How to Find a Daycare In Northern Nevada Step 3: Licensing Information

Perform a Licensing Background Check

So, you've researched, called and interviewed prospective daycares and finally decided on someone you feel confident will care for your child.

If they're licensed, which I would highly advise you stick with licensed daycare providers,  you'll want to check up on their stats. Washoe County's Child Care & Early Childhood Development Services is a government agency that uses "the laws and regulations set by the State and the County to insure a minimum level of care is provided to children to maintain and facilitate their normal development, health, safety, and welfare."

They have regulations and laws that they uphold by performing bi-annual inspections of in-home daycares. The inspection results are available online at

Washoe County's Child Care Inspection Web Portal

• To search for an in-home daycare provider, type in their last name only. Not the name of their daycare, but the last name of the person who is licensed.


• For daycare centers, type in the name of the daycare facility.


• If you can't find their licensing information via the website, call the helpful Child Care Licensing Unit at 337-4470.

Now you get to look into all the daycare's inspections.

Keep your eye out for any bold non-compliances and read those notes. You want to avoid notes such as this:

The facility's operation did not promote the health, safety, and welfare of children as evidenced by upon this

workers arrival a 4 year old child answered the door and the childcare provider was unaware of this workers

presence as she was in another room. The care provider had left the children unattended for approxiamtelyfor 14

minutes. She was unaware that the children could unlock the door.

Compliance compliance compliance is all you want to see.

What we've found when checking the licenses is that it either confirms any suspicions we've had or solidifies our decision. Also, it's always a little scary taking someone's word for it when they say they're licensed. Before we knew we could check up on people's licensing and inspections we just took their word for it, never seeing  a license or having any idea what's required to be licensed.

It's not a bad idea to double check and make sure the person you're paying a fraction of your income and trusting your first-born to is doing what they say they are.

Check check and double check again.  Take advantage of this service, it's been put in place for a reason.

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We interviewed a few daycares that we decided against and just when we thought we were doomed and would have to compromise on a crappy situation we didn't feel comfortable with, we found a craigslist posting. Two hours later we were sitting in this woman's living room asking if we could sign Gwen up right then and there.

When we checked her licensing information, which came up perfect in everyway, I looked up all the other people we had met and turned down. Every single licensing inspection reiterated our concerns and made us even more certain of our decisions.

It's a good idea to check those licensing reports.

*****

This is Part 3 in a series of How to Find a Daycare in Northern Nevada

You can find the other parts here:

How to Find a Daycare in Northern Nevada Step 1: Research

How to Find a Daycare in Northern Nevada Step 2: Interview

 

 

 

 

 

Interviewing Tips To Find a Daycare in Reno/Sparks - Step 2

Interviewing

So you've called the long list of daycares and weeded out who is available, affordable and not 100% crazy. Now it's time to drop by and do an interview. This is the most important thing you will do in your search for a daycare.

Ask Questions And Lots of Them

Don’t be afraid to ask questions! It’s an interview process and should be treated as such. Northern Nevada Childcare Alliance has one of the best checklist’s available, here. Also, hit up google and search for some questions to ask daycares. A few of our favorites are:

• “How do you treat the children when they misbehave?” – we’re looking for re-direction, which one of 10 daycares we interviewed answered correctly.


• “What’s your experience/education?”


• “Is it typical to not soothe a crying child like the one being left alone over there?” – my husband seriously asked this question at the daycare we wound up hating. The answer was, “oh, that’s just so and so, she always cries.” We should’ve known then.


• “How much tv do they watch?”


• "How do you deal with a child who won’t nap?"

Familiarize Yourself With The Regulations

The Washoe County Licensing Regulations is a good place to familiarize yourself with. You should really rely on licensed childcare facilities only. It costs $60 to license a daycare and while it does take quite a bit of effort, it shows a lot about the people you're investing in.

Washoe County Childcare Licensing Regulations

Now, as I read through the licensing regulations I realized many of the daycares we've interviewed or even sent our daughter to don't follow every single rule. Here's where I tell you that we've decided to ignore a few things because we've felt that the care she's getting is closest to the care we would provide ourself, regardless of the daily log they didn't give us.

The main point I can emphasize about interviewing daycare providers is that you don't need to be shy. It feels odd grilling a person while you're in their home, but it needs to be done. Ask ask and then ask some more.

