agency (CCR and R), if desired.⁷²
Search “day care” or “child care” and your city online to find centers, or register for an online child-care service such as Care.com or Sittercity.com.
Assess whether your family qualifies for any child-care financial assistance.
Obtain information about complaints and licensing violations.

When your list narrows, assess your child-care options with the following questions:

Child-to-Staff Ratio and Group Size

How many children are being cared for in the child-care program for your age group? Double-check real vs. aspirational numbers. Visit during working hours to crosscheck.
How many teachers or caregivers are present? State minimums exist for each age group (i.e., one home caregiver is limited to caring for two infants.)
What is the turnover rate for teachers/staff?

Supervision and Security

Are children supervised at all times?
Is supervision consistent during meal time and nap time?
How do the caregivers discipline children?
If the center is a home day care, are children taken out of the house? Does the provider walk or drive?
Are there security cameras at the front desk to monitor visitors coming in and out?
What is the pick-up and drop-off policy?

Director Qualifications

Does the director of a child care center have at least a bachelor’s degree in a child-related field?
How long has the director worked in child care? (At least two years of experience is preferable.)
Does the director understand children well?
Is this someone whom you would like to work with on a regular basis?

Lead Teacher Qualifications

Does the lead teacher in a child care center have a bachelor’s degree in a child-related field?
Has the teacher worked in child care for at least two years?
What is the level of interaction between teachers and parents?
Is there regular communication between teachers and parents?

Hand-washing and Diapering

Do all caregivers and children wash their hands often (i.e., when children walk into the classroom, before eating, and after using the bathroom or changing diapers)?
Is hand-washing consistent for older children who may be around your baby?
Is the place where diapers are changed clean?
Do caregivers keep a hand on the child while changing their diaper?

Eating and Sleeping

What is the feeding schedule and meal policy?
Is the program willing to use and warm breast milk?
Does the center or home day care provide snacks and meals? At what age? What is the cost?
If food is brought from home, is the center willing to heat it?
Is each child able to sleep according to their own rhythms, or is a schedule set by the center?
Where will my child sleep?

Immunizations

Is your child up-to-date on all of the required immunizations?
Does your state have a standard medical entry form for child care centers? What other information do you need to gather from your child’s pediatrician for entry?
Does the child-care program have records proving that the other children in care are up-to-date on all required immunizations? Ask about the number of exemptions.

Hazardous or Toxic Substances

Emergency Plan

Are hazardous or toxic substances kept away from children (cleaning supplies, rodent traps, pest sprays, gardening supplies, etc.)?
Has the building been checked for dangerous substances like radon, lead, carbon monoxide, and asbestos?
Is poison control information posted? Are teachers trained for poison incidences?

Does the child-care program have an emergency plan if a child is injured, sick, or lost?
Does the child-care program have a food allergy plan?
Does the child-care program have a standard process about who to contact in an emergency?
Consider leaving your cell number on your child’s check-in sheet each day, in addition to forms filled out for day care entry.

Fire/Emergency Drills

Does the child-care program have a plan in case of a disaster like a fire, tornado, flood, blizzard, or earthquake? National emergencies?
Does the child-care program do practice drills once every month?

Child Abuse and Accountability

Have all caregivers had background checks?
Can caregivers be seen by others at all times, so a child is never alone with one caregiver?

Medications

Does the child-care program keep medication out of reach from children?
What is the medicine policy? Policy for applying diaper cream and sunscreen?
Are the caregivers trained, and the medications labeled, to make sure the right child gets the right amount of the right medication at the right time?

Staff Training/First Aid

Have caregivers been trained to keep children healthy and safe from injury and illness?
Do they know how to do basic first aid and CPR?
Have they been trained to understand and meet the needs of children of different ages?
Are all child care staff, volunteers, and substitutes trained on and implementing infant back sleeping and safe sleep policies to reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)?
When infants are sleeping, are they on their backs with no pillows, quilts, stuffed toys, or other soft bedding in the crib with them?

Playgrounds

Is the playground regularly inspected for safety?
Does a fence surround the playground?
Are the soil and playground surfaces checked often for dangerous substances and hazards?
How old is the equipment?
Is the equipment the right size and type for the age of children who use it?

Cost-Benefit Analysis

If a child care center is significantly more expensive than its competitors, why?
Do you have a back-up plan if your child is sick? How much will that cost per hour?
Do you have a list of priorities for your child care needs? What are your child’s health considerations?
Is it worth paying more to have your child at home with a nanny, or do you prefer the accountability and structure of a day care center?
Is home day care a better option to balance cost and size of a large day care center?

Other Considerations

How is TV used in the day care?
What is a typical day in the day care center?
Are you allowed to observe the prospective day care center, or home day care, during working hours? Assess overall impression, happiness of the children, and level of speaking engagement with the children.
Have you talked with other parents with children currently attending the prospective child care center?
Do caregivers respect the culture, languages, and values of the families in the center?⁷³

Practical Tips from Real Parents: Day Care and Child Care Centers

If possible, choose a day care center near your work. Late fees can add up if you have to commute through traffic, or if you are habitually late.
Make sure that you read the fine print with late fees for pickup. One day care we considered was $5 per minute late (after a five minute grace period). This seemed excessive at first, but now I understand why. The parents, including myself, were always running late.
Home day care can be good or bad for baby’s first year. In an environment with just a few children, your baby will probably get more attention and more sleep than in a commercial day care center. However, you have to constantly assess how other children coming into the home are affecting your child.
With home day care, be mindful of males living in and passing through the home. No one wants to think about this stuff, but child sexual abuse offenders are 90 to 95% male.
Expect lots of colds the first year in day care. Babies put everything into their mouths, and it is impossible for workers to keep your child from getting sick.
If your baby has a perpetual diaper rash, put together a rash kit and provide explicit instructions for baby’s diaper care.
If your child seems unusually unhappy at drop-off or pickup, don’t discount this reaction. There may be a problem.
Don’t be afraid to speak up or change your child care center if you think something is wrong.

Source for child care costs: National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA)