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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Inspection Question
broncomom1973 11:47 AM 01-16-2011
I am transitioning from a registered to licensed daycare and have my 1st inspection on Tuesday. My question is everything in my kitchen and bathroom is locked up (I use tot loks) anyway, does she still want to look in all of these cabinets? As far as areas of the home that arent used, like my upstairs and my basement- what do they look at these areas for. I mean, if the children are never in these areas (I do have a small gated off area for tornadoes), what do they look for. My dh has a carpet cleaning business that he runs out of our home. His office is in the basement and he has tons of electronics (computers, monitors, printers) and some cleaning equipment down there. The children have never even seen this part of my home, so how childproofed does it need to be? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, I thought I read someones post that diaper ointment was in their own childs room and wasnt put away and they were told it needed to be removed. Why does it matter in our childrens rooms if (our own children and the daycare kids) arent in them during daycare hours? Also, where do you keep your diaper changing supplies in your daycare area? Do they have to be locked up? I currently keep them in a 3 drawer plastic storage unit that does not lock but is across the gate in a non daycare area. Too much to think about!!!!
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Abigail 01:12 PM 01-16-2011
Wow, that was a lot of questions. LOL. I will be using tot loks too--they're awesome! I don't care how expensive they are compared to traditional locks either, it'll be soo funny to have a friend/neighbor/relative over who can't open it! Anyways...

Each inspector does things differently. Usually if you just use common sense you'll do fine. Here they go through every room of the house, just so they have an overall idea of what the house looks like. Even if children are only allowed in part of the house, it's still fine if they go elsewhere to look. Besides, if you hesitate and don't want them in certain rooms they are going to wonder what is going on and put up a red flag. You might just have a "messy room" you don't want them to see and they might think you have explosives or something .


The children have never even seen this part of my home, so how childproofed does it need to be? If the children are not allowed in this area of the home, it doesn't need to be childproof. You'll just have to state the areas of the home that children are allowed to be in and they'll have that on file for future reference. If children have to pass by the room you better have it childproofed because you never know who will open that door and a baby crawls in.....the licensure might give you "crazy" theories of what could happen or might happen. In general, if this area is off-the-beaten-road of the daycare area I wouldn't worry about it at all.

Oh yeah, I thought I read someones post that diaper ointment was in their own childs room and wasnt put away and they were told it needed to be removed. Chances are, the children had access to this room or it wasn't blocked off from the daycare area. Even with our own children it's good practice to childproof anything potentially harmful. Even if the daycare kids were not allowed in this child's bedroom to access it, the child who lived in that room was probably allowed to go their and they're considered a daycare kid too.


Where do you keep your diaper changing supplies in your daycare area?
I don't have my own daycare yet, but when I do, I will have a three-drawer dresser with edges on the top for the changing pad and use the tot loks for all the drawers and have each drawer have two children's supplies in it. I will provider the Huggies brand wipes and they will provide all the diapers and any other items they might need for diaper changes.

Do they have to be locked up? The diapers don't have to be locked up, but any ointment or other item that could be harmful if swallowed, etc. needs to be locked up. Baby powder, shampoos, etc. those could all be harmful I'm guessing. The easiest way might be to label every child's "potentially harmful" item used for diapering and put it in a basket up high. The plastic storage unit should be fine, just make sure you never leave the gate open.

You should ask your friend to come over and take a look around for anything you might be missing. Having someone's point of view really helps. Make sure things outside (even if you have snow on the ground and can't play outside) is safe too. Don't have a gas can, lawn mower, sharp objects, extension cords, or bug sprays laying out somewhere.
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Missani 01:17 PM 01-16-2011
The diaper ointment was me. It was in my son's room that is on a different level of the house than the daycare area and not used by daycare kids (or my kids) during the day. I was able to keep it in his room (it's in a drawer so pretty safe) but I had to put a child handle on the door and keep the door shut during the day. Easy fix and no big deal!
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broncomom1973 02:10 PM 01-16-2011
Thanks ladies. As for the ointment in the room, I asked because my 3 and 6 year old dd's share a room and every once in awhile I use diaper ointment on my 3 year old if "her potty starts to hurt". She is potty trained but doesnt always wipe herself real well when she wipes (I usually do this for her but on rare occasion she will do it). So, sometimes at night I will put ointment on her with a pull-up. I keep it on top of the dresser, so that is why I wondered. Thanks again.
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Annette 02:58 PM 01-17-2011
Really depends on who your inspector is, have been doing this for 30 years and never know what to expect. Have gates on my stairways and some will want to go upstairs and others won't. Common sense is the best advise. Fortunately here in my neck of the woods we just unionized with CSEA and now have someone to represent us if there are any issues. One provider was written up for a napkin sleeve in her pantry, the kids could put it over their head and suffocate..???????
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Tags:inspection, potty train, wiping
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