Questions to Ask When Touring Daycare
Twenty questions for a daycare or nursery tour, covering who is actually in the room, staff turnover, licensing history, how the day is structured, illness and medication rules, pickup security, and the full cost of a year. Written for parents comparing two or three options.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How many children are in this room right now, and how many adults are with them?
Why ask it
Count for yourself while they answer. The licensed ratio is a maximum, not a description, and a room at ratio only when nobody is on break is a room that is regularly over it in practice.
Who would be with my child most of the day, and how long have they worked here?
Why ask it
You are hiring a person, not a building. Ask to meet them on the tour. A room whose lead caregiver started three weeks ago is a different place from one where they have been there four years, whatever the brochure says.
How many staff have left in the past year, and from which rooms?
Why ask it
Turnover is the most useful single number in childcare, because young children attach to individuals. Directors who know the figure and can explain it are usually running the honest version of the place.
What training do staff have in CPR, first aid, and safe sleep, and when was it last renewed?
Why ask it
Ask for renewal dates rather than a yes. Certifications lapse quietly, and safe sleep practice specifically is where infant room habits drift from policy. Ask who is trained on any given afternoon, not just how many are trained overall.
Can I see your most recent licensing inspection report, including any citations?
Why ask it
Licensed programs are inspected and the reports are usually public, so a refusal is itself an answer. Minor citations that were corrected are normal; a pattern of the same finding repeating is what to look for.
Can you walk me through the day, hour by hour, for a child my child's age?
Why ask it
You are listening for how much of the day is unstructured, how often children move, and how long they sit. Vague answers about play-based learning without a schedule usually mean the day is improvised around staffing.
What do you do when a child bites, hits, or will not share?
Why ask it
Every toddler room deals with this weekly, so a caregiver who cannot describe last week's version has not been in the room. Ask what happens to both children, and what is said to both sets of parents.
How do you handle a child who cries at drop-off for weeks rather than days?
Why ask it
The answer tells you what settling in looks like here: a phased start, a familiar caregiver assigned, a photo sent mid-morning, or being asked to leave quickly and hope. Ask what they would tell you and when.
What happens at nap time for a child who does not sleep?
Why ask it
Nap is the least discussed and most rigid part of the day. A required two hours on a mat for a child who stopped napping is a hard afternoon repeated daily, and policies vary far more than tours suggest.
Who provides food, what was on the menu this week, and how are allergies handled?
Why ask it
Ask to see the actual menu rather than a sample. On allergies, the details that matter are where medication is stored, who is trained to use it, and what happens with food brought in for birthdays.
What are your rules for sending a child home sick, and when can they come back?
Why ask it
This determines how many days of work you will miss. Ask the specific thresholds, a temperature figure, one episode or two, and how long after symptoms stop, and ask how often the room has closed in the last year.
Who is allowed to give medication, how is it stored, and how is it logged?
Why ask it
Ask whether a routine inhaler or antihistamine can be given at all, since some programs require a nurse who is not on site daily. The log is what you want to see, because the practice is visible in it.
How would you tell me about a bump, a bite, or an accident, and how quickly?
Why ask it
You want to know the threshold for calling you the same hour versus mentioning it at pickup, and whether it is written down. Parents rarely mind an incident; they mind hearing about it three days late.
What do you send home at the end of each day, and can I see an example?
Why ask it
A daily note covering meals, diapers or bathroom, sleep, and mood is the record you will rely on for months, particularly before your child can talk. Ask whether it is written in the room or filled in at 5pm from memory.
Who is allowed to collect my child, and how do you check?
Why ask it
Ask what happens when someone arrives who is not on the list, and whether staff ask for identification from people they do not recognize. A confident, specific process here is a good sign about everything else.
What are your plans for fire, lockdown, and an unexpected closure, and when did you last practice them?
Why ask it
Keep this factual. You want a recent practice date, a stated meeting point, and a clear way they would contact parents. Ask what happens if the building loses power or water mid-morning, because that is the common version.
How much time do children spend outside, and what happens in bad weather?
Why ask it
Outdoor time is the first thing cut when staffing is short. Ask to see the outdoor space, look at what shade and surfacing exist, and ask what indoor days look like in a long stretch of rain.
What will a full year cost: tuition, deposit, supplies, late fees, and days you are closed?
Why ask it
Closure days are the hidden cost, because you pay for them and still need care. Ask how many the calendar has, what the late pickup charge is per minute, and how many weeks of notice a fee increase gets.
When would my child change rooms, and how is that handled?
Why ask it
Room moves are decided by age, by space, or by readiness, and which one drives it matters. Ask whether there is a transition period with a familiar caregiver, and how much notice you would get.
Once enrolled, can I visit unannounced, and can I speak with two current families?
Why ask it
Both are requests rather than questions, and the reaction is the information. Programs comfortable with ordinary mornings say yes easily. A parent whose child is in the same room you are considering will tell you the rest.
Reading a Daycare Tour
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What to Watch While Someone Is Talking to You
- Whether adults are on the floor at the children's level or standing at the edge of the room talking to each other
- How a caregiver speaks to a child who is upset, which is the single most informative thing on any tour
- Whether children are absorbed in something or drifting, and whether anyone notices the drifting ones
- How staff speak to each other and to the director, and whether they seem free to answer you
- The state of the bathrooms, diaper changing area, and the handwashing routine you can see happening
- Whether the outdoor space is used or just present, and what the surfacing under climbing equipment is like
- How many screens are on, and whether anything is playing in the background nobody is watching
- Whether the room smells of food, disinfectant, or neither, and whether it is too hot
Checking the Program Beyond the Tour
Read the inspection record before you visit
Licensing bodies in most places publish inspection results, substantiated complaints, and corrective actions by facility. Reading them first means your tour questions can be about the things a document cannot tell you, and you will know whether an answer matches the record.
Visit twice, once at a hard hour
Morning tours show the calmest part of the day. Ask to come back at 4.30pm, when staff are thin, children are tired, and the room is being tidied. That version is the one your child will experience for part of every day.
Ask a current parent three specific questions
How quickly do they hear about problems, how many caregivers has their child had, and what has annoyed them in the past year. General praise is not useful; those three answers are.
Ask the same question of the director and the room staff
Put your two most important questions to both. Where the answers differ, the room staff version is what actually happens. That gap, more than any single answer, tells you how the place is run.
Documents to Ask For
- The current license and the most recent inspection report with any citations
- The parent handbook, which contains the illness, medication, and discipline policies in full
- The fee schedule, including deposit, late pickup charges, and how much notice a rate increase gets
- The closure calendar for the year, including holidays, training days, and any planned closures
- The daily schedule for your child's room and a sample of the daily report you would receive
- A recent menu, plus the allergy and food-from-home policy
- The staffing pattern for the room, including who covers breaks and absences
- The withdrawal terms and how much notice you must give to stop paying
Answers Worth a Second Look
- Reluctance to show the licensing report or to let you into the room your child would be in
- A director who cannot say how many staff left last year
- No unannounced visits allowed once your child is enrolled
- A discipline answer that stops at the written policy with no example
- Staff who defer every question to the director, including about their own room
- A ratio that only works because a member of staff is counted in two rooms
- Pressure to pay a deposit at the end of the tour to hold a place
- Any suggestion that a child crying at drop-off is nothing to tell you about