Touring daycare programs can be an intimidating process. Like many parents, you’ve probably narrowed your choices down to a few programs that are well-known for their high quality. On your tours, you will want to look for signs of an unsafe daycare.
How do you identify unsafe daycare programs? First, you can start by using this child care tour checklist which provides a list of some of the most important features to look for on your tour. But what are some areas of immediate concern? What are those practices that, if you see them, should immediately set off alarm bells?
Below we list some of the biggest red flags that indicate a daycare that is not meeting the standards expected of a high-quality program. Should you see any of these red flags, you’ll want to seriously consider whether the program is a good fit for your family. At the very least, you’ll want to talk with the program’s director to alert them and discuss what you saw.
1. Children left unattended.
One of the biggest red flags of an unsafe daycare that you could witness during a child care tour would be children left unattended. Children should always be watched by adults while they are at daycare. State licensing rules determine how many adults must be in each classroom, which depends on the number of children and their ages. However, children should never be left alone. If you see children left unattended, you should alert the director immediately as this is a serious safety violation.
There are emergencies, like a bad storm or a fire, that happen infrequently that might cause a teacher to be out of the room very briefly. Should you witness such a situation at child care, talk to the teacher about their plan for handling emergencies. They should be able to outline what they do to keep children safe and secure during times of trouble. If they are not able to describe their plan for these types of situations, it’s a red flag for a disorganized daycare program.
2. Unsafe playground equipment.
Another sign of an unsafe daycare is poorly cared-for playground equipment. Outdoor playtime is essential to healthy physical, social, and emotional development in children. Any child care program you consider should have an outdoor area with toys and playground equipment that are appropriate for children of different ages. There should be both areas in the sun and places to find shade.
Most of all, playground equipment should be in good working order. If it’s not, it should not be used until it is repaired. Unsafe playground equipment should be free from exposed rusted metal, in clean working condition, and with a soft ground covering, like mulch or sand.
When you’re touring a child care program take some time to see how children use the play equipment. Is it appropriate for children of different ages? Are there opportunities for them to fall? These are the questions you should ask yourself to understand whether the playground is not only safe but fun for children of all ages and needs.
3. A loud, chaotic classroom.
Get a lot of children in a room at once and the noise level will be deafening at times. But these times should be infrequent and the teachers should be able to quiet children when needed. Loud and chaotic classrooms are a daycare red flag. A classroom that is loud on a frequent or continual basis could be a sign that the teacher or caregiver can’t manage the classroom effectively. On-going high noise levels can be stressful for children.
Certain types of child care programs, like Montessori, pride themselves on their ability to foster a calm atmosphere for children to thrive and learn. However, all types of child care programs should be able to provide a calm environment.
When touring child care programs, observe how the teachers work to transition the children to new activities. A good teacher should be able to deftly move children from one activity to the next. During quiet times, they should be able to sustain the quiet and be effective at working with children to calm them.
4. Poor food preparation.
Another red flag of an unsafe daycare is improper food storage and handling. Safe food preparation is a primary way that your child’s daycare works to keep them healthy. Most states will include rules about appropriate food handling in their licensing standards. Typically these standards will include expectations like not leaving food unrefrigerated, washing food preparation utensils thoroughly before use, and warming breast milk appropriately.
Watch how teachers work with food and what they do at the end of food times. Good daycares will have a set process for serving food. Children should be trained on this process so that they can learn about food safety. Practice modeling good food safety at home as well. An older child, like preschool-age, should be able to tell you about how they prepare food at their daycare. Support good food handling practices by getting your child involved in food preparation at home.
5. Caregivers who yell.
We all lose our cool sometimes but it is never acceptable for a caregiver to yell. Yelling is a strong sign that a caregiver or teacher does not have the right demeanor for working with young children day in, and day out. It’s also a red flag about the program as a whole that they employ caregivers who resort to yelling. Look for programs where the teachers and caregivers use techniques like redirection rather than punishment or yelling.
