SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife parent is concerned there may not be enough options for parents who leave their children in daycares when they find they aren't getting the care they deserve.

"I've gone through two (daycares) and I have found (my child) a fantastic one finally, but she still had to wait, gosh, a year to get into that one," said Lil Smith, the mother of a two-year-old girl.

She didn't want to name names, but some daycares she has experienced have given ice cream for breakfast among other nutritional nightmares, and not given the child enough individual attention.

"I know one of my co-workers had to quit her job because she couldn't find adequate daycare. It's not that she wanted to leave her job, because she loved it, but her kids came first of course," said Smith.

"For one week straight she picked up her daughter with a soiled diaper."

Smith has not seen much involvement from the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment and is worried that many daycares may be getting a free ride.

"You're hoping that your children will be taken care of – you know it's not going to be the most ideal situation because no one can take care of them the way you can.

"You hope that when you send them off for that day that they are getting their fruit, veggies, and milk," said Smith.

Smith said that in today's economy it is very hard to be a stay-at-home parent.

"People have to work. You do pay very well for dayhomes. If they're getting into the business of taking care of children, they should be ready to take care of children," Smith said.

Gillian Moir works with the Early Childhood and Child Daycare Services division for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and said there is one required inspection per year for each daycare in the NWT, though if possible the department tries to arrange for more – depending on things like location.

"Here in Yellowknife it might be as frequently as three times a year, but up in the High Arctic that requires a fly-in, they might get in twice," said Moir.

Moir said the inspectors try to do unannounced visits as often as possible.

"On the annual visit, inspections are done with a fine-toothed comb," she said, explaining the other visits may not be as in-depth but will still look at the interaction between caretakers and kids, as well as any obvious discrepancies against the child care act.

"Some of the things that are covered in the regulations are things such as nutrition, we look at the indoor and outdoor play space," said Moir.

"We look at the policies – for example, transportation policies or parent involvement policies – we look at the physical space they are using for the childcare program and it could be a home-based facility. Is it well-lit, is it well-ventilated?"

"We look at furniture and equipment, sanitary conditions, child-staff ratios, emergency procedures – stuff like that."

Smith was concerned that there is no opportunity for parents to give feedback without running the risk of having their child ejected from the program and having to find another daycare, which can take years.

"It's not a thing where you can interview daycares and pick and choose – a lot of them say that they don't have spaces for a year or two years," said Smith.

Moir said there are numbers for concerned parents to call in every region of the NWT, and those numbers are listed in the phone book. Smith believes that parents should be informed that there is this option upon submitting their child to daycare.

"We do sometimes get (complaints), it is not uncommon – it's just not like every week, or every month even," said Moir.

"We take down their comments – it could be anonymous, it could be a user (of childcare facilities) – and then we would look into things from there," Moir continued, saying that if the concerns involve practices that are at odds with the child care act, the consultant will stop by the daycare and check.