Questions for daycare?

You will need to ask if they do BLW (I am not sure if any daycares would do that TBH).

Also, ask to see their policies about sickness etc. Make sure you read them thoroughly.

Thats all I can think of at the moment - if you want some advice on some daycare - PM me. I used to work for some

Our daycare is happy for DD to do BLW there. They are so impressed at how well she eats! (Good thing they are impressed about something, because she sure isn't an impressive sleeper!!). I didn't actually ask about BLW, I just said I'll be sending DD with finger food only, and it must be up to her what she eats and how much - they just have to offer. She has allergies though, so I did ask quite a few questions about how they manage those kids and stop them stealing off others plates and deal with birthday cakes brought in etc.

I asked lots of questions about sleep - how do they get them to sleep, who gets them to sleep, gets them up etc.

I visit to BF usually twice daily, so also had questions about how that was going to work. It's also been really great because I get to observe them going about life and I'm really happy with the daycare and how they treat the kids etc.

Ask them about dicipline (I'm having a brain melt and can't spell that for the life of me!), I also asked about how long they'd let them cry before they got cuddled etc. Depends on what is important to you.

We use cloth nappies so I asked about that.

Also the carer thing - ours has a primary carer and a back-up carer that do all the nappy changes, feeding, sleep stuff etc, although I've noticed DD is also gravitating towards another carer who behaves towards the kids much like I do and I often see her sneaking in to join stories with her etc., which is fine.

We also talked about their development strategies etc, and I really liked their philosphy of child-led development too.

Perhaps also ask about how much they'll tell you about her day etc, and how much consultation they'll have with you if there are issues. Ours has a daily notebook where we can write messages to each other, and they document her day. We've also had several chats about ideas to get the little terror sleeping better, cos she's worse at daycare than she is at home (sigh!).

Good luck - it's damn hard - walking out on my crying baby absolutely breaks my heart - but she mostly has a wonderful time there and the rest of it is awesome. It's just that walking away while she cries part that I hate!

Ok, thats enough of a novel for me. If it helps, I was sick in my stomach about the idea of putting DD in care, but actually, I'm so glad I have now. As soon as we master the sleeping, we'll be away laughing

Thanks everyone - just got back from the visit and I was pretty happy with it, although I was surprised that I felt quite emotional while I was there and they were saying "this is where Toby will sleep" etc...

They are totally child led and like monikah's creche they will replicate whatever we do at home, so BLW is fine, they don't have set meal or sleep times for the infants - if they are hungry they feed them and if they're tired they put them down for a nap etc (unless you have a set routine which you want them to follow).

It was nice to see the staff cuddling the little ones and esp to see the toddlers reaching out for their carers or running up and hugging their legs - that can't be faked!!

Thanks for all your replies, definitely gave me some new stuff to ask them!!

P :)

sounds like a good one. Nice to know theyr will do whatever you do at home, thats the way it should be done.
totally normal to feel emotional about being there

oh I know someone there and she is fantastic - good on you P.