Selecting Crèche For Children

All working moms have struggled with the dilemma of having to leave the child behind and go to work. While family support is of course the best option where you know that you can hire the maid and your child will be looked after well at the home. However, with the nuclear family system of today, it is becoming more and more difficult to find a family member who can stay at home for the child. Thus, crèche is the only option that the working parents are often left with to look after their child. Here are a few guidelines that you will find useful while selecting the crèche for your baby:

Ask about the motivation for starting the crèche

Pay attention to the personal hygiene, house and surroundings.

Assess the mannerism of the caretakers, their education standard and reading ability.

Know how many children are there at the crèche at a time.

It is advisable to find out how many people of the staff and their own children stay at the same premises.

Check whether there are enough caretakers to look after all the children.

It is your right to know what food is given to the children and what will you need to provide for the baby.

Know about the sterilization of the bottles and whether milk is boiled and stored properly.

The caregivers should know the basic home nursing and first aid knowledge and there should be a medical facility inside the premises.

Having medical assistance, doctors and hospitals nearby is always almost a necessity in big crèches.

If the crèche you are opting for is far away, know whether the conveyance available at home or locally nearby.

Check for the language spoken at the crèche and what all needs of the child are catered to at the crèche.

Do ask about their recreational ideas, toys, picture books and types of outings that they arrange for the children.

Check the safety precautions that they take at the crèche for preventing falls, keeping children from wandering out of the house or to the staircases and keeping away medicines and other poisonous liquids or things out of reach of children.

See whether kids have access to kitchen and if they do, whether there are enough safety precautions taken there to keep children away from knives, gas, kerosene oil and matches.

See the safety precautions taken in the bathroom and toilet facilities and in the water storage area.

It is risky if children have access to open balconies or windows without grills because they may climb up and try to peep from there and consequently fall off.

Keep away from the crèches where they kiss and cuddle the children too much.

After choosing a crèche for your child, be sure that the child should only be handed over to one person you nominate and on no pretext the child be given to others for outing or going home. Give them your contact numbers and keep their contact numbers and the numbers of their neighborhood always with you so that you can reach them and be reached immediately in case of emergencies. It is always advisable to visit unannounced to check how your child is being taken care of. Check your child's weight gain and physical or mental growth to assess how your child is coping up with the placement at the crèche. If you feel that your child is reluctant or afraid of going to crèche, investigate immediately and never ignore the warning signs.