Assess

After you leave, assess what you just saw and don't discount anything that bugged you. For instance, we went on an interview this past week and a few things that concerned us were:

dogs, 1 who had blood on his upper lip from fighting with the other.

baby gate to the stairs was left open the entire time we were there

Now, these are small things that we wouldn't automatically write someone off about. However, after more thought, these small things add up to a bigger picture to reveal more things we were uncomfortable with.

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We have interviewed quite a few daycares and only a select few have not left me in tears.  I literally had tears in my eyes as we interviewed a woman in Carson City who left a baby, crying on the floor as she talked to us. I was upset after touring a daycare center as the director shouted at me over 10 sleeping children with complete disregard for any of them. I became upset when I saw the row of high chairs my daughter would eat lunch in. I cringed as the exhausted woman at a daycare center complained about her day in an exasperated, frustrated way.

And you know what daycares we did choose? The one's that didn't leave me uneasy after we left. The ones that made me think, "I'm jealous of Gwen, I want to come here." The ones that left me not dreading the very idea of leaving my daughter at daycare. There comes a time when you feel helpless, that you will never find somewhere that will make you feel like this and maybe you'd like to just give up and compromise. Don't.

Don't discount your feelings, no matter what anyone else tells you. You'll know when you've found the right person and places, but until you do, keep that chin up and know you're doing the right thing by listening to yourself.

 Next up: What do to do after you've found your daycare and how to check their licenses.

This is Step 2 to Finding a Daycare in Northern Nevada. Read Step 1 to Finding a Daycare in Northern Nevada.

How to Find a Daycare in Reno/Sparks Step 1 Printable

We are back on the search for a daycare for Gwyneth. Don’t worry, there’s no dramatic story of child abuse or neglect here. They’re just closing their daycare for their family and we have two weeks notice and no references. This can be a frustrating part of choosing in home daycare providers. They can close their doors when they see fit, seeing as it's their home and their business. Such is life.

I’ve been meaning to put together a post of helpful resources for finding a daycare in our area, and have been truly dragging my feet with it. So as I go along, back into the process of finding that gem of a daycare , I’m going to bring you along with me.

We have ruled out daycare centers after our really shitty experience at Happy Days Preschool off of Pyramid Highway. We have successfully found two in-home daycares that we have all been happy with and have decided they are our preference.

Get your frustrated hat on and let’s go!

In today's world, in home daycares very rarely have a website, which sucks and makes the process a little more time consuming. We've found the following methods to yield the best results, as google searches bring up squat.

UNR's Childcare Program

Our first magical daycare we found was through the University’s Childcare Program. My husband is big on researching and after calling to see about enrolling Gwen into their daycare program while I was pregnant, he was told about UNR’s program that works with many in-home daycare providers in our area. This program goes above and beyond the county’s licensing program and really shows that the daycare providers enrolled in it are caring individuals who want to better themselves and their childcare business.

That being said, there is little to no information available about this program and how to contact them. Lucky for us we were given the email address of who to contact there. Her name is Michelle Gehlert, the program coordinator and her email address is mgehlert@unr.edu and her phone number is (775) 682-5939. Beware that she is busy and it takes her awhile to get back to you. Be patient, as her referrals are the best in the city, but also beware that it may take her 2-3 days to get a list to you.

Craigslist

The second daycare we found was, believe it or not through craigslist. I had written it completely off after seeing terribly written ads with typos galore and terrifying pictures. But times got desperate. Which is how I landed on one that had pictures of a gorgeous backyard and a playground that rivaled any parks near our house. I took a chance and met with them and they ended up being the best thing for our daughter who we are sad to see close.

That being said, here are a few rules I follow when looking for daycares in craigslist. I am extremely weary when looking on craigslist.

• Prices. if it seems too cheap to be true, it is. The average price of daycare in our area is $35 per day, and that should include meals. Anything below $150 is suspect, and below $100 isn’t worth looking at.


• Spelling and grammar. If there is a single typo in the entire ad, I will not contact them.


• Photos. They tell the entire story. It’s too easy nowadays to take a photo and upload it to the internet. There’s really no excuse for crappy quality photos of a house that looks like a prison.


• Always look for a licensed daycare.

Northern Nevada Childcare Alliance

Next up, your best resource is going to be the Northern Nevada Childcare Alliance. I would really look here before craigslist. They have a referral list that is separated out by different parts of the city, with current openings at the different childcares. I would first go through and find the board member’s names and see if they have any openings. Then go through and call from there.

In Home Child Care Providers of Nevada Facebook Group

There is also a new Facebook community called In Home Child Care Providers of Nevada. Post on their wall with a request that you are in need of care and they are very helpful with giving you referrals for openings.

