Choosing a Day Care Centre

The decision to return to work is one of the hardest decisions a mother will make.  Questions begin to run through your head and the guilt sets it.  Once the decision is made the difficulty then is finding suitable day care facilities, whether that be a nanny, home care or a day care centre.

Upon my decision to return to work we opted for the day care facility.  I was quite unprepared for how difficult it can be to find a day care centre not only that you are comfortable with but that also has availability.  Some centres I spoke to had up to 12 month waiting lists.  It was crazy.

After finding a number of centres that had immediate availability or short waiting lists I started the slog of visiting each centre.  I made the decision to take Mia with me as I wanted to gauge their reaction to her as well as check out the overall facilities.

I am not afraid to tell you I was shocked at some of the centres I visited.  Mia at the time was going into the standard babies room (meaning 3months to 1 year).  Tears came to my eyes in one place where the babies room was tiny with no carpet on the floor and no natural light.  The kids in that room looked so sad, it was a very quick exit and I almost changed my mind about returning to work.  Not knowing if I was over reacting to some of these centres I enlisted my sisters help in checking some out with me and she agreed it was heart breaking.

I finally found a centre (Tumbleweed, Cannington) that had a great feel the moment I walked in.  When my sister and I discussed it later we made the following list of pros and cons:

Positives

1) bright and airy
2) large room
3) Carers whisked Mia away from us the moment we walked in the door and genuinely seemed to love their jobs
4) Great food menu
5) Outdoor area specific for the age of the children (older children had their own area)
6) Security entrance
7) General good atmosphere

Negative

1) The room catered for 3 months to 2 years.  I was a little concerned about 2 year olds running around the babies but by spending some time there I realised it wasn't a problem.

We enrolled her immediately and she loved it.  We have since moved her to a centre at the end of our street which did have an 8 month wait list.  This centre (Blue Bird Ngala) not only had all of the above positives but it also firmly believes in continuity of care.  Each room has 3 carers, at the end of the year one of these carers moves into the next room following the children who have turned a year older to ensure that they are not starting in a new room by themselves that they have the familiarity of one of their carers going with them.  The children remaining in the old room keep their remaining 2 carers and receive 1 new one. 

The other huge benefit is the team leader in each room has 1 day per week "development day" allowing parents to make appointments to meet with them to discuss the progress of your child.

So my advice to you is check out as many centres as you can, check out their facilities and above all go with your gut feel.