Deciding to send your child to daycare is a big step. Before choosing, you must be sure that the following questions have been satisfactorily answered. Of course, the most important question along the way is whether the child looks happy in the nursery or not.
How long have staff members worked at the station?
Staff experience is important.
Have staff members studied relevant subjects?
How old is the building?
How are the indoor and outdoor spaces?
Is there a place for the child to rest and what is it like?
How is the food?
What activities and games are there?
Which children’s group will my child join?
What ages does it include?
How will I be regularly informed along the way if my child is doing well?
Toilets and baby changing area
What are the safety conditions?
The cost;
What do other parents who send their children to the same kindergarten think?
What are the sanitary conditions?
This is perhaps the most burning question. A good daycare center observes the following:
There must be written hygiene instructions. These instructions primarily concern the cleanliness of the environment, i.e. the daily cleaning of the premises, tables, floors, counters, feeding items, bedding which must be individual for each child and disinfected if it needs to be used by another child, as well
also of games.
Toys used by children under 2 should not be soft and should be washed every day, while toys intended for older children should be washed at least once a week.
Written instructions should also be in place for the vaccination schedule, which
they will remind parents of their obligations.
In addition, there should be instructions for staff regarding the treatment of the sick and injured (gloves, paracetamol, antihistamine, ointment or other).
Toilets should be cleaned and disinfected regularly, and there should be a special area for caring for and changing the diapers of children under 2 years of age. This process should involve people who are not involved in catering or feeding the children. children. The diapers should be in the area where the change is made, while there should also be a special foot-operated bin for soiled diapers and their special collection.
Finally, there should be sinks for older children to wash their hands and supervision to check that they are washing their hands properly.
Washing the hands of the staff is of course very important. Staff must wash their hands immediately upon arrival at the station and before handling a child, before and after changing, before cooking, before serving, before and after feeding a child. Adherence to these rules can prevent the transfer of diseases.
Finally, the provision of medical services and the supervision of adherence to infection prevention and treatment programs are essential in nurseries. That is, there must be a doctor, who will check whether the necessary vaccinations have been done, give instructions to the staff about the protection of the children’s health, train the staff and parents in matters of hygiene and leave written instructions when something happens at the station
The mutual information between the doctor and the parents in the case of a child’s problem should be continuous. The doctor’s duties include informing the staff of the station, but also the parents about the signs that indicate that the child should not go to the kindergarten.
These indications are a) when the child is unable to follow the daily schedule because he does not feel well, b) when the child has a fever c) when the child has diarrhea with blood and mucus In this case, there are high chances that he has an infectious agent , whether viral or microbial. Other cases when the child should not go to the station are:
* When showing symptoms suspicious for meningitis.
* When he has gastroenteritis or pathogenic coliform bacteria, because they are highly contagious.
* When suffering from herpetic stomatitis, because it is directly transmitted with secretions.
* When he has hepatitis A.
* When he has conjunctivitis
* In case of tonsillitis. of infectious wax and scarlet fever, the child may
return to school 24 – 48 hours after administration of the antibiotic.
* In case of measles, rubella, mumps, chicken pox and whooping cough, the doctor indicates the time when the child can return to school.
