How to choose a daycare: the questions to ask on a tour

Start online, because Ohio publishes the key facts about every licensed program. Ohio Child Care Search, run by the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY), shows each program's licensing status, Step Up To Quality rating and inspection results.

• License: every child care center in Ohio needs a DCY license, and it must be posted where parents can see it (ORC 5104.02).
• Rating: Step Up To Quality ratings run from Bronze to Gold. Our guide explains what each rating means.
• Inspection reports: centers are inspected at least once a year, with at least one unannounced visit. Findings are labeled moderate or serious risk, and the center must file a plan to correct each one (OAC 5180:2-12-03).
• Payment help: if you plan to use publicly funded child care (PFCC) or a Child Care Choice Voucher, use the search filters to find programs that accept them.
• Distance and hours: map the drive from home and from work, and compare opening and closing times with your schedule, including your commute.

Then call each center. Ask whether it has an opening for your child's age on the date you need and what the weekly rate is for your schedule. Ask when you can tour while children are in the classrooms.

Our guide to what daycare costs in Northeast Ohio can help you judge the price you're quoted.

Print these lists and take notes. You don't need to ask everything, so circle the questions that matter most to your family.

Safety and licensing

• Can I see your license and latest inspection report? What was found, and what changed afterward?
• Is every staff member background-checked before they start? Ohio requires state and FBI fingerprint checks, sex offender registry checks and a child abuse records check, repeated every five years (OAC 5180:2-12-09).
• Who can come in the door, and who can pick up my child? Centers need a written security plan and release rules (Appendix B to OAC 5180:2-12-07).
• How often do you practice drills? Ohio requires a fire drill every month, weather drills monthly from March to September and a lockdown drill each quarter (OAC 5180:2-12-16).
• How will I hear about an injury? Centers must give you a written incident report the same day for any injury that needs first aid and for any bump to the head.
• For babies: where and how does each infant sleep? Ohio requires each infant to have their own crib, with back-sleeping for babies under 12 months and no blankets in their cribs. An infant 12 months or older may use a cot or mat instead with a parent's written permission (OAC 5180:2-12-20).

Teachers and ratios

• How many adults and children will be in my child's room? Ohio's minimums include 1 adult per 5 babies under 12 months (or 2 adults per 12), 1 per 7 young toddlers and 1 per 12 three-year-olds (Appendix A to OAC 5180:2-12-18).
• Do you keep fewer children per adult than the minimum? National standards in Caring for Our Children recommend 1 adult per 3 babies and 1 per 4 toddlers. See Ohio's ratios by age.
• How do you cover breaks, early mornings and late afternoons? Are groups combined then, and whose ratio applies?
• How long have this room's teachers worked here, and will my child have the same main teachers each day?
• Are all teachers trained in first aid, CPR and child abuse prevention? Ohio requires first aid and CPR within 90 days of hire, abuse-prevention training within 60 days and six hours of other training a year (OAC 5180:2-12-10).
• How do teachers handle hitting, biting or tantrums? Ohio bans spanking, shaming and withholding food or rest as discipline, and limits time away from the group to one minute per year of age (Appendix A to OAC 5180:2-12-19). See toddler biting at daycare.

Daily routine and curriculum

• What does a typical day look like? Centers must post a daily schedule in each classroom (OAC 5180:2-12-17).
• Which curriculum do you use, and how much of the day is play? Read why play really is learning.
• How often do children go outside? Ohio requires outdoor play when it's between 25 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit for children over 12 months who are there four or more daylight hours. On other days, centers must offer active indoor play.
• How will you track my child's development, and when will we meet to talk about it?
• Do children use TVs, tablets or computers, and how often?
• For babies: will you follow my written feeding instructions? Ohio requires that, and babies must be held or seated upright for bottles, never left with a propped bottle (OAC 5180:2-12-23).

Health, sick days and meals

• When do you send a child home sick? Ohio's list includes a temperature of 101°F or higher (100°F under the arm) with another symptom. It also includes three or more loose stools in 24 hours and vomiting more than once (Appendix A to OAC 5180:2-12-16).
• When can my child come back after an illness? Centers must have a written illness policy, so ask to see it, and read when to keep your child home from daycare.
• Will you tell me if my child is exposed to something contagious? Centers must notify you by the end of the next business day for diseases on the state's chart (OAC 5180:2-12-16).
• Who gives medicine, and what do you need from me? Centers need your written permission for every medication, including over-the-counter ones (OAC 5180:2-12-25).
• Which meals and snacks are included, and can I see this week's menu? Ohio requires a posted menu and meals or snacks no more than four hours apart (OAC 5180:2-12-22).
• How do you handle food allergies?
• Which immunization records do you need? They are due within 30 days of your child's first day (OAC 5180:2-12-15). See Ohio's immunization requirements for childcare.

