Hi all,
Expecting our first baby.
Was wondering how people went about choosing a childcare centre? Like, what did you look for in a centre, what warning signs to lookout for?
We would be expecting to start using childcare from around 6 months old.
Thanks!
Good question, I placed a much higher value on how I perceived the staff than I did on the new and shininess of the centre.
Once you have shortlisted a few, have a number of visits at different times of day, one snapshot on a certain day can be quite different from another on a different day.
Chat to the person who will be in charge of the room they would be in and make sure you feel comfortable with them.
Thanks for the suggestion! Do you have to book in a time to visit a centre or can you just drop in anytime to have a look?
Few things
Honestly, you'll walk through a few and you just get a feel about it, whether its good or not. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions and watch how they interact with the kids. It's your money and your childs safety after all.
Very good points - specially about staff turn over.
Although, staff to child ratio in a room doesn't mean anything to these centres now, it is all under roof ratio.
Also some daycares pretty much isolate the age groups while some might have mixed interactions/playtime).
Having had my kids in both types, I'd go with the ones that don't mix all age groups from Kinder down in the same room/house etc. It really gets to be lord of the flies in the afternoon and the little ones get neglected and injuries happen. The isolated ages group bit is much less prone to serious accidents in my experience, but this might also be because supervision is better.
inspect as many as you can in your area, or wherever you want to apply AND at different times. A lot of places will put on their A game for inspections, but normally they have their C game on
Ask them how they would handle a child that has fallen over and hurt themselves / is crying. If they don't say they'd pick them up and give them a cuddle then you're in the wrong centre.
If it looks like a hospital with clean walls and a sterile environment. You're in the wrong centre.
Start with this and note the NQS. In addition to what the other Ozbargainers have posted. I put my child in one that has Exceeding NQS in all areas except one. She is very happy there.
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/resources/national-registers/servi…
one that doesn't charge you a fee for late pick up or early drop off.
Good luck on that. Never seen a centre that doesn't do this. Perhaps for one of those "daycare at a home" type places with 1 or 2 staff they might not. But for a legitimate child care centre they'll charge you simply to cover their costs.
the one my son goes to opens from 7am to 7pm. you can pick up and drop off anytime within these hours.. I know some centres will charge extra to pick up after 5pm.
Very valid point on convenience for pick up and drop off else it will drive you nuts rushing around to drop off or pick up.
Seriously the best thing to do is get recommendations from other parents in your area. The ones that have strong opinions on the childcare centres are usually the ones that have done a lot of legwork on the matter.
Also the government/council run ones are generally better in my opinion (NSW and Vic is my experience) they are also generally cheaper (and thus not as shiny and new) and have good longevity of staff. Be careful that the centre isn't full of 55/60 yr old staff that while very experienced, just don't have their heart in it. You want a good mix of experience and you want to really believe in the manager of the centre and understand their track record. Everything flows from the top down in these places.
apply for a few as you might not get in
You can't really window shopping on Childcare Centre where I'm
Some areas you need to apply for them before you even thinking about having a kid.
Children to staff ratio is a good thing to look at.
Nothing beats parent recommendation, then checking out those recommendations yourself. Join a local play group & mothers group if you dont know any/many parents in the area. Others in those groups are bound to have other kids who have been through childcare/are in right now.
I usually wouldn't recommend fb mum's group, but it's a great resource pool in navigating the minefield of parenthood. They'd be the first to share/vent their disappointment, just look pass the dramas lol
Centres operating in high-rise building was a concern after being made aware of the evacuation procedure (something we initially didn't think about) where each educator is responsible for up to 4 babies/toddlers. It didn't seem logistically feasible to juggle that many (some non-walking) kids and usher them down the stairs during a evac.
Lots of good comments above. One my sister always told me (she works as a kindergarten teacher) have a quick look in the toilets and see if they are clean. If the staffs general attitude is "its not my job to clean up any mess - the cleaners will do that" then it is a bit of a red flag. Obviously take this with a grain of salt as sometimes accidents cannot be cleaned up the second they occur, but if it looks like things are being ignored it is a not a good sign.
Outdoor play space and how long they get outside was a big one for us, my boys needed to be outside or a as much of the day as practical and some centres have very small windows for each group to be outside. Not so important for a baby but just another thing to consider if you want to be there long term.
Don't discredit any gut instinct, if something just feels wrong than go somewhere else. I remember doing a tour of a lovely looking child care centre but the stuff the lady was saying in passing was alarming to me, it seemed like she really hated the kids (especially the boys).
Maybe consider rearing your child yourself? You will never regret it latter in life a lot of parents now tell me they missed that bonding and feel they have never made up for it.
Pretty unhelpful comment that doesn’t answer the question asked…
How many kids do you have?
Two
And you reared them all by yourself? Well done, you must be loaded!
lots of things to consider.
- Cost (+ Meal & Nappy included or not)
- Location & Hour
- Programme (is it Kindy approved or not)
- General Attitude of the Staff & Carer (if they're not friendly to you, don't expect them to be friednly to screaming children)
You'd better start putting your name in the waiting list even at the place that you like least. Some places can have months of waiting list.