If you will not have a stay-at-home partner or other family member caring for your child, your three main child care options include:
- Center-based day care
- A home-based day care
- A nanny or au pair
Day Care Centers
There are a wide variety of center-based day cares available, some privately owned and others operated by churches, corporations, national or regional franchises, and schools and universities.
Two good sources for finding day care centers are:
- Child Care Aware (www.childcareaware.org)
- The National Association for the Education of Young Children (www.naeyc.org)
- Ask your friends with children for recommendations
At minimum, your day care center should be accredited by the state you live in. But you want more than just the minimum for your child. Look for a center that:
- Meets the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations for infant-to-caregiver ratio (no more than three babies under the supervision of one caregiver)
- Allows and even encourages drop-in visits by parents
- Has clearly stated, written policies on things such as discipline and what happens when a child is ill
- Has a strict policy about cleanliness, hand washing, and hygiene. When you visit, observe whether workers wear gloves when changing diapers.
- Employs staff members who are trained in CPR and in early childhood development, and who have gone through criminal background checks
Home-Based Day Care
Home-based day cares are smaller, run out of an individual caregiver's home. Often, the person running a home-based day care has children of her own whom she cares for at the same time. There are many more of these centers than day care centers, they are usually less expensive, and they can be easier for finding an opening.
On the other hand, their hours are often less convenient than center-based care -- for example, a home-based day care provider may close for a week in the middle of the summer for her own family's vacation. Or she may have to close at the last minute if she gets sick -- something that doesn't happen in a center.
In a home-based day care, you should look for:
- Licensure by the state, criminal background check, CPR certification, and experience caring for young children and infants
- No more than six children per adult caregiver, including any of the caregivers' own children, with no more than two of these children under age 2.
- Clear policies about hygiene, discipline, and illness
- Information about what sort of daily program is offered. Does the caregiver take the children for walks? Provide specific things like music time, art time, and story time? How often is the television on?
- Information about other adults or older children in the home. Centers are usually stricter about who comes in and out of their buildings; you may not be comfortable with a lot of unscreened, unrelated people visiting the home where your child is cared for.