Putting 17 Month Old in Daycare for the First time.Questions to Ask.....

what sold me was their menu...my daycare is monitored by the state and must provide all the food groups at meals. I also wanted to know about learning schedules and how do they do naps. what are the rules for when a child sick, or biting/hitting.

Try to find somewhere that is convenient to work and home. This is for both when you are on your regular commute or when you need to pick him up do to being sick. Most places have a '30 minutes pick up' from the time they call about your child being sick. This is also helpful if you work from home occassionally.

Class size
Meal menus
What happens if your child doesn't like what is being served?
Is tuition due on Monday for the ahead or Friday for the week past?
What is their pick-up policy/security proceedure?

It can be overwhelming and stressful. However, there are great places out there. Our kids are in a Primrose (I know they have them in AZ too - not sure if they are near you) and LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Of course they are franchises and run by different owners, but check it out. Overall, you will get a good feeling (or not) when you enter the daycare and spend just a few minutes there. Are the kids happy? Playing or just sitting alone? Are they attended to? Clean? Are the toys clean? Can you stop in anytime you want? What is the tenure of the teachers? What is the ratio of teachers to kids? Good luck and trust your gut - it will be just fine : )

One of the things you definitely want to check up on is their staff turnover rate. The kinds of people you want to work with your child will be the sort who genuinely like to interact with the kids, and who want to watch them grow and develop. If the center can't hold onto its staff, you should definitely ask why!

Try this website http://www.arizonachildcare.org/ I used it when I was a first time mom looking for an interviewing day care centers. I know there are centers listed for the Phoenix area but I would think they have info state wide as it's called the "Arizona Child Care Resource". The site should have info on what to look for in a center as well. Good luck.

How do they handle an unhappy child? (Imagine if your child is sad or clingy. I would want them to hold my child or wear them in a carrier)
How do they discipline? (If your child hits another or won't share or another child does this to your child etc. Or biting? scratching?)
What kind of food do they serve?
How much TV is on a day
How do they do naps? Are they mandatory for the older kids? (Imagine your child when they are 3 or 4 and growing out of naps. Does this day care provider let them have quiet time or insist they nap?)
Do they do outings and provide stimulation? Is it somewhat like a preschool with educational aspects or is it just free playtime/like a daycare? This will be of more interest to you when your child is older
How many adults vs how many children?
Can you go and spend a day or half day there to watch?
And like someone else said...are the other children there happy?!

I put my daughter in daycare when she was 2. I looked at lots of places and then when I walked into one (which I wasn't even going to go to because it was 20 min completely out of my way) I knew it was the one. It was the first one I actually felt comfortable in. I liked that the teacher she was going to be with interacted w/ my daughter and me. You'd be amazed how many places either only talked to one of us, or neither!

Questions I had revolved around turnover. How long has the teacher been there, and the ones in the next room up (your kiddo will be changing rooms/teachers).

Does the place close for snow days? I live in WI and my company has only closed once in the 14yrs I've been there for a snowday. Oh wait, you live in warmer places.

Can I bring my own food for my kiddo? Some places allow, others don't.

What's the sick policy? One place Iooked at said 99.5 fever and they have to be sent home. Place I had my kiddo was 100.5.

Employee turnover can be a HUGE indicator as to how they treat their teachers... this is VERY important. A well paid, well taken care of teacher will give 100% to the kids and to the other teachers (relationships between the teachers in a classroom are REALLY important!)
Ask if they have outside consultants who help teachers with ongoing training and/or troubleshooting in their classrooms. Centers who have extra money and spend it back on the center/teachers are focused on the right things!
When do teachers do planning? Do they have to rush to get it done while kids are napping, or do they have a planned time each week where someone else takes care of their class so they can focus totally on their lesson plans?
How are lesson plans developed? Do they have rigid themes already planned out for them ahead of time or do they come up with their own themes depending on what the children are interested in at the time? ("Animals" are not really relevant to a child who is focused on potty training - yes, potty training can and should be a lesson theme!)
What is their policy on behavior problems? You don't want your child exposed to outrageous behavior, but you also don't want your child to be kicked out for normal toddler stuff like biting or hitting - get ready to be as gracious towards other people's kids as you want them to be towards yours.
If a school is on top of this stuff, then you can bet that they are changing diapers on time, and feeding the kids healthy meals - and they will probably tell you all this information up front anyway! The whole day should be based on play, no worksheets or "cookie cutter" art. Free art, easels in clear view, obvious areas in the room such as: blocks with animals, trucks or people, homeliving/dress up, quiet/reading, manipulatives like pop beads or shape sorters...
This is the major stuff I can think of from my teaching days!

How do they go about potty training?
How do they deal with toddler tantrums?
What type of activities do they engage that age group in?
How many kids per teacher ratio do you have?
How often do they feed, change, sanitize toys, etc?
What are the procedures if the baby gets sick?

These are some of the questions I would be concerned about for that age.

Child/Teacher Ratio
Are the teachers licensed teachers or just hourly employees.
Employee turnover?
Transitioning between activities - how do they do it? (Our son was once left behind in a classroom when they transitioned outside - the teacher didn't do the class count correctly)
Discipline? Time Out?
Meals and Snacks?
Do you have to provide breakfast?
What is their policy with security items (blankies, etc - some only allow blankies, others will allow stuffed animals, etc)
What is the policy with special days - parties and bringing treats?
Convienent location.
What types of learning activities do they do?
Do they use videos/cartoons at all (ours did during rainy days when the kids couldn't play outside)
Outside time, how much do they get?
What is the napping time/times?

It really is about the "feel" of a place. Look for happy kids. I also paid attention to lots of windows - the first few we looked at had very few windows, which just made me feel depressed.
Good Luck!