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The very thought of leaving your little one under the supervision of a third person gives many parents a jittery feeling. This third person could either be a help employed at home, or the ones at daycare. Day-cares are becoming the necessity of the hour, as more mothers prefer to work after their maternity or sabbatical breaks and also because of the rise of nuclear families. While some kids start going to the day-care as young as nine months, when they are introduced to solids, others start off after two years of age. While some kids are looked at by their grandparents at home, there is still a majority of families wherein the grandparents are either too old or in some other part of the city, as a result, parents have to turn to daycare centres.
Choosing the right daycare is particularly important because the kid is going to spend a major part of the day there, and this will also in the due course of time hone her skills in preparing for the formal school as well for society. Presenting top 8 tips for choosing the right day-care for your little one.
8 important tips to keep in mind while shortlisting a day care facility for your little one!
1. Do your research
This is the first and the most difficult step in deciding on the daycare. Do your research well in advance before you have to start sending your kid to the centre. This should be at least 4-5 months before; you actually have to start off. This is because there are a large number of centres available. Read about them online, visit them and also go through reviews both online as well as offline from community neighbourhoods.
2. Visit the center
After you have done all the recce online, visit the centre. Talk to the teachers, have a look at the entire premises and the help. Inquire how exactly does it function, because every day-care has different rules. Ask whatever questions are there in your mind. Do not shy from asking any sort of questions, because it is for the kid’s well-being only.
3. Checking the environment
When you are visiting the centre, you should also talk to the teachers and the help involved. Are they providing food, if yes, then the kitchen is the most important place to check? Do they have sanitisers? Are all health precautions getting practised? Are the rooms well lit? What are the various toys and activities to keep the kids engaged? Just by having a thorough check, you can be assured that your child is going to just the right place.
4. Fees structure
After you have zeroed on some of the daycares, check on their fees structure. What all does it include and what it doesn’t. Also find if there are any hidden charges, which might crop up when the session has started. This often becomes a topic of heated discussion between the management and the parents later on.
5. Distance from home to day care
Always check the distance before finally opting for the daycare. This is a prime factor as you do not want to miss your office schedules before dropping your child at the daycare.
6. Keep a regular contact
When you have selected the daycare, and the kid has started going to it, you should keep in touch with the teachers and the helping staff. Ask them to share their numbers which will help in case an emergency occurs. Also, visit the centres every weekend for updates and to track the progress of how your child is coping with the new surroundings and the people. Ask what all meal plans do they follow, and what activities do they follow to keep the little ones engaged?
7. Drop by uninformed
This is the most famous and top tip when you have chosen the daycare. Plan random visits to the daycare. This time should be different from your regular pick and drop timings. This is particularly important to see how the staff is behaving or interacting with the kids.
8. Trust your instinct and opt for a change
If you find anything amiss and do not like the staff or the teachers, immediately opt for a new daycare. If you are turned off by the centre follow this practice immediately, even if the daycare is reputed. This is because what worked for the other child might not as well work for you and your child.
