Tour checklist · Montana

Daycare tour checklist for Montana

Take these questions on every Montana daycare tour. The first ones come from what Montana inspectors cite most often; the rest apply to any daycare.

To print, use your browser's print command: the checklist prints on its own, without the menus.

From Montana's records

Questions from Montana's inspection records

These rule groups make up the largest shares of the rules Montana inspectors cited since October 2023.

Ratios in Montana centers

Count the adults in the baby room. Montana's rule for centers: 1:4, one adult for every 4 babies.
In the toddler room, the rule at 18 months is 1:6, one adult for every 6 children. How many children and adults are in it today?

Health, medication and illness: 17.8% of cited rules

Where do you keep medicine, and who gives it and logs it?
How do you store and give medication, and who signs the log?
What is your plan for a child with a food allergy?
When must a sick child stay home, and when can they come back?

Records and paperwork: 17.8% of cited rules

How do you track who is here each day, and how do I update my contact details?
Can I see your parent handbook and your policies in writing?
How do you keep my emergency contacts up to date?
Where is your license posted?

Supervision and ratios: 14.7% of cited rules

How do staff keep track of every child at nap time, outdoors and at pick-up?
How many adults are in my child's room, and how many children?
How do staff keep track of every child during outdoor play, nap and pick-up?
Who may pick up my child, and how do you check?

Safety and hazards: 13.1% of cited rules

Where are your smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, and when were they last checked?
How do you check the rooms for electrical and other hazards?
Where are cleaning products and medicines kept?
How often do you hold fire drills, and where would the children go?

What Montana inspectors cite explains each rule group. Look up the daycare's own record from daycares in Montana before you go.

Before you go

Before the tour

Look up the daycare's license and inspection record before the tour.
Ask for a tour while children are there, not only after hours.
Bring this list and write the answers down; compare daycares the same evening.

Ask and look

Who watches the children

How many staff hold current CPR and first aid training?
What training does a new teacher get before working alone with children?
How long have the teachers in my child's room worked here?
Has every staff member and volunteer cleared the state background check?
Who else is in the building during the day, and are they checked too?
In a home daycare: are the adults who live in the home checked?

Ask and look

Health, safety and sleep

Where do babies sleep, and is the crib bare except for a fitted sheet?
Are babies always put down on their backs?
How often do staff check on sleeping children?

Ask and look

Food, play and the day

Can I see this week's menu?
How do you label and store bottles and breast milk?
Who prepares the food, and where?
Can I see the playground and the rooms my child would use?
What is under the climbing equipment outside?
How do you check toys and equipment for damage?
What do teachers do when a child hits or bites?
Is time-out used, and for how long?
Can I see a typical daily schedule for my child's age?
What does a normal day look like for my child's age?
How will you tell me about my child's day?
What are your hours, and what happens if I am late?
Can I visit or call during the day?

Ask and look

Getting there

Does my child ride in a vehicle for school pick-up or field trips?
Who drives, and what car seats do you use?
How do you make sure no child is left in a vehicle?

Ask and look

Paperwork and the license

Has the daycare had any cited rules in recent inspections? What changed after them?
Is the license current, and for how many children?
Who do I talk to if I have a concern?

Money

Cost and the contract

What is the weekly or monthly rate for my child's age, and what does it include?
Is there a registration fee, a supply fee or a deposit?
Do you charge for holidays, sick days or our vacation weeks?
Do you accept child care assistance?
How much notice do I need to give before leaving?

What daycare costs: daycare cost in Montana.

Why ask in person

What daycare websites rarely say

post a staff-to-child ratio: 3.8%
give a class size: 4%
mention cameras or live video: 3.3%
describe a secure entry: 5.2%

Share of the 40,114 daycare websites we read, across the US, that state each fact. A website that does not say it is not a daycare that does not do it: ask.

We are a directory, not the daycare. A good answer on a tour is one the daycare can show you, not only tell you.

Questions: DaycarePal, from the rule groups state inspectors cite. Montana figures: Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Child Care Licensing inspection records since October 2023; ratios: National Database of Child Care Licensing Regulations (ACF), 2025 tables.