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17 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Home Daycare

13 min read

Choosing a home daycare is a deeply personal decision. You are trusting one person—and sometimes members of that person’s household—with your child’s safety, comfort, development, and daily routine.

A home daycare may offer a smaller group, one familiar provider, and a home-like routine. Quality still depends heavily on the caregiver’s judgment, organization, experience, and ability to supervise several children. Parents should understand daily operations, emergencies, household access, discipline, and contract terms.

The following 17 questions can help you compare providers more fairly and recognize when an answer needs additional verification.

Before the Interview: Know Your Nonnegotiables

Before asking questions, define what your family actually needs.

Write down:

  • Your child’s age
  • Your intended start date
  • The days and hours you need care
  • Your earliest drop-off and latest pickup
  • Your maximum commute
  • Your weekly or monthly budget
  • Any allergy, medication, disability, feeding, toileting, language, or behavioral needs
  • Whether you need meals, transportation, school pickup, holiday care, or summer care
  • Your backup plan when the provider closes

Separate must-haves from preferences. Experience managing a severe allergy may be essential. A large outdoor play area may be a preference.

Once you know your priorities, use these questions during the interview.

1. What Is Your Licensing or Legal Operating Status?

Ask the provider to explain how the home daycare is legally allowed to operate.

Depending on the state and care arrangement, a provider may be licensed, registered, certified, approved, or legally exempt.

Ask for:

  • The provider’s full legal or licensed name
  • The program name
  • The license or registration number
  • The responsible licensing agency
  • The approved capacity and age range
  • Any exemption under which the provider operates
  • The most recent inspection date

Verify the information through your state or territory’s official child care website. Review available inspection findings, substantiated complaints, corrective actions, restrictions, suspensions, or revocations.

A current license is an important starting point, not proof of quality. Legally exempt care may have less government oversight and public information.

2. How Many Children Do You Care For, and What Are Their Ages?

Ask how many children are enrolled and how many are usually present on the busiest day.

Also ask:

  • Do your own children count toward capacity?
  • Are infants and school-age children cared for together?
  • Are children ever added temporarily?
  • Does enrollment change during school breaks or summer?

Mixed-age care can work well, but the provider must safely manage different sleep, feeding, activity, and supervision needs.

Watch for vague answers such as “It depends” or “Some children do not count” without a clear explanation. Compare the provider’s answer with the approved capacity or exemption rules shown in the official record.

3. Who Lives in the Home or Regularly Visits?

A home daycare is also a private residence. Parents should know who may be present during care hours.

Ask:

  • Who lives in the home?
  • Which household members are present during the day?
  • Which adults have completed required background checks?
  • Are teenagers or relatives ever responsible for children?
  • Are visitors allowed during operating hours?
  • How are delivery workers, repair workers, and guests handled?
  • Are any rooms rented to unrelated adults?
  • Are children ever taken to another home?

Occasional deliveries or repair visits are normal. Concern increases when unfamiliar adults frequently enter care areas, the provider is vague about who lives there, or household members unexpectedly supervise children.

A quality provider should have clear boundaries between personal life and child care operations.

4. What Experience and Training Do You Have?

Ask about the provider’s background caring for children.

Useful questions include:

  • How long have you operated a home daycare?
  • Which ages have you cared for?
  • What child development training have you completed?
  • Are you currently trained in pediatric first aid and CPR?
  • What ongoing training do you complete?
  • Do you have experience with my child’s medical, developmental, or behavioral needs?

Years alone do not prove quality. The provider should explain how training guides responses to choking, allergic reactions, missing children, unsafe sleep, or serious injury.

5. Who Supervises Children When You Are Unavailable?

Many home daycares depend on one primary caregiver. Ask what happens when that person needs to use the restroom, prepare food, answer the door, attend an appointment, or manage an emergency.

Ask:

  • Is an assistant or substitute ever present?
  • Who covers your breaks?
  • Can household members supervise children?
  • What screening and training do substitutes receive?
  • Will I be told when someone else is caring for my child?
  • Can children ever be left with an older child or teenager?
  • Who supervises during school pickup or transportation?

The answer should be specific. Children should not be left alone or placed under the responsibility of an unapproved person.

