Getting Ready For Daycare
June 29, 2017
If you have children and both you and your partner are working – finding a daycare or child care will be important to you.
There are a number of different options when it comes to child care: day care centres, in home care with a friend or nanny, licensed programs and unlicensed homes. No matter what choice works for you and your family, we have some tips to make this transition easier.
1) First & Foremost – Trust Your Gut
You know when something does not feel right. No matter where you go or who you interact with, if something feels off keep searching for your ideal daycare especially if you feel off put by:
- Staff
- Location
- Interactions you see
- A feeling you get when you enter a private daycare
Children are great indicators of situations as well. If your child is uneasy or not themselves that might be an indication a particular daycare is not for you.
2) Look For Policies In Place:
Before choosing a daycare find out what the policy is for:
- Discipline
- Feeding
- Toilet needs/diaper changes
- Sleeping
- Sickness
- Immunizations
- Sick days (if daycare is closed what do you do)
- Snacks
- Special needs children
- Late pick up
- Emergencies
- Allergies
If there are no policies in place for the above situations you might want to ask why.
3) Keep Communication Lines Open
If your child cannot talk yet – continuously talk to caregivers and ask questions about your child’s day; eating, nap time, bathroom, friends, outbursts, etc. If your child had an off night at home or if something happened at home let your caregiver know so that if your child is not behaving like themselves there is no cause for concern.
If there is no time for open communication as drop off & pick up can be a difficult and busy time, ask for a better method of communication – texting, Facebook page, daily summary – whatever works. If you find that communication is lacking at your daycare, start problem solving immediately.
4) Conduct Your Own Investigations
Referrals and word of mouth suggestions are a wonderful way to start a daycare but you should stop by and investigate the location yourself. Look for things such as:
- Cleanliness
- Books (age appropriate)
- Toys (choking hazards)
- Age appropriate designations
- Interaction between staff and children (is staff loving and nurturing or are they always looking down on the children?)
Conducting an unannounced drop by allows you to see how things run before and while your child is in daycare. This can help confirm if the location is right for you.
5) Be Open To Change
Know that you can always change locations and daycare providers. If things do not work for you and your family with your first daycare selection you can make other arrangements and try finding a location and option that work best for your child needs and your schedule.
Here is a link that has Saskatoon’s licensed and unlicensed daycare programs.
For more support regarding daycare there is also a Facebook Closed Group for Meadows Mom’s that might be able to support you with questions regarding Day Cares in The Meadows.