How I Chose The Right Nursery For Luca; Tips and Advice

Although I was very excited for Luca to start daycare, the thought made me more nervous than I had expected. Besides the fact that I would be separated from him for the very first time since his birth, I was worried about how I would go about selecting the childcare/ nursery that was right for us. It was something very new to me and I wanted to make sure my decision was a well-rounded one based on facts and positive feedback, after all, not only would the daycare centre I chose be in charge of my child’s well-being and development for the next phase of his life it would also be responsible for his safety, the single most important thing for me.

I began my search by first asking other mothers in my area about the nurseries they had sent their children to, and about their personal experiences with them. I had also scanned my vicinity for all the daycare centers I would spot while driving. It was important for me to have as many options as I could, before narrowing down my list to a select few I would visit.

I heard about some good experiences and not so great ones that made me immediately want to just toss out the idea all together and keep Luca at home forever. I’m sure I’m not the first mother to get cold feet. But of course I was being unreasonable, the right daycare was out there I just had to find it. So before I took any appointments for interviews, I began to do some research of my own, in order to learn about the health and safety criteria I should be assessing each day care centre on and to prepare myself with the right questions and precisely what to look for during our site visits.

By the time I was done, I had requested appointments with around 5 daycare centers in total and although I’m by far no expert in this field, I felt I was well-prepared and knew what are the flags to look out for.

Without mentioning names, I have to say, some daycare centers immediately made it off my list from the first entry point. I remember visiting quite a popular one, that not only didn’t have any security at the door to verify who we were and whether or not we indeed had an appointment, there also was a huge gardening hose sitting right at the entrance door which we almost tripped on. Upon entering, we encountered a few unattended kids in hallway that I could have easily picked up and walked out with no question asked. Also lying in the hallway was a vacuum cleaner with wires just sitting there for any child to play or fall on, one of the stalls in the washroom had an overflowing bag of trash and a bad stench and cleaning supplies were simply just sitting in the washroom accessible to any child. If that weren’t enough there was an open door to an indoor play area with an unblocked stairway for any child to enter and most likely fall down on and the lunch room had food in open plates piled over each other waiting for the children to finish one of their classes to eat.

I couldn’t believe how many hazards I had encountered in less than ten minutes and immediately cut the meeting short and left. I remember feeling baffled by how some parents had so ignorantly allowed their children to attend such centers and made it my mission to warn everyone I knew about it because maybe they just weren’t aware and were fooled by first appearances which could very easily be deceiving.

Another highly recommended nursery I visited seemed ideal at first, with all the right requirements. Half an hour into my meeting and I started to see, just how not so impressive the place was. For example, the outdoor play area had quite a high jungle gym, with no proper padding on the ground, just in case a child were to fall. There was also no shield for the children from the sun, which could potentially cause heat stroke. The Childcare worker who ran the place so proudly explained that she cooks her meals at her home and transports them to the centre, something I knew was against safety recommendations, as firstly because food safety standards advise for only equipped vehicles to transport and preserve food in right temperature, and also reheating cooked food is simply not recommended, therefore its best to find a place that cooks food on site or delivers food from professionals that does not require reheating. Also, the classes seemed clearly overcrowded, and the teacher to child ratio was not as per the 1 teacher and 1 assistant per every 20 children over twenty as per recommendations. And finally the curriculum was less than mediocre to say the least.

Based on the numerous questions I’ve received regarding this topic and the fact that at least 70% of the current workforce is made up of working mothers who have no choice but to put their children in daycare, I’ve made things a little easier for you by teaming up with Boecker® to launch the “ASK YOURSELF” campaign that aims to encourage parents to question the safety of nurseries in order to ensure they have made the right choice of nursery for their children. So instead of going through all the trouble like I did to figure out what to look out for, Boecker® has gone ahead and made a list for you HERE

They’ve also gone a step further to launch the Safe ChildCare™ certification program, the first internationally certified program for childcare facilities. This is a year-round control program that aims to raise awareness of common infection, health and safety systems, food safety, and bio-hazards found in child care facilities. It also consists of a continuous training program for child care staff. So now that such a certification exists, I personally believe this will help so many parents filter out the good childcare centers from the not so great ones.

I’m happy to report that I settled on an amazing Childcare Centre with Luca that exceeded all my expectations and I really hope you can find one that will give you the same piece of mind I got.