Single Parent: How to Choose a Daycare Center

Choosing a daycare center for your child is a very daunting responsibility. Whether you are a couple or a single parent, you are choosing the people who will be caring for your child for a large part of the day. You are choosing the environment they will be in during that eight or nine hour period. Think about it. The daycare you choose will have a profound effect on your child's life.

So it only makes sense that choosing a daycare should be a top priority in your life. And no major decision should ever be made quickly. It takes time to find the right place, so a parent should begin looking ahead of time, if possible.

The first place most parents turn to when searching for a good daycare is their family and friends. These are people you know and trust. Ask if they have used a daycare and how they rated it. You know that if they trusted their children there, it is a good indication that it is a good daycare. But you still have an obligation to check the daycare out before enrolling your child there. Who knows, the daycare may have changed ownership or have new workers. For yours and your child's sake, do a check even if it comes highly recommended.

Logically, the next place to look is in the yellow pages and on the Internet for daycare listings. This will help you locate the daycares. It is only the beginning, though. Don't just pick one out of the phone book and stick your child in it. You should really check as many of the daycares that you can. Call them and ask some questions over the phone. Many times this will help to eliminate some of them. They may be full; they may be way too expensive. They could only accept certain age groups. They might be located on the other side of town. Just a few phone calls can help narrow your search.

Once you have narrowed your possibilities to three to four, then start the serious investigations. Go visit the daycares. Check out their facilities and ask about meals. See if you can actually spend some time there to see how they interact with the kids. Talk to the personnel. Ask for references and names of some of the past and current parents who have used the daycare. If the daycare is legit, they should have no trouble with your asking for references.

Once you get some references from each of the daycares, make a list and start calling the parents. Ask how they rate the daycare and if they had any problems. Most parents will be honest with you and take the time to answer your questions. If they had problems, ask them to explain what the daycare did to correct the problems or if they tried to correct it. When you've check with several references for each of your possibilities, then you should have a better idea of which one you like the best.

The best way to choose a daycare is to do your homework. Check them out thoroughly. Take the time to make sure that they will provide the best care possible for your child. After all, they will be taking care of your most valuable possession, your child.

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