Important Things To Look For In Child Care Facilitys
January 9th, 2008 by profitweaver
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Infant daycare is becoming a booming business. After all, more and more working parents will need to return to work after their FMLA or maternity leave runs out, and qualified caregivers are often the only choice for parents whose family and friends are unable to help out with the childcare. Of course, when selecting your infant’s daycare provider, you will need to pay special attention to the facility’s set-up.
Baby proofing is at the top of the list. Here is a list of important things to look for in your infant’s child care facility:
Are household cleaners under lock and key? They should either be moved to a high cabinet or kept locked up so that little hands will not pry open the cabinet and get into something that is harmful.
Are pets locked up? No matter how much your daycare provider insists that her pooch is absolutely wonderful and would not hurt a fly, pets need to be locked up. Ideally they should be out of sight with a door in between your child and the pet. Gates are ok, but keep in mind that little hands might stick a finger through the mesh, and an inquisitive dog may see this as an invitation to play.
Take a look around the facilities for the little baby proofing gadgets you can get at the local mega mart and see if they are all in one piece and used. If they are not installed properly, they will not keep doors and gates securely locked, or the toilet seat lowered. If you use a home daycare provider and she has a pool, make sure that any doors leading to the outside have an audible alarm, and that the pool itself is gated and the gate locked.
Take a look at the toys the daycare facility offers for the little ones. Are they age appropriate for infants? Do they have detachable pieces that an infant could choke on? Conversely, are there broken off pieces that create sharp edges that might cut your infant?
While you are at the daycare center or in-home provider’s house, get down on your hands and knees and take a look around. At that point you are about eye-level with what your baby will see. Do you see any hazards? Check especially for easy to miss items such as marbles, coins, nails, pins, or larger items such as pillows and blankets.
Are lamp cords rolled up or taped down?
Are knives and forks put away securely?
Does your daycare center of in-home provider practice the “back to sleep” method to prevent SIDS? If you see infants who are sleeping on their tummies or on their sides, the odds are pretty good that the supervision is inadequate. As a matter of fact, while in the beginning of the “back to sleep” campaign side-sleeping was considered to be adequate, in more recent years this idea was revoked, and instead it was determined that the only safe way of sleeping for an infant is on his or her back.
Of course, there is more to baby proofing than simple safety concerns. Another very important aspect of keeping your precious infant safe is security. Are there adequate security procedures in place that will ensure that only you and the people to whom you give permission will be able to pick up your child? Perhaps this kind of security could take the form of a signing in and signing out procedure. Other safety issues to consider are the insistence of the daycare provider that all children be properly immunized before being allowed to attend daycare at that location, as well as a well-defined illness policy. Infants are very susceptible to communicable diseases, and a well-defined as well as properly followed sickness policy will ensure that only well children will attend the daycare, while those who are most likely suffering from a contagious illness will be kept at home.
Even the best run daycare center may miss an opportunity to be even safer. Do not hesitate to point out weaknesses and be sure to give specific instances in which you observed such a problem. Then keep an eye out for the problem to be corrected. If it takes too long or does not happen at all, you might want to move on to a different provider.
