How To Choose The Best Day Care Centre For Your Child?

Are you a busy working woman? Do you have an urgent travel plan that you can’t avoid? Do you have a dentist appointment & don’t have anybody at home to take care of your child? Are you looking for a trustworthy day care centre for your child?

If that answer is “Yes”, do you really know what you should be looking for in order to ensure that your baby is safe, secure and well taken care of? Especially in today’s context where we time and again we hear of unfortunate mishaps, it is imperative to be 100% sure that you are enrolling your toddler in the best day care centre which gives prime importance to safety, medical requirements & hygiene factors that are a tad more important than just good methodology of teaching & premium amenities.

Research has shown that parents rely strongly on good word of mouth before enrolling their child into a day care centre. Well, that’s understandable because you have to be doubly sure if your child is well taken care of in your absence. But have you really thought whether your requirements match with those whom you are taking the advice from?

While safety is the primary requirement of every parent, entrusting their child to a third party, there are other finer details that take precedence on the priority list. Let us take for example, two sets of parents that have been questioned on their priority list and this is what came up:

(Note: The details of the survey report can be obtained by reaching out to us.)

Now given that these parents have a similar educational background and belong to the same Socio Economic Class, it is interesting to note that the priorities are so diverse and some of them don’t even come up on the list – flexibility, activities, medical aid and child to adult ratio to name a few.

Coming to the next most trusted way of day care research, ‘Web Search’: Parents tend to have a feeling that they are doing the right thing because they are “Doing it myself”. For those who are not tech-savvy, there is phenomenon called “Wilfing” that parents (or anybody for that matter) fall prey for. This is where you start with one objective in mind and in the process of researching, forget or lose track of it and come up with something entirely different from what you set out to achieve.

But an even more dangerous outcome is being duped. It is very easy for anybody to make a fancy website by making a small investment to ensure that the website looks authentic & premium. But looks can be deceiving! The reality maybe very different from what you see on the website. And in this fast paced world, parents read reviews of other parents on various parenting forums, which of course is flooded by reviews from a “parent” employed by the organization to do exactly that – “provide positive reviews”.

So what do I do will be your obvious question.

There are certain points that one needs to keep in mind while starting off a search. Keeping it simple I have put them down as pointers rather than never-ending preaches.

1. Make a checklist & prioritize what you are looking for and WRITE IT DOWN. Because it is easy to lose track.
2. Source knowledge – word of mouth, websites, reviews on multiple forums.
3. Shortlist based on your criteria.
4. Personally visit the place – Talk to parents who have already enrolled their kids in a particular day care centre.

In Bangalore, for example, there are several child day care centres which are available at a click of a button. But many of them do not have a license to operate or have an expired one. So you are ought to be careful while confirming your find. Being extra careful by going on surprise visit the first few times you hand over your child will also boost your confidence on the organization. Some of the verified day care centres are listed below for your convenience.

If you have enrolled your child in any day care centre, we would be happy to hear from you. You can share your experience because your feedback can help many other mothers in the same turbulent boat. Happy Parenting! You can also read on The Best Playschools/Preschools in Chennai , Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai.