Stay up to speed
As soon as you determine your provider, start taking steps to keep up to know your day care and guidelines. Take these tips into consideration:
- Establish a respectful and professional relationship. This will help you feel comfortable asking them important questions down the road.
- Determine who your day care provider's licensor is by calling Social Services at 952-891-7400. Having the licensor's phone number on hand will make it easy for you to call and check on any new licensing actions or violations.
- Stay familiar with child care rules and regulations. For example, know how many children should be in a provider's care at any one time. It can also be beneficial to know what is required day care providers.
- Exchange phone numbers or email addresses with parents of other children at the day care. They can be a good source of information about how the day care is run and what the provider is like with different ages of children.
- Develop a backup plan for day care in case of unforeseen circumstances. For example, illnesses often catch people off guard. Handling those situations will be much less stressful if you already have a plan in place.
Follow up in a few months
After your child has been under someone else's supervision for several months, re-evaluate the provider. Start by talking to the provider and asking any important questions you have. See if they are current on their required training or have plans on completing training. You can also call the provider every once in a while to see how your child's day is going.
While such questions can be helpful, some re-evaluation can be done through observations.
- Randomly drop in during the middle of the day. This will give you a glimpse of the home's atmosphere and allow you to see how children are cared for when parents aren't around.
- If your child is old enough, check in with them to see what their experience is like. If they're too young to communicate, pay attention to how they play and notice what they are modeling.
- Each time you drop off and pick up your child, observe both the infant sleeping area and the general day care space. Do the cribs look safe and current? Are outlets covered? Are heavy, unstable pieces of furniture such as TVs and bookshelves anchored?
- Try to take note of whether the provider seems to be sitting at their computer each time you come to pick up your child. If they' re spending a lot of time using the telephone or computer or watching television, they may be less attentive to your child.