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The main challenge for working moms has always been finding quality, affordable, reliable, and convenient childcare. Some moms are lucky to have their spouse, family members, or even close friends offering to help out in babysitting and childcare while the mom is away working. But what happens when you as a new mom do not have this privilege? Your other options include enrolling in daycare, hiring a nanny, or other home-based child care services. However, these services come with one big concern for moms, especially new moms who have to return to the workforce. As a new mom, you have so many questions about childcare. How do you trust a stranger with your child? How do you trust that the daycare or the nanny will offer the best childcare for your baby? Such constant worries have led to many moms quitting their jobs after childbirth to care for their babies themselves. The fact that most don’t have this luxury and desperately need to work adds to the dilemma. Many moms have unwillingly enrolled in these services hoping that their child will get the best care. Fortunately, it turns out well most of the time, mostly because there are so many benefits to be derived from having others, even strangers’ care for your child. Why You Need Childcare Givers Other Than Yourself There are so many bad things happening out to our children that are enough to scare women away from leaving their children under the care of strangers. But these are just exceptions and in most cases, these childcare services become so beneficial both to you and your child. Your emotional and mental health depends a lot on this as well since you need some time away from caring for your child to be well. As a mom, you need to understand that your child benefits more by being under the care of people other than you. There are tons of language and social development involved for instance when you enroll your child in daycare that you would not be able to offer independently. Raising a child takes a village and your childcare providers, even if strangers at first, they quickly become part of this village. Nonetheless, trust is very important to have in the person/center caring for your baby. Along the way, you will realize that trust is built before you can comfortably be at ease while working away. The following tips will help you in this journey; Effective Tips on How to Build Trust with Your Childcare Provider Tip 1: Conduct a Daycare Tour to Trust Them If your chosen option for a child is a daycare, start by doing it right from the start by conducting a daycare tour. Before this, create a list of things and requirements that are important to you in terms of childcare for your baby. Pick a few daycare centers you are comfortable trying and go for a tour. Look around, observe and ask questions to establish if a center meets your minimum requirements. Read; questions for Daycare tour This first step is crucial in building trust in the center and being at ease at work. Most daycares will be willing to welcome you for a tour, even without an appointment. This is a good sign and excellent care as you can drop in unannounced at any time. Also, check reviews online or from parents who have enrolled their children there to get a general overview of the daycare. Tip 2: Vet, Verify and Conduct a Thorough Nanny Interview before Hiring If your option for child care is a nanny, you need to do your hiring right. Start from where you are sourcing your nanny, as it needs to be highly reputable and reliable. This may be through a highly rated and trusted agency or referral through friends, family, or colleagues. Again have a list of requirements you need from your nanny such as age, experience, training, location, and skills among other qualifications. After you have several potential nannies that fit the profile, call them in for an interview. During the interview get as much information as possible from the nanny that will help you make a decision. Don't hire until you feel comfortable and hence interview as many as possible. This process may help start the journey of strong your new are provider. Ensure that you verify the information you get from the nanny by calling their referees and families they have worked with before to hear their experience with the nanny. Tip 3: Install Assistive Technology to Learn the “Stranger” While some nannies may not like it, most working moms like the idea of virtually getting into their home and seeing what their nanny and baby are doing. A good honest nanny should never have a problem with a CCTV system watching them. While you won’t be checking the system all the time, the knowledge that you can check in anytime you want can be relieving. You will soon be able to feel at ease and start trusting the nanny. Also most daycares these days have CCTV cameras that parents can virtually view at any time of the day. You can simply log in any time of the day and see how your baby and others in the class are doing. Also, most daycares give the parents regular updates throughout the day will help them adjust quickly. The updates may be photos and videos, letting you know what the curriculum of the day was, the food that was provided, how much the baby ate, bottle feeds, and diaper changes among others. Tip 4: Trust and Believe in the Childcare Profession It is a general belief that people who work in daycares or as nannies love children. There may be an exception to some who are just materialistic but child-caring is a passion. While you are the mom and have the best interests at heart for your baby, there are other people out there in the profession capable of caring for your child, even better than in most. Most people in daycares, as well as nannies, have amassed a lot of experience and knowledge on childcare. Also, they are required to have educational qualifications in the same. This requirement is important in licensing and the centers have to comply. In some areas, the teachers are even required to have a minimum of an associate degree in early childhood education, so they know what they're doing. Therefore their wealth of knowledge and experience is so beneficial to your child, and helps you, especially if you are a new mom to find comfort in the knowledge that your child is thriving and benefitting more when under the care of such people. This will help you to start trusting them. Tip 5: Know When You Have To Let Go As A Parent and Trust Others There is a great need to bring balance to your life for you to even thrive at work. This is unlikely to happen if you are always with your child. Remember good parenting is never caring for your child 24/7. Both of you need a break which comes with lots of benefits too mentioned above. It is very important for your emotional and mental health as well, which if compromised will negatively affect the child that you are bringing up. This knowledge should make it easier for you to understand why you need others, even if they are strangers to take care of your child. Good parenting is all about knowing when to let go, which may be scary but which you can overcome. You need to manage yourself to do it. You can do what is best for your child so that both of you can be well. Tip 6: Trust the Licensing Process There are good standards set in place to regulate childcare services providers for the health and safety of your child. Before a license is issued, the set requirements must be met. This is for daycare, nanny, or other formal child care options. All are under strict, and rigid licensing requirements that keep your child safe, which should help you feel at ease. Also, background checks, vetting, and regular monitoring are done. This should be a key requirement for looking when conducting a discretory or when choosing a daycare. Ensure that license of your intended childcare provider is in order. If so, rest assured that the safety of the child is being looked after. The centers must do their best as failing to comply can make them the license to operate. Tip 7: Be Intentional About Building Trust with Your Childcare Provider Trusting is a process. Therefore trust the process. Everyone you now know or the trust was once a stranger. Basically, this is always a process where you move from being strangers to being friends or people that you can trust. Therefore be intentional about going through this process with your childcare provider. Put it in the work and do your part. You must be willing to give that daycare or that nanny a chance and benefit of the doubt. You must start the process and see the journey flourish.
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There is so much potential to use your free time to improve on your work and yourself as a working mom. You can pick up extra duties, plan for future projects , help colleagues out, work on a second job, research & improve your skills, take an online course, and read among other things.