She is only a couple of months along but because infant spots are so hard to find she's already looking for childcare. I most likely won't have a spot for her but she wants some advice on what to look for and what to ask when visiting potential providers. I can give her plenty of advice for home daycare but I have no clue what to tell her when it comes to interviewing centers. Any suggestions?

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For centers I would ask about rartios, division of caregiving (if each teacher in the room assigned as lead caregiver for certain children or all the teachers just handle whomever as needs arise), I would try to get a true feel for how the teachers meet the needs of all the infants in the room. I was in a center where the infants really cried most of the day because the teachers went trained in picking hip on infant cues before they got to crying. The other center I was in the lead oinfant teacher of the uounfg imnfants felt that should all be on a schedule so the babies cries a lot because they were not fed or put down for naps on demand. Both were hard on my heart was a teacher in a different room because I could hear it all day long. I used to have to wear headphones in the lounge areas because I could deal with the crying or I would spend all my break time in there rocking babies.

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I would ask a center if the person I leave my child with is whom I will see my child with at pickup. This is the biggest complaint in my county. Parents ask a question but can't get an answer because it depends on what time of day and who was with the child at the time and some centers can't narrow that down.

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Ask what their staff turn-over rate is, staff education/experience, how many caregivers your child will have in a day or week. And I'd ask for names/numbers of other parents to get their opinions.

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Thank you for your replies, this information will be very helpful to her. I would have never thought of any of those things to ask.

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