Questions for daycare?
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Topic: Questions for daycare?
Posted By: pumpkino
Subject: Questions for daycare?
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 11:45am
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Hi all
I am visiting a daycare centre this afternoon and am making a list of questions to ask. I know I am forgetting loads so was hoping for some ideas of important stuff I need to know? Toby is 7.5 months (he will be 8.5 months when he starts) and we are doing BLW. He is currently EBF but have started trying to give him a bottle. And the daycare centre is one of the I-Kids ones if that makes any difference! Thanks so much for any replies! P :) |
Replies:
Posted By: Renee & Lauren
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 11:55am
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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 ------------- http://lilyslim.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: rachndean
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 12:32pm
The daycare that we use is big on BLW. All the kids sit at a little table together, the chairs have sides so they cant fall out, and are about 10cm off the ground. They encourage all children to feed themselves, even DD who was 5.5 months when she started 
Ask them about the philosophy that they follow. Our daycare follows the Regio Emelio method, which is big on independence and child led education, I love it. Also ask them about how they structure their staff ie for sleep time, meal times etc. whether or not your child will have a "primary carer". Talk with them heaps about any routine that you follow during the day so they can get a feel for it and let you know what parts of it could be an issue. Talk heaps with all the teachers, having a great reationship with them all helps a lot, i find the more i build the relationships with the teachers, the easier they find it to open up to me and tell me everything, even if it is going to make me angry
I found it great being a "fly on the wall" at mealtimes for some of our visits. That is always the most manic time of the day, and it is amazing how much you can learn about the centre and their staff just by watching them at those times!! Good luck!! It isnt easy leaving them at daycare, but it has heaps of good points! They love it so much and learn so many amazing things!!!  ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
DD Savannah 18.01.04 DS Austin 04.09.08 |
Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 2:22pm
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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 ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: monikah
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 3:14pm
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my kids went into care quite early cos i was at at uni. there were some things that were real importnat to us at home so i asked what their policies were on a few things. my first thing was did they ever have kids watch dvd's, tv etc... (apparently some centres do) cos our kids dont watch tv.
cloth nappies was another though they dont have the storage facilities. the other big one was processed or junk food. they allow no packets, junk etc.. but do occasionally have little parties for birthdays and leaving (where they offer cake and chippies) but they did offer to let me know in advance in case i wanted to take in healthy substitues which i didnt do because i am happy for him to have occasional treats but the fact they offered an alternative impressed me. our creche has a no peanut policy at all. no peanut butter, muesli bars containing peanuts etc.. each kid is also cared for in whatever is specific to them. some kids get left to cry for very short times if that is whats done at home, others are rocked, swaddled etc... some kids get finger food, some get spoon fed etc... ------------- 
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Posted By: pumpkino
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 4:23pm
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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 :) |
Posted By: Renee & Lauren
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 5:23pm
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which centre did you go with P? ------------- http://lilyslim.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: MrsMc
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 6:20pm
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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 |
Posted By: pumpkino
Date Posted: 19 August 2010 at 8:03pm
| It's the I-Kids at Cambridge Tce :) |
Posted By: Renee & Lauren
Date Posted: 21 August 2010 at 11:59am
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oh I know someone there and she is fantastic - good on you P. ------------- http://lilyslim.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: pumpkino
Date Posted: 21 August 2010 at 6:05pm
| Thanks R&L - we feel very lucky as there is a heavy waitlist, we were just fortunate that a family with a child the same age and needing the same days as us is moving away! Makes me feel a lot better about going back to work knowing that I got my first choice of childcare...but still going to be sad when he starts :( |