After years of service in the Navy’s special forces, Jose Delgado brought his wife Jen and their children back to his home state of Montana to finally settle. With five kids, it quickly became clear that there weren’t a lot of options for child care, especially for babies. 

In September of 2023, the Delgados opened Lil Buckaroo's, an infant-only childcare service, at 729 Nucleus Avenue, A, in Columbia Falls.

“They wanted to provide quality childcare,” manager Catherine Mischke said. She and two other staff members are CPR and first aid trained, went through background checks, and are prepared to utilize the Mother Goose learning curriculum for motor and speech skills. 

“The curriculum is specifically for... meeting their milestones how they should be. So by six months, some littles should be sitting up on their own, and there’s certain exercises in there that we can perform with them to help them,” Mischke said. 

Outside of the curriculum, babies have access to toys like swings and a play kitchen, a sensory foam pit, and staff engage in story time and sing-alongs. Montana state regulations require one staff member per four infants, but Lil Roo’s cuts that down to six littles at a time. 

“That’s like the biggest thing, everyone’s getting the care they need and it’s not just a free for all of screaming babies,” Mischke laughed. 

Children 23 months and under are eligible for care, which could mean long-term service or drop-ins. Parents enroll in Brightwheel, a service that allows staff members to communicate information such as when their kids were fed and changed, as well as send photo and video updates. 

“It’s super pain-free, the goal is to get rid of paper so nobody is struggling with a baby trying to figure out paperwork, they can do everything from their phone,” Mischke said. 

Mischke is a mother of two herself, and she said that from her perspective, Lil Roo’s stands out as an infant care service. 

“One of my daughters used to go to another daycare around here, and it was just always loud, you had big kids mixed with little kids, 8-year-olds and a 1-year-old crawling around. We strictly keep it to 23 months... That’s where we stand out, because it’s just the littles. They’re receiving the one-on-one care they need and it’s more personable, I feel, here, because we don't have 50 kids running around. The moms that come in, it’s more of a comfortable relationship and doesn’t feel transactional. It just feels more homey.”

Lil Roo’s is trying to grow, with a couple of regular kids, there is room for drop-ins. 

“Preschools around here have a waitlist years out,” Mischke said. People contacting her are looking for care in late September, when they have openings now. 

Lil Roo’s is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. They can be contacted at 406-609-1411.