What happens if you see a teacher lose their cool with children? This is a red flag that many parents consider a dealbreaker. At the very least, you will want to speak to the program’s director about your concerns. The director should be able to talk to you about their process for working with teachers to improve their skills, whether it is related to yelling or some other area of teacher training.
6. Few learning opportunities for preschoolers.
Preschoolers are primed to learn! Math, reading, science…children ages 3 and 4 love the thrill of discovery. What if you go on a tour and you see few learning activities taking place? This isn’t always a sign that the program is terrible, many loving caregivers don’t focus on educational activities. It may be that their program is more focused on babies and toddlers whose primary needs are emotional support and caring.
If you value learning for your preschooler, a lack of structured learning opportunities could be a red flag of a low-quality daycare. Learning opportunities are an essential component of a high-quality child care program. Look for programs that use a curriculum and can describe their method for encouraging learning. Evidence of a thoughtful approach to engaging the children in their care is a sign of a program that values learning.
7. Babies who aren’t held when crying.
The most important quality of a good caregiver of babies is that they attend to their emotional and physical needs. One of the most essential of those simple needs is to be held regularly. A key sign of an unsafe daycare is a lack of children being held when they were in distress. A good caregiver will respond with promptness to the cries of the babies in her care. She will hold and cuddle them when they are not crying. Failure to comfort babies when they are crying isn’t always a sign of cruelness, sometimes the caregiver is just overwhelmed. But it is a sign that the baby’s basic needs aren’t being met.
You may notice that at smaller daycares it may be more difficult for the caregiver to immediately respond to a baby’s cries. At a family daycare for example the daycare provider is often pulled in many directions. She can’t always drop everything to immediate comfort a crying baby. However, a good family daycare provider should have a good process established for getting older children settled so that they can care for a baby.
8. Reliance on electronics.
Daycare and preschool present a great opportunity for children to flourish outside of the home and their normal routines. Understandably, parents may use electronics as entertainment in the home. Children spend most of their time in the home and parents can monitor the use of electronics to match their values. Child care is a time to relish in the freedom from electronics.
Programs that rely too much on electronics are missing key opportunities to help the children in their care flourish. Learning, play, physical activity, food, and rest should always take priority over any screen time in a child care program. Make sure to take notes on how these kinds of enriching activities are incorporated into the day when you are touring daycares.
Good daycares typically have a written policy about screen time. This policy should outline the situations in which screen time is allowed and what the time limits are on that time. Screen time should be infrequent and used to meet an educational need.
9. Lack of hygiene when diapering.
A consistent, clean diapering routine shows that a daycare provider has put time and thought into the basics of running a quality program. Licensing requirements in most states will have certain rules about the diapering of children. Make sure to look at the requirements in your states before touring daycares so that you can ensure that they are meeting the expected diapering standards.
Good child care providers will typically have a set schedule for when they go through the diapering process for all children. This gives them a chance to make sure all children who need to be changed are changed in a timely manner. Of course, diaper changes aren’t something that can always be planned. Ask your child care about what they do when a child needs to be changed in unexpected circumstances. For instance, when the children are playing outside do they bring diapers with them? Or, does one teacher bring the child inside to change them? Understanding these processes will give you a sense of how organized the daycare is. A daycare provider who doesn’t have a standard operating procedure for these situations could be a red flag of a disorganized daycare.
10. Failure to use age-appropriate activities.
Some daycares only care for children of a certain age. Think of preschools or centers that offer only care for infants. Most child care will accept children across many age groups. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are the most common ages. School-age care is sometimes offered. For daycares with different age groups, it is important that programming is offered that is developmentally appropriate for each group.
What a preschooler needs to thrive is not what an infant needs. Failure to offer activities and care that is appropriate to each age group is a red flag because it means that the program is not being intentional about its approach and curriculum. Look for programs where the staff, including the director, can talk comfortably about how they differentiate their programming based on children’s ages as this is a sign of a quality program.