6. What Does a Typical Day Look Like?

Ask the provider to walk you through an ordinary day from opening to closing.

The routine may include:

  • Arrival
  • Breakfast or morning snack
  • Free play
  • Books and conversation
  • Art, music, or sensory activities
  • Outdoor play
  • Lunch
  • Nap or quiet time
  • Afternoon activities
  • Pickup

A home daycare does not need a formal curriculum, but children need interaction, movement, play, books, outdoor experiences, and age-appropriate materials.

Ask:

  • How much television or screen time is used?
  • How much time do children spend outdoors?
  • What happens when weather prevents outdoor play?
  • Are children expected to follow one schedule?
  • How are infant routines handled?
  • How are activities adapted for different ages?

Repeated reliance on screens instead of interaction and play is a meaningful concern.

7. How Do You Handle Discipline and Challenging Behavior?

The provider’s approach must be safe, respectful, and compatible with the family’s basic expectations.

Ask how the provider handles:

  • Tantrums
  • Biting
  • Hitting
  • Throwing
  • Refusal to participate
  • Elopement or running away
  • Toileting accidents
  • Conflicts between children
  • Repeated disruption

Positive guidance may include redirection, limited choices, calm consequences, help naming emotions, and teaching children how to repair harm.

Red flags include:

  • Physical punishment
  • Threats
  • Humiliation
  • Withholding food, water, sleep, toileting, comfort, or outdoor time
  • Excessive isolation
  • Harsh restraint
  • Public behavior charts that shame children
  • Labeling a child as bad

Ask for the discipline policy in writing.

8. How Do You Keep the Home Safe?

Ask to see every part of the home your child will use, including play, sleep, eating, diapering, bathroom, and outdoor areas.

Look for:

  • Secured medication, cleaning products, tools, weapons, and choking hazards
  • Protected stairs, windows, fireplaces, balconies, and electrical outlets
  • Stable furniture
  • Maintained smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
  • Accessible emergency exits
  • Separate diapering and food-preparation areas
  • Age-appropriate toys in good repair
  • Secured pools, hot tubs, ponds, and gates
  • Safe outdoor play areas
  • Controlled access to pets
  • A plan for fire, severe weather, evacuation, and power loss

Focus on hazards, hygiene, maintenance, and whether problems are corrected promptly.

9. How Do You Handle Infant Sleep and Feeding?

Parents of infants should ask detailed questions about sleep, bottles, breastfeeding, and responsive care.

Confirm that:

  • Each infant has an individual, approved sleep space
  • Babies are placed on their backs unless there is a documented medical exception
  • Sleep spaces remain free of loose bedding and unsafe objects
  • Sleeping infants are checked according to policy
  • Bottles and breast milk are labeled
  • Infants are held during bottle feeding
  • Bottles are not propped
  • Feeding, sleep, and diapering are documented
  • Awake infants receive supervised floor and tummy time
  • The provider responds to crying and individual routines

10. What Is Your Illness and Medication Policy?

Illness rules affect safety and family schedules.

Ask:

  • Which symptoms require a child to stay home?
  • When must a child be picked up?
  • How quickly must a parent arrive?
  • When may the child return?
  • Is a medical note required?
  • How are families informed about contagious illness exposure?
  • Who may administer medication?
  • What authorization and labeling are required?
  • How are medications stored?
  • Can the provider administer emergency medication?
  • How are allergies communicated to substitutes?

For a child with asthma, seizures, diabetes, severe allergies, or another medical condition, ask for a written care or emergency action plan.

The provider should explain how sick children are supervised while waiting for pickup and whether tuition remains due during illness.

11. What Meals and Snacks Are Provided?

Ask whether food is included and request a sample menu. Confirm who prepares meals, how allergies and choking hazards are handled, whether families may provide food, how children are supervised while eating, and whether food is ever used as punishment. For infants, ask how bottles, breast milk, formula, and new foods are managed. Eating and diapering areas should remain separate.

12. Are There Pets, Firearms, Smoking, or Other Household Risks?

Ask directly about risks that may not be obvious during a tour.