Communication with families

• How will I hear about my child's day? For infants, Ohio requires a daily written record of feeding, sleep, diapers and activities (OAC 5180:2-12-23).
• Can I visit any time once we enroll? Ohio gives parents of enrolled children unlimited access during all hours of operation (Center Parent Information).
• How often are parent-teacher conferences? Child Care Aware of America's center checklist asks whether there are at least two a year.
• Who do I talk to about a concern? Centers must give families a written process for resolving problems (Appendix B to OAC 5180:2-12-07).
• Will you tell me about a serious licensing finding? Ohio requires centers to notify every enrolled family within 15 business days (OAC 5180:2-12-03).

Costs and policies

• What is the weekly rate for my child's age and schedule, and what does it include, such as meals, formula and diapers?
• Is there a registration fee, deposit, or supply or activity fee? When do rates usually go up?
• Do I pay for holidays, sick days and vacation weeks?
• What are your hours and late-pickup fees?
• Do you accept PFCC or the Child Care Choice Voucher, and which fees aren't covered? A PFCC program can't charge you the gap between the state's payment and its regular price, and it needs your signed agreement for other fees (OAC 5180:6-1-10).
• Can I read the parent handbook and contract before I sign? Ohio requires written policies on hours, closings, fees, illness, discipline, and suspension or expulsion (Appendix B to OAC 5180:2-12-07).
• How much notice do you need if we leave?

Spend a few minutes standing quietly in each room and look for these signs:

• Teachers at children's eye level, talking with them and responding to them.
• An upset child being comforted quickly.
• A head count that matches the posted ratio chart, which every center must display (OAC 5180:2-12-18).
• Toys, books and art supplies that children can reach, choose and put away themselves.
• A posted daily schedule, this week's menu and an evacuation plan with a diagram (OAC 5180:2-12-16).
• Handwashing before meals and after diapering or using the toilet.
• In the infant room, sleeping babies in their own cribs with just a fitted sheet, cribs at least two feet apart or separated by a divider, and no propped bottles.
• A fenced outdoor play area with equipment sized for the children.
• Staff who greet you, and a director who answers questions directly.

Any of these should take a center off your list, or at least send you back with hard questions:

• Limits on parent visits. Ohio gives parents of enrolled children unlimited access during operating hours, so be wary if a center says enrolled parents can visit only by appointment.
• Too many children per adult, or a child left out of staff's sight.
• Unsafe infant sleep, such as babies sleeping in swings, car seats or bouncers, or cribs with blankets, soft toys or bumpers. Ohio requires infants to sleep in cribs unless a physician gives written permission for something else.
• Harsh discipline, such as threats, shaming, spanking or withholding food, all of which Ohio prohibits.
• Serious or repeated inspection findings that the director can't explain or hasn't fixed.
• No written policies: no handbook, no contract, or fees that aren't in writing.
• Pressure to commit before you've read the handbook and contract.
• Vague answers about background checks, staff training or who can pick up your child.

Fill in this chart after each tour, while the details are fresh. Star the rows that are must-haves for your family.

Work through your notes in this order:

1. Rule out any center with a safety red flag or a serious inspection finding that hasn't been fixed.
2. Check the basics: a real opening, hours that fit, a drive you can manage and a price you can keep paying after any assistance.
3. Compare quality using what you saw: how teachers talked with children, the ratio in the actual room, the rating and the inspection history.
4. Go back once to your top choice at drop-off or pickup, and ask to talk with a current family.

If two centers still come out even, choose the one where your questions got straight answers and you can picture your child in the room.

Once you decide, ask for the enrollment forms and start-date steps, and read how to prepare for your child's first day. If you need help with the cost, see how to get help paying for childcare in Ohio.

If an All Around Children center is on your list, the same checklist applies. Weekly tuition is confirmed on the tour, and every open AAC center accepts PFCC and Child Care Choice Vouchers.