Washoe County Child Care Services

As a last resort there is Washoe County’s current list of licensed childcare providers. Just go down and call, call, call asking about any openings. Call their social workers at (775) 337-4470 and ask if they know of any openings in your specific area. They are extremely helpful. That being said, however, the licensing list yields no results. I have called numerous people off all the lists only to hear that they’re full, they’re not open for the hours listed, etc. I use this as my last resort.

Now that you’ve got your options, get comfortable with that phone and ready to have some of the weirdest conversations of your entire life. Daycare providers are some of the most unprofessional people I have ever met. Everyone answers their phone defensively. Not like they’re operating a business or anything.

Here’s a rule we’ve come to learn to follow: if any part of the conversation was weird, write them off. Any hint of discomfort you may have felt is not just you. Trust me on this one. When you show up to their house, it will all come together and make sense why you felt that way.

The initial phone calls should be short and sweet, something most daycare providers are unfamiliar with. If you don’t cut them off you will be on the phone for 30 minutes listening to recounts of their lives, their customer’s lives and whoever else they may have seen in the past week.

You just need to know if they have a spot available, let them know your hours, and don’t forget to ask about rates and setup a time to meet.

The best time to meet is during their business hours. Most daycares prefer to meet you during naptime as it is more convenient for them to give you the attention you're asking for during an interview. But really, you want to see them interacting with the children over you. Nap time doesn't allow this to happen. You also want to pop in, so you get to see the reality, not just the "show" they're putting on for you as a potential customer. So what we like to do is to give a general time and I know, if you are a daycare provider this is probably totally annoying, but we pop in a few minutes early. This is actually interesting as some people become very apolgetic for their unpreparedness while the ones who could care less about what time you arrive are typically the ones who are confident and who you're looking for.

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It has taken since last Friday to finally compile a list of possible daycares. We followed all the steps I've recommended. We have called over 20 daycares in the past couple of days.

Three out of 25 were able to meet us for an interview. What about the other 20, you ask?

While I’d like to say that most were full, I’m sad to say that most of them refused to be flexible with our hours. We commute from Carson City. While we barely make it in between the usual 7:30-5:30 hours, we really need to drop her off at 7:15 and pick her up around 6pm. This is a burden, we acknowledge that. We would be happy to pay an extra fee if necessary.

90% of the home daycares we’ve talked to are open 7:30-5. I ask you, who gets off work before 5? The only people I can think of are teachers, and it seems as if the entire city of Reno and Sparks tailor their daycares to teachers. The rest of the real working world is royally fucked and must resort to sending their kids to the disease factories that are daycare centers.

50% of the women we’ve contacted are complete bitches over the phone. Again, these people are running a business and we are potential paying customers. There is no reason to act agitated over the phone, especially if someone is asking simple questions about your business that’s been listed with openings. If you’re busy, don’t pick it up and call back later.

Also, most daycares worry themselves over where their location is in proximity to us. Truth be told, it's one of the most annoying parts of calling daycares. I can't tell you how many people have told us we need to just look in Carson. Let us worry about whether we want to make the drive to your house or not. They do not make that decision for us. Hell, theydon't even need to know where we live, as long as we make it to drop off and pick up during the times we've said we would. Our current daycare never asked once where we live and that was amazing. We made the decision to drive 30 minutes to their home from ours, not them.

And so, here we are, with only three options in the entire city.

Can't wait to share with you how we handle our interviews and what questions we have found are the best to ask!

But for now, enjoy a printable version of this extremely long blog post. All the main points and contact information are on one pretty page, because lord knows you can use some pretty when you're in the trenches.

Click here to download: How to Find a Daycare in Northern Nevada Printable

A Good Daycare Does Exist

Yesterday I got a phone call from our daycare. Let it be known that:

1.) I don't have our daycare's number saved in my phone and

2.) had no idea what the family who I trust our baby with daily's last name is.

So when he identified himself on the phone I had no clue who he was and honestly thought maybe it was a person calling for a job. Even though I haven't applied for a job in months.It wasn't until he said, "it's Gwen." It finally clicked who he was.

"She's got a runny nose, and well, she's just not doing well," he said. So in a calm fashion I said I'd be there in 20 minutes and ditched my husband's valium-induced ass at the dentist's office to go and get her.

When I got there I found the husband and wife daycare team snuggling my baby, giving her the attention her sick little self needed while the other children napped. The concern and compassion from them was evident as they explained to me her symptoms and how her little throat must be sore. They reminded me of myself when I  hurriedly explain the routine to my in-laws before heading out the door for a date.

