Red Flags to Look Out for When Choosing an At-Home Daycare

Choosing the Right Daycare is Hard for Texas Parents

Some parents may look into choosing an at-home facility for their child, as their budget doesn’t allow them to pay over $300+ a week for daycare. It's not easy to trust someone with your child, let alone a stranger. We have written guides on how to choose the correct daycare and what to look for when touring a daycare - but I am here to inform you on what not to do when looking for an at-home daycare.

First, you do not want to look for daycare providers on Craigslist, Nextdoor, or Facebook. These might not be safe options because they give you limited information, and you are not able to view who’s posting the ad, as well as not being able to see the physical location of the “daycare.”

These at-home daycare providers that are listed on these websites are more than likely not registered with the State of Texas. Meaning a random person decided that they wanted to make easy money by taking care of kids, without going through the proper channels of getting a safe facility, qualified staff, insurance, and a state license to take care of children. Additionally, with home daycares, there’s no way for you to know their criminal background.

Information the Texas Daycare May Not be Providing:

• Do the caregivers know CPR in the case of an emergency?
• How often do they keep up with disinfecting and sanitizing?
• Will your child be the only one that’s being taken care of, or will there be multiple children in the daycare?
• Will the caregiver's other family members be around the children? 
• Does the caregiver have their own children that they will be caring for as well?
• How long have they been taking care of kids?
• What are their hours?

You will also not be able to read reviews on this at-home daycare facility because they are not a licensed and vetted business. There could have been multiple kids injured at this home, and you would never know because there is no legal requirement for these daycares to report these incidents to the state like there is with licensed daycare facilities. Additionally, there have been several cases of babies dying under the care of an at-home daycare facility.

To learn more, check out our blog post, Dangers Of At-Home Daycare Facilities in Texas.

What Can Texas Parents Do to Vet a Home Daycare?

There are great alternatives to use instead of the sites listed above. Other sites, like Care.com, allows you to put in your spending limit, location, and the age of your child/children. Once you add that information into the search engine, it will show you all of the daycare facilities around you as well as nannies that will come to your house and take care of your child.

What Can The Button Law Firm Do to Help With Your Texas Daycare Case?

If you’re in the process of looking for a daycare for your child, please check out our daycare articles, where you will find useful information to help you make the important decision of choosing the right daycare for your child. 

If your child got hurt while attending an at-home daycare, please call us at 214-699-4409 or contact us by clicking here. Our Texas daycare injury team is here to help you and your family keep moving forward.