3 Health & Safety Features to Look for in Your Child's Daycare

When searching for the right daycare for your child, you want to find a daycare that will provide your child with the right health and safety support. You should specifically find out about the daycare's ratios and supervision, CPR & first aid training, food and allergy management, and illness prevention policies. Read on to learn more.

Feature #1: Ratios & Supervision

In most states, there are specific teacher-to-child ratios a daycare center must follow. These are not suggestions; they are the laws that any licensed daycare center must follow to keep their licenses. Find out what the ratios are for your state, and then ask the daycare what their ratios are for the classroom. The daycare ratios should be the same or lower than the state-mandated ratio.

For example, if the ratio is 1 teacher to 10 students in a classroom of four-year-olds, the daycare center should also have a ratio of 1 to 10 or lower.

Find out how the daycare maintains the ratio during pick-up and drop-off times, which can be very stressful. What time does additional staff arrive? Do staff leave as the ratio drops?

Feature #2: CPR & First Aid

Second, find out what their requirements are for CPR and First Aid. Do they require all their staff to hold CPR and First-Aid certifications? Do they require infant CPR and First Aid?

You want to make sure all staff are trained in up-to-date techniques in regard to CPR and First Aid. If your child is hurt or chocking, you want the staff to know how to respond appropriately.

Feature #3: Food & Allergy Management

Third, you want to make sure that the center has a policy for handling food allergies and other types of allergies, such as a bee allergy. Even if your child is allergy-free, you will want to know about their policy. Many childcare centers now are nut-safe centers.

Find out how they keep the staff appraised of allergies. For example, do they have a list of children's allergies hanging up in the food cabinets in each classroom? Do they have a binder in each classroom with food allergies? This is information the staff should have easy access to so they can protect your child.

If your child has a food allergy, you need to find out how they work to prevent allergic situations from occurring, such as food racking. You want to make sure the center has a policy for storing and administering EpiPens.

When it comes to choosing the right daycare for your child, you want to look for a daycare that follows the state-mandated ratios for the classroom and has a system in place for maintaining ratio during drop-off, pick-up, and employee breaks. You want to choose a center that requires staff to have CPR and first aid certification for both adults and infants. You want to make sure the center has a food and allergy management policy that keeps everyone safe. To learn more, visit a daycare near you.