Today Gwen is home with her Daddy today, recovering, running around the house watching more Curious George than should be legal and sucking down otter pops as if they're crack.

I just figured I'd document that there are good daycares out there, folks. In light of the terrible headlines, there are those few gems. The few people who treat your precious children as they are, precious children who deserve nothing but the best.

Update on This Life of Ours

So, are you wondering what happened? How did we fall into that crappy daycare situation and did we ever get out of it? Am I still working?

Let me start with daycare. We only let Gwen go to the crappy one for two days. And in those two days we were able to see all the red flags that resulted in us pulling her out of that situation so quickly it left everyone’s heads spinning. We spent weeks searching for this daycare and had done anything and everything possible to prepare for our new transition. Never had we imagined we’d end up right back where we started: fearful, worried and concerned about our daughter’s well-being.

Scrambling, we ran to our family who was more than happy to help. We uprooted our already messed with lives and went to live with the in-laws for a week, hoping that having the consistency and dependability of grandparents would at least provide Gwyneth a stable footing to overcome a nasty cold she’d been fighting.

Meanwhile, while in survival mode we somehow stumbled upon an in-home daycare that we knew was a fit.

We returned home in the middle of the week with an emergency doctor’s appointment for a baby who was miserably sick. Gwyneth and her father left the doctor’s office with antibiotics that seemed to cure not only her ear infection but also most of our troubles along with it.

Making the decision to send her to another daycare was not one we took lightly. How could we not make the same mistake we had made with the original one? How can we not be hasty when we’re clearly in a rush and desperate for a solution?

We listened to our instincts, double-checked with the county licensing department and finally made a leap of faith. We committed to the new daycare and on Monday we arrived with high hopes, a clean bill of health and two weary parents.

The daycare situation is leaps and bounds better. Her meals are cooked fresh throughout the day, she gets to play in a backyard that has more to offer than most parks in our area and when we pick her up at the end of the day she is more likely than not giggling and enjoying herself.

The past two weeks have been the first time since I started my job  that we have been able to get a glimpse of what this next year holds in store for us. And I will say this, it has been hard.

Some days are better than others, where the commute doesn’t wear us down or I am kept busy at work to keep my mind off how much I miss spending my days with Gwyneth. But there are those days when the tears won’t stop and the one-hour lunch break allows my mind to wander to the fact that I’m not with her and somebody else gets to enjoy my happy little girl.

And that’s where we are now. Adjusting to this new life, making it work the best we can and trying to stay sane. Week by week my tears are fading as I embrace this fate and accept that it is what is best for our family. Week by week we will adjust, adapt and make this situation work for us. Because try as I may to fight it, we’re grown ups and apparently that’s what grown ups have to do.

Screw Daycare, We're Going To The Grandparents

Gwen is spending the week with her grandparents while we figure out our next move (which we believe we may have found thank goodness).

While I'm off at work all day I get these pictures of Gwen having a blast with those grandparents of hers.









I think it's safe to say it's a nice reprieve from the sad little week she had last week.

And it helps the mama heart to see her having so much fun while I'm off enjoying my day at work.

Important Things To Look For When Choosing a Daycare

Things we have discovered, the hard way, are important when looking for a daycare:

Air conditioning

Every daycare center we’ve looked at, except one, wasn’t equipped with air conditioning. This boggles my mind, seeing as it’s 2012 and we live in. The. Desert. I would be miserable if my home or office didn’t have air conditioning. Shoot, I would be miserable if my car didn’t have air conditioning. So why would it be acceptable for a place that houses 20-30 children to not have it?

My child should not have her hair insanely curly due to sweat at the end of the day.

Refrigerators

No matter what kind of magic lunch box you can get, even with an ice pack, enough food to feed a child for 11 hours is not going to keep fresh. Especially not milk. Add on the heat going on from the lack of air conditioning then you’ve got HOT yogurt and melted cheese. GROSS.

If I had a keg-erator as an 18 year old that followed me for five years, I would expect someone I’m paying for a service to provide at least this for my child. It’s not too much to ask.

Familiarity with everyone coming in contact with my child

I would like the opportunity to get to know the person caring for my child or at the very least be provided an introduction. If I wanted a complete stranger to care for my child I would go down the street and ask a neighbor to care for her, it’s a hell of a lot easier.

Parents should be provided a directory of all personnel working within their child’s daycare or at the very least, the people who they will be in contact with. This directory should include a photo, a biography highlighting their experience and qualifications as well as something personal.

