DayCare Shopping
by: Stacy Caldarera

Your belly stretches past its limits, you can’t see your feet, and there is so much to get done. Finish the nursery, wash the baby clothes, pack your hospital bag and, if you are planning to return to work, make child care arrangements. 

Daycare shopping is probably the last thing on your mind as you prepare for your new bundle of joy. But in Fort Smith, you must start the search early. Almost every place worth taking your baby has a long waiting list. Thanks to my husband’s encouragement, I found myself 7 months pregnant & cold-calling local daycare centers in search of a perfect spot for my little baby. There were so many emotions – it was surreal anticipating the arrival of the baby in is this way. I could barely envision myself taking care of him let alone perfect strangers!

Through my search and the advice of others, I narrowed the list to a few of the prime centers in town. The key for infants was a low child to teacher ratio. The state of Arkansas mandates the ratio but only a few centers keep the number below the state mandate.  Most of the daycare centers on my short list had a 1 to 3 ratio – in other words – 1 adult for every 3 babies. Another good tip is to drop in unannounced for a tour. Most of the good centers will not mind this and will tell you to come by anytime. I had a horrible experience at one of the places on my list when the director was rude and obviously annoyed that we came by without an appointment. She also named a long list of things I would not do as a parent bringing my child to her center (a huge turn off!).

We were very fortunate to find a wonderful center close to our home. We put our name on a waiting list and ended up getting a call. We had to start paying the daycare before the baby was even born but luckily we only paid one extra month. In some cases, you may have to pay several months of unneeded childcare to secure the spot. A final piece of advice, once your child starts daycare, work closely with the caregivers on what your child likes and how you want him cared for on a daily basis.