Choosing a good daycare facility can sometimes prove to be a daunting task as many people cannot be trusted nowadays.
We have heard ugly stories surrounding daycare facilities. We have also heard of babies dying or sustaining serious injuries after falling from a balcony.
We have heard of women who breastfeed children in a daycare facility and infect them with HIV/AIDS. With all these challenges, how then do you go about selecting a good daycare facility for your baby?
1.Security comes first.
When choosing a daycare facility, go for the one with some high level of security. Is there a perimeter wall? Is it well fenced? Does it have a secure gate and a present watchman?
You should leave your baby in a safe and secure place. You do not want to hear that robbers entered the daycare facility and stole or damaged properties.
2.Know the caretaker well.
Even after ensuring that the place is safe and secure, you still need to take you time to know the caretaker well. Have long chats with him or her. Get to know her characters and behaviours. You can even get a second opinion from her neighbours to ascertain that s/he is of good character. Tragedy is when you leave your baby in the care of a person of questionable characters.
3.Check feeding programme.
You do not want your baby to starve. You should thus look and discuss into details the feeding arrangement. Most daycare facilities prefer the parent to bring the baby and the food.
In that case, it is up to you to pack good, quality and well-balanced food for your baby. In case the daycare provides food for the baby, then you need to know which kinds of food. If the menu is not at par with your standard, then you might think of supplementing it.
4.Teaching aid and other facilities.
Most daycare facilities offer basic teaching to babies. They therefore, have some teaching aid. Some have videos for children. Some have various games for children. Look at the type of teaching aids the daycare has. Does it have a variety of games/lessons for the children? A good daycare facility should also have enough chairs and beds.
5.Charges.
Before you sign a contract or start bringing your baby, it is important you know how much the facility charges. Do they charge daily, weekly or monthly? How do they charge for half a day? What about the weekends? Are weekend charges different from weekday charges? Can you afford the daycare facility?