Having moved around a lot I liken the interview process to what we do on a house hunting trip. The first while you simply visit as many houses as you can find that look like they may fit your needs and do a visit to each - long enough to get a feel for the place but not looking in every nook and cranny just basic layout, location, condition. Then you narrow it down to the top 3-5 and go back for a second visit where you look at details. Then you pick one and negotiate from there.

With childcare most parents attempt to visit as many places as they can that they think meet their needs and a quick evening get the basic details ironed out, show off the space, allow me to get a feel for them as well is all we do. Then they may or may not decide to come back and often that is just mom and baby during the day when the other kids are here - sometimes dad takes off and comes but not always able to do that. I like it better when it is just mom because we get to talk about things mom to mom and they are more likely to get right in with the other daycare kids and really see how their child would fit in. The nice thing at this point is that we are so close to signing that I really don't have to do much except keep everyone in line and keep it fun and we focus on the new visitor and babies are always a highlight. I usually am able to find out where they are in the process at that point.