Safe sleep — ask this first
Every infant room should be able to answer these without looking anything up:
- Do babies sleep on their backs, every time, in their own crib?
- Is the crib empty — no blankets, no pillows, no bumpers, no positioners?
- Can a baby sleep in a swing or car seat if they fall asleep there, or are they moved?
- How often does a staff member physically check on a sleeping baby, and is that written down?
Hesitation here is the one finding worth walking out over. Everything else on this list is negotiable by degrees; this is not.
Feeding
- How is breast milk labeled, stored, and warmed — and what happens to what is left over?
- Are bottles fed on the baby's cues or on a room schedule?
- Is a baby ever put down with a propped bottle?
- How do you introduce solids, and who decides when — us or you?
- How are allergies recorded, and who in the room knows about them on a day when the regular teacher is out?
That last question is the real test. Policies are easy. Policies that survive a substitute are what protect your child.
Ratios and who is actually in the room
Ask how many adults are with the babies at 7:30am, at 1pm, and at 5:30pm — three different answers at most programs. Then ask how long the current infant teachers have been in that room. Consistency of adults matters enormously for babies, who bond to people, not to buildings.
Also ask what happens when a teacher is out sick: does a floater who knows the babies step in, or a stranger?
Diapering and hygiene
- Where is the changing table in relation to where food is prepared?
- What is the surface sanitized with, and after every change?
- How are diaper changes and their timing recorded?
- How often are mouthed toys taken out of rotation and cleaned?
Illness policy — read it before you enroll, not after
Ask for the written policy on fevers, vomiting, and rashes, including the exact temperature that triggers a call home and how long a child must be symptom-free before returning. This is the policy that will disrupt your work calendar, so you want to know it in advance rather than discovering it at 10am on a Tuesday.
Security and access
- Who can pick my child up, and how is that verified by someone who does not recognize them?
- Is the entrance locked during the day?
- Are the classrooms and common areas monitored?
- Can I come by outside of scheduled times?
"Yes, any time" is a good sign. Programs confident in their ordinary days do not need notice.
What you will hear each day
For an infant, daily reporting is not a nicety — it is how you parent a baby you did not spend the day with. Ask what you will actually receive: naps, bottles, diapers, mood, milestones. Ask whether it is written or verbal, and whether you get photos. Then ask how you would be told about something small but odd — a bump, an off morning, a skipped bottle.
The one thing checklists cannot tell you
Stand in the infant room and just listen for two minutes. You are listening for adults narrating to babies — talking, naming, singing, responding to sounds. A quiet infant room with quiet adults is not a calm room. It is an unengaged one.
Our infant room
At My First Place Academy, the infant room is a calm, sensory-rich first environment, and bilingual immersion starts there rather than at three — teachers narrate and sing in both English and Spanish throughout the day. The premises are video-monitored, classrooms are connected by a closed-circuit intercom system, and meals are coordinated with the Florida Department of Health as part of a dedicated food program. Directors Veronica and Aracelly Forero are in the building day to day, not offsite.
Bring this list and hold us to it.
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