Pets

Find out:

  • Which animals live in the home
  • Whether they enter care areas
  • How children and animals are supervised
  • Whether any animal has shown aggression
  • How food bowls, litter boxes, and waste are managed
  • What happens when a child has an allergy

Smoking and vaping

Ask whether anyone smokes or vapes:

  • Inside the home
  • In the garage
  • In vehicles used for transportation
  • Outdoors while children are present

Firearms and weapons

Ask whether firearms or other weapons are present and how they are secured. Do not assume the answer based on appearance or neighborhood.

Also ask about pools, trampolines, workshops, medications belonging to household members, home businesses, and substances accessible to children.

13. How Do You Communicate With Parents?

Communication should cover routine updates and difficult information.

Ask:

  • How will I learn about meals, naps, diapers, mood, and activities?
  • How are injuries documented?
  • When will you call instead of sending a message?
  • How quickly do you respond to parent concerns?
  • Will I be told when a substitute is present?
  • How are policy changes announced?
  • May parents visit or observe?
  • How are photographs or videos used?
  • How do you handle complaints or disagreements?

The provider should be able to describe your child’s day with specific examples after enrollment.

Be cautious when injuries are minimized, reports are vague, or reasonable questions are treated as criticism.

14. What Happens When You Are Sick or Closed?

A home daycare may close when its primary provider becomes ill or has an emergency.

Ask:

  • Is an approved substitute available?
  • How are families notified?
  • Is tuition charged during provider closures?
  • How many vacation or personal days are planned?
  • Which holidays are scheduled?
  • What happens during severe weather or utility loss?
  • Does backup care occur in the same home?
  • How much notice is provided for planned closures?

Ask for the annual closure calendar and backup-care policy in writing.

15. What Are the Tuition, Deposit, and Fee Terms?

Request a written fee schedule and contract.

Confirm:

  • The tuition amount
  • Whether payment is weekly, biweekly, or monthly
  • The due date
  • Accepted payment methods
  • Whether payment is due in advance
  • Late payment fees
  • Returned payment fees
  • Registration fees
  • Deposits
  • Late pickup charges
  • Whether tuition is due during absences, vacations, holidays, and closures
  • When rates may increase

Ask whether a deposit is refundable, whether it is applied to final tuition, and what happens if the provider cannot offer care.

Do not send a large payment before confirming the provider’s identity, legal status, location, written terms, and refund policy.

16. What Are the Withdrawal and Termination Rules?

Understand how either side may end the arrangement.

Ask:

  • How much written notice must a family provide?
  • Is tuition due during the notice period?
  • What happens if the child stops attending immediately?
  • Is the deposit refunded or applied?
  • May the provider terminate care without notice?
  • What behavior or policy violations can lead to termination?
  • Is notice given before care ends for behavior?
  • What happens if the provider can no longer meet the child’s needs?

Broad language allowing termination at any time deserves careful review.

17. May I Review References, Records, and Written Policies?

Ask for enough information to verify the provider’s statements.

Useful materials may include:

  • Licensing or registration information
  • Inspection reports
  • Parent handbook
  • Contract
  • Fee schedule
  • Closure calendar
  • Illness policy
  • Discipline policy
  • Emergency procedures
  • Sample menu
  • References from current or recent families, when available

Use recommendations alongside official records and direct observation.

When speaking with a reference, ask:

  • Was the provider dependable?
  • How did the provider communicate?
  • Were policies applied consistently?
  • How were injuries or conflicts handled?
  • Did the child seem comfortable?
  • Why did the family leave?

Look for consistency across the provider’s answers, written policies, official record, references, and what you observe.

Red Flags During the Interview or Tour

Pause and investigate when:

  • Licensing information cannot be verified
  • The provider discourages you from checking official records
  • You are not allowed to see areas used by children
  • More children are present than expected
  • The provider is vague about household members
  • Unfamiliar adults move through care areas
  • Children appear unsupervised
  • The provider yells, shames, or handles children roughly
  • Unsafe infant sleep practices are visible
  • Medication, chemicals, weapons, or hazards are accessible
  • Screen use appears excessive
  • Injuries are undocumented
  • Policies are unavailable or change during the conversation
  • You are pressured to pay immediately
  • The provider becomes defensive about ordinary safety questions

Several inconsistencies or a serious safety problem should carry substantial weight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I ask all 17 questions in one interview?

