As a working mum, we all need the services of a child care provider at some point. Statistics have shown that almost 60% of children under the age of five years across the world are in some form of non-family child care. Yet is quite uneasy being unsure of the care your child is receiving while you are away from them.
Unfortunately, the task of finding high-quality child care service that meets your needs and expectations is one daunting task. All parents need a caregiver that can be trusted to offer the best of care to our child (ren). I don’t promise that the promise of finding one is easy but this post offers you the key basics and steps that will guide you into finding and choosing quality child care for your child (ren).
Simple & Proven Steps to Find the Right Childcare Option
Step 1. Choose the Most Appropriate Child Care Type
The first step into finding quality child care is deciding on the type of child care services that will be the most appropriate one for you. This is in terms of flexibility, convenience, cost and availability among others. Your choice will be the favoring both you and your child (ren) needs.
A care that conveniently lets you meet your work demands and at the same time keeps your child needs a priority is the kind of quality child care everyