Child Care: Finding The Right Fit

by Allison Micarelli-Sokoloff
October 05, 2010

I will. I won’t. I can’t. I must. The decision to put your child in day care is often necessary but seldom easy. When it was time to choose child care for my son, I was bubbling over with questions: Will he be well cared for? Can we afford it? Will he be happy? How will I choose?

Child care facilities come in all shapes and sizes. Some more affordable than others. Some facilities are operated independently out of private homes and others are run by large corporations. Some concentrate on supervised play, while others offer educational curriculum similar to those found in preschools or kindergartens. And some won’t accept part-time pupils (one of my biggest challenges). So before my husband and I started our search, we did our research. I made lists and graphs. And graphs and lists. I soon discovered that finding the right child care can be an arduous task.

We were looking for a center with a good reputation, a structured setting, and a curriculum touted as educational, cultural, and age-appropriate. We also wanted a facility that supported and embraced healthy habits—from the snacks to the activities (no television!). We looked for clean facilities with attentive staff. We wanted to know our son would be safe—and happy. Ultimately, we found a child care center that was right for our son—and for us.

After visiting half a dozen facilities and talking to countless moms, teachers, and staff, we learned that finding the right fit for your family requires that you get an early start and ask all the right questions. Some tips:

Start your search early. Child care centers fill up fast, especially if you live in a populated area. Start your search early and add your name to the center’s waitlist. As previously reported by baby gooroo, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, there are more than 11 million U.S. children under the age of 5 in some type of child care arrangement, with over half in child care centers. I was six months pregnant when I made my first visit to my son’s child care facility. I put my unborn son on a waitlist, and learned that a spot was available when he was 8 months old.

Decide what’s most important to you. Just like purchasing a home or finding your soulmate, you need to know what you’re looking for. Make a wishlist of everything you want from a child care center. Order the items on your list by importance, starting with those that are non-negotiable. You might want to create a checklist you can bring with you when you visit facilities, so that you can quickly and easily check-off items of importance during your tour.

Visit the center. This is a must. Schedule a tour of the center during daytime hours so that you can see teachers at work and kids at play. Look and listen. Is the center clean? What is the noise level? How attentive are the teachers? Do the children appear interested? Ask to speak with other parents—find out what they like or dislike.

Stay informed, stay involved. Once you’ve made your child care decision, stay connected. A good child care facility will communicate regularly with parents (via email or newsletters left in a child’s folder). Talk openly with the director, teachers, and parents. Attend as many open activities as possible. This will give you a chance to get to know the teachers, parents, and children—and will give them a chance to get to know you.

Key questions to ask:

• Is the facility licensed by the state? Licensure requires that they meet the minimum health and safety standards set by the state. The highest accreditation a child care center can receive is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). If your center hasn’t received this accreditation (few have), ask if they have plans to apply.

• Is the staff well-screened and well-trained? Has the staff gone through extensive background checks? Is the staff trained in CPR and first aid? Do all teachers have a degree in early childhood education?

• Is there adequate staffing? What is the child-teacher ratio? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that child care centers or homes caring for children birth-12 months have a 3:1 child-teacher ratio and maximum group size of six; 13-30 months, 4:1, with eight children max.; 31-35 months, 5:1, with 10 children max. Click here to view the complete guidelines.

• Is the facility clean? Do members of the staff practice sanitary procedures—when preparing food, assisting with potty training, or changing diapers? Are the floors, walls, tables, and chairs clean? Are children’s cubbies and belongings well cared for? How often are sheets and blankets used during naptime cleaned? Do teachers assist children with handwashing? At my son’s child care center, all children are required to have an indoor pair of shoes and an outdoor pair of shoes (and teachers and visiting adults are required to wear shoe covers) so outdoor dirt and grime stay outside the classrooms.

• Is the facility safe? Are the toys and activities in each room age-appropriate? Are hard surface floors covered with padded floor tiles or non-slip rugs? Where do children play outdoors? What is the means for transporting children to and from outdoor play or field trips?

• Is attendance taken regularly throughout the day? How do staff ensure that children leave the facility only with those permitted to visit/drop-off/pick-up the child? Is attendance taken regularly throughout the day? Keeping children safe requires that everyone be hypervigilant.

• Is there a structured curriculum? Is each day highly structured? Does the curriculum allow time for free play? Children will benefit from both structured (scheduled mealtimes and naptimes) and unstructured (free play) routines. Ask what the teachers are doing on a daily basis to enhance a child’s motor skills—both fine motor (art projects, for example) and gross motor (outdoor play).

• What is the policy for managing sick children? Do children need to be examined by a licensed health care professional before attending the facility? Is there a qualified health professional available to administer required medications? How does the facility handle an emergency? Does the facility require that all children be vaccinated in accordance with AAP recommendations? What is the policy on sending sick children home?

• Is there a discipline policy? Pushing, screaming, and biting will happen—especially among children under the age of 3 who haven’t learned to effectively communicate with words. How do the teachers handle these situations? How do they encourage positive play? Although you might assume a child care center would never condone corporal punishment, including spanking, be sure to ask about their discipline policy.

• How do teachers communicate with parents? You are sharing your childrearing responsibilities with the center or home you choose. Parents should feel comfortable speaking to their child’s teachers at any time. And teachers should openly share the details of the day (activities, behaviors, wet and dirty diapers). If you don’t feel like you can trust the staff, be prepared to walk away.

For more guidance on choosing child care, check out Healthy Child Care America from the AAP. You can also find research-based indicators of high-quality child care in a downloadable checklist developed by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. And be sure to read this policy statement from NAEYC.