You may not need to ask them word for word, but every topic should be answered before enrollment. Some information may already appear in the contract, handbook, licensing record, or provider’s opening explanation.

Is a licensed home daycare always better than an exempt provider?

Not automatically. Licensing provides a regulatory framework and may make inspection information available, but parents should still evaluate interactions, supervision, safety, routines, communication, and fit. With exempt care, ask what screening and oversight apply.

Is a mixed-age group safe?

It can be. The provider should manage different sleep, feeding, activity, and supervision needs and protect infants from small toys or rough play intended for older children.

Should a home daycare have a formal curriculum?

Not necessarily. Young children learn through relationships, play, conversation, books, movement, art, outdoor time, and daily routines. Heavy screen use and limited interaction are more concerning than the absence of a branded curriculum.

Are household visitors always a red flag?

No. Deliveries, maintenance, and occasional visitors are normal. Concern increases when unfamiliar adults frequently enter care areas, visitors have unsupervised access, or the provider is secretive about who is present.

What if my child suddenly resists going to daycare?

Ask open-ended, non-leading questions and discuss the change with the provider. Look for specific patterns such as fear of one person, unexplained injuries, or major changes in care. Seek medical, licensing, or child protection guidance when warranted.

What should I do if the provider’s answer conflicts with the contract?

Ask for clarification in writing before signing. Important agreements about schedule, tuition, closures, accommodations, or refunds should be written into the contract or an addendum.

Related Resources

Sources

ChildCareCenter.us is an independent directory and educational resource. Licensing terms, capacity rules, inspection systems, reporting procedures, and provider requirements vary by state and may change. Verify current information with your state or territory’s official child care agency and contact providers directly before enrolling or paying fees.

6 thoughts on “17 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Home Daycare”

  1. 18. Make sure your provider teaches facts and reason and not indoctrinate and lie to children using ancient myths and superstition. Religion is easy. Little mental work is required. It largely based on authority--either the written authority of the Bible, or more often, the authority of religious figures and parents. Little investigation is needed. You just buy it. Children are indoctrinated when their minds are still like wet clay. With science, it takes years of study. Parents don't teach it usually. And schools do a lousy job of teaching it. Most people don't even understand how the scientific method works. Science takes a lot of mental work. You have to be able to push aside your biases and preconceived notions. That's not easy. By the time a kid has their first lesson in science, often by a teacher who doesn't understand it herself, they have already been indoctrinated into their religion. Science usually requires math--which the schools also do a lousy job of teaching. Science involves a lot of uncertainty, and requires the ability to withhold judgement until testing confirms a given proposition, and people lack patience, and want instant gratification, and they want conclusive answers now--not later after the evidence has been collected and tested and peer-reviewed. So religion asks only for our credulity and obedience--which is easier for us to provide. Science asks us to work, think, do math, suspend judgement, push aside our biases, and be patient--all which are much harder for people.

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  2. While working in child care centers I experienced most caregivers/teachers do not have sufficient knowledge in science and mathematics. That says they are not capable of recognizing teachable moments that promote science and mathematics education. For instance,they think a child use an object in a way other than it's primary use is inappropriate and must be stopped. Once I gave my 8-16 month olds who were sitting around me an empty formula can closed with the lid. They banged it holding with both hands and enjoyed the sound, rolled it on the table and watched it move and lot more. I explained my partner teacher how many new connections are created in little brains and how beneficial it is in child's future learning maths and science. The next day when I went to the class the empty can was missing and I was assigned ironically to a different class to be trained under a teacher who shows children a picture of a circle drawn in a squire paper to teach circle. I think they couldn't stand my assertive comments about their poor teaching methods and created a situation made me resigned. But the school boost they are so religious and excellent.

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  3. Daycare information is required for children and temporary disabled adults.

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  4. Seasons greeting My primary ph#646 413-9159 please adjust and update my info. Thank you

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  5. It does make sense to leave your child at a reputable daycare center to ease up your worries as a parent. I heard that my colleague is scared of becoming a father since he might not have enough time for his child. I think this information could give him peace of mind while working on his daily job.

    Reply

  6. Thanks for also talking about how going for surprise visits can also help gauge a daycare center. I'd like to find one because I plan to help my sister find one for her child. It would be best to get that sorted out before she starts on her new job.

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