And please, for the love of God, why are there no standards for dressing in daycare environments? An apron does not make a uniform folks. If I’m taking the time to dress my kid appropriately each day AND pack an extra outfit I expect the same out of the people I’m paying for a service.

Patience

Make sure they will compassionately field phone calls from parents who have called you to check in on their child. Especially if the child has been crying all day because it’s her first time being away from her parents. Clearly both of them are having a tough time and should be able to check in.

Courtesy

Do not call parents in the middle of the work day to not only let them know their child is sick, but to accuse them of knowledgably dropping off a zombie in the body of an infant who is sure to feast on the flesh of the daycare. A telephone call of this nature should never consist of accusations of daycare sabotage.

Make Sure They’re Able & Willing to Give Your Child Medicine

I don’t care what rules the county has. If my child has a fever, has medicine provided by the parents, as well as a note from a doctor with permission, give her what she needs. I’m fairly certain I haven’t heard of anyone going to jail for giving a feverish child medicine.

Feeding

Make sure they know that your child needs to eat more than a graham cracker in 5 hours. We thought this wasn’t something that needed to be discussed, but apparently it does. Seriously.

This is why as we picked up our daughter from the daycare we had chosen so carefully for her, we knew we would had made the wrong decision.

This is why we had to venture out into the daycare marketplace once again.

This is why daycare centers have forever been ruled out of existence.

This is also why I feel the need to go on a crusade against daycare centers and free all the children exposed to the inhumanity. Ok, so that might be a little overdramatic but seriously, don’t be bullied.

Don’t take the decision of choosing a daycare for your children lightly.

Ask questions and then ask some more. Show up unexpectedly, call. Be all up in their business.

It’s your duty as a parent and any daycare professional worth anything should be anything but gracious to comply.

Don’t settle for anything less than the care, attention and atmosphere you yourself would provide for your child, even down to the air conditioning.

For reals.

P.S. my job rocks.

The Frightening Daycare Search

Tuesday marked our first day of our daycare search. Well, the officially going into various daycares part of it at least. We knew what to expect, seeing as we went through the same thing when Gwyneth was barely three months old.

I was a wreck back then, imagining anyone but us taking care of our baby girl. I remember my mom giving us a pep talk  and crying in a Starbucks before we ventured out to meet our first daycare lady.

I had an idea in my head at how terrible daycares could be and the first woman we interviewed lived right up to that expectation. She asked to hold our newborn infant after meeting us for two minutes. She showed us around her house which was in disrepair and her husband came barging in telling us all about how he had his sheriff’s card and a terrible cough. She shared way too much information finalizing our decision to run as fast as we could when she assured us that sometimes the babies will of course come into the bathroom with her.

We met and interviewed several other women who were all over sharers. One even told my husband she had to schedule at a certain time because she was going to get “her pap.” No joke. I just uncovered a post I never published about this entire situation, you can read it here.

Finally, we landed on a dream come true (you can read more here) a woman starting her own daycare after working with the university for years. She was our age, sweet as could be and understood our desire for more than just a babysitter. She understood how difficult it was to leave your baby with someone else and let me be the worry-wart mother who called five times a day. She sent us pictures with updates (more here). She was amazing to the point that when it came to me staying home I questioned my abilities vs. hers.

Sadly she no longer runs a daycare so we’re back to square one.

We made our list of daycares and the usual fears crept back up. But this time we were slightly at ease knowing there were true gems tucked away somewhere, we just had to find them.

Unfortunately we did not find any of these places today. We saw 8 month old babies left to cry on a floor, a toddler left to “throw a fit” in a crib after waking up from a nap frightened. We saw shoes put on wrong feet, dingy poorly lit rooms and pathetic playgrounds. When asked about credentials we were assured of experience without a lick of relevant education. We drove past many without even going in.

Lucky for us, we have time. Time to shop around and hunt for that gem we know exists. Somewhere out there is the perfect person to care for our daughter. We just need to keep looking or at least that’s what I keep telling myself. Because after Tuesday, I was clamoring for anyway to get out of having to send Gywneth anywhere and was ready to call and unaccept my job. Fortunately for us, my husband is a little less overdramatic and emotional and has a steady head.  Damn that responsible, intelligent husband of mine, DAMN HIM!

So we're still on the hunt. Please let it get easier, PLEASE.

Have a daycare to recommend in South Reno or Carson? Please please please leave a comment, we need all the help we can get.