Questions to Ask at the End of a Daycare Interview
Closing questions for a parent at the end of a daycare interview or enrollment meeting: who is actually with your child, how sleep, feeding and crying are handled, what the contract costs, and what happens next.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How many children will be in my child's group, and who is with them each day?
Why ask it
Ask for names and the daily pattern, not the licensed maximum. The answer often reveals that the person you met on the tour covers three rooms, and that the actual carer is someone you have not met.
What does the day look like for a child my child's age, and how much of it is fixed?
Why ask it
For a baby you want to know how much runs on the child's own rhythm; for a toddler, how much of the day is spent waiting for the group. Rigidity is not automatically bad, but it should be deliberate rather than accidental.
Where and how do the children sleep?
Why ask it
Ask to see the room and the cribs. You are checking for safe-sleep practice, whether an adult is present, and what happens to a child whose nap does not match the schedule.
How do feeding and bottles work, including anything I send in?
Why ask it
Storage, labeling, warming, and who decides when a child has had enough are all places where things go wrong. A center that has clear answers about milk handling usually has clear answers about everything else.
How do diapering and toilet learning work here?
Why ask it
Ask how often diapers are changed, who does it, and whether they follow your lead on timing for toilet learning. Rushed or rigid answers here often signal short staffing rather than philosophy.
What do you do when a young child cries for a long time?
Why ask it
This is the question that most separates centers. Listen for whether a child gets picked up, how long they are left, and whether the answer is about the child's needs or about the room's routine.
How do you handle biting or hitting between children?
Why ask it
Ask about the last real incident. You want to hear a description of prevention and supervision, not just consequences, and to learn what both sets of parents were told afterward.
What will I know about my child's day when I collect them?
Why ask it
Answers range from a written log of sleeps, feeds and diapers to a friendly sentence at the door. Ask who tells you when something small has gone wrong, and whether that person is there at pickup.
What is your sick policy, and when do you call me?
Why ask it
Exclusion rules for fever and stomach illness will shape your working year. Ask how quickly they expect a parent to arrive, since some contracts specify an hour.
What happens if my child is hurt?
Why ask it
You are asking about thresholds: what gets a note, a phone call, or an ambulance, and who is trained to make that judgment. Ask whether someone with pediatric first-aid training is always in the building.
How do you handle allergies and medication?
Why ask it
Ask specifically who administers medicine and where it is kept, and how a serious allergy is managed at a shared table. Vague answers here are a safety matter rather than an administrative one.
How many of your staff have been here more than two years?
Why ask it
Turnover matters more to an infant or toddler than curriculum does, because attachment is the service you are buying. A director who will not give a number is giving you one.
What training do your staff get beyond the licensing minimum?
Why ask it
The answer separates centers that treat training as compliance from those that invest in it. Ask what the most recent training was about and who attended.
How much time do the children spend outside, and what happens in bad weather?
Why ask it
Outdoor time is the first thing dropped when the room is short-staffed. Ask what the children did yesterday rather than what usually happens.
What is your policy on screens?
Why ask it
Practice varies far more than published policy, particularly late in the afternoon when staffing thins. Ask whether a television is ever on and at what time of day.
How do you settle a new child in during the first couple of weeks?
Why ask it
A real answer describes shortened days, a comfort object, and who holds your child while you leave. No answer means you will improvise through the hardest two weeks alone.
What is the full cost, including deposits, closure days, and late fees?
Why ask it
Ask for the annual total in writing rather than the weekly rate. Pay attention to the days the center closes and to the per-minute late charge, which is where budgets slip.
What notice do I need to give to leave or to change days?
Why ask it
Notice periods of a month or more are common, and so are rules that make dropping a day harder than adding one. This clause matters most on the day your circumstances change.
What would make you ask a family to leave?
Why ask it
An unusual question that gets you the center's real limits: unpaid fees, repeated late pickup, or behavior they cannot support. It also tells you whether they part with families abruptly or with a conversation.
What happens next, and when will I hear from you?
Why ask it
Close by pinning down the process: waiting list position, deposit deadlines, and start date. A vague answer here often means a place is less certain than the conversation suggested.
Closing a daycare interview well
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What to cover in the last ten minutes
Care first, logistics second
Sleep, feeding, crying, and who is in the room are the things you cannot change later. Fees and forms can be read at home, so spend your remaining time on the questions only a person can answer.
Ask about the specific room, not the center
Policies are written centrally and practice is local. Every question is more useful when phrased as "in my child's room, with the staff who will be there".
Ask for one recent example
Whatever the topic, ask when it last happened and what they did. Descriptions of actual events are much harder to smooth over than descriptions of policy.
What to watch while you ask
- Whether staff in the room are engaged with children or talking to each other over their heads.
- How an adult responds to a crying child while you are standing there.
- Whether the director interrupts a carer to answer for them.
- The state of the bathrooms, changing area, and outdoor space, none of which get staged for visitors.
- Whether anyone asks you questions about your child, which is a sign they are thinking about the individual rather than the enrollment.
Common pitfalls
Being reassured instead of informed
Warm answers feel good and tell you nothing. If you leave without a number, a name, or a description of an actual event, you have been reassured rather than answered.
Signing before reading the contract
Notice periods, fee increases, closure days, and late charges are all in the paperwork and rarely discussed out loud. Take it home and read it before you pay a deposit.
Not asking about the afternoon
Most visits happen mid-morning when the center is at its best. Ask what happens after three o'clock, when groups merge and the most experienced staff have often gone home.
Treating a waiting list as a decision
Accepting a place you are unsure about because it is available is how families end up moving a child twice. Ask how long the list actually is before you settle.
Before you sign
- Ask to see the current license and the most recent inspection report, and read the findings rather than the summary.
- Call two current families and ask what they would change.
- Get the annual cost, closure dates, and notice period in writing.
- Visit once more unannounced at the end of a day if the center allows it.