Most parents today have busy work schedules and need to trust a daycare to keep their baby safe while they’re away. However, concerns about hygiene, germs, and sanitation at the daycare center often trouble parents, especially during the cold and flu season.
When a bunch of small kids are put together in one place, there are chances of bacterial infections and the spreading of viruses. Here are some tips that could help you keep your little one safe and protected in a daycare center:
- Choose a smaller daycare facility
If your child has a tendency to get sick pretty quickly, then it is best to pick a smaller daycare facility as he/she would have fewer kids around and this will reduce the risk of infection and disease.
- Check about the basic hygiene practices being followed at the facility
Ideally, a good daycare facility should make it mandatory for helpers to undertake regular hand-washing, especially before touching a child or feeding them food. You might like to check if each room at the daycare center has a sink and hand sanitizer bottles.
- Check if sick kids allowed at the daycare
One of the biggest fears of all parents is regarding their children being around kids who have fever, flu or other communicable diseases. In order to ensure that your child is in an absolutely safe and protected environment, you must check the policies of the daycare facility with regards to whether or not it allows admission of sick kids.
Every daycare facility may have a different policy for sick children. Some of them may allow kids with minor cold and cough to spend the day at the center. You need to decide the amount of risk you’re willing to take with the health of your child.
- Ensure implementation of the vaccine policy
A good daycare facility should ideally ask for a child’s immunization history file before allowing them to attend. However, several daycare centers fail to follow this policy and ensure that parents are getting all subsequent vaccines for the child. So if your daycare facility is lax about the vaccine policy, make sure you report to the management and make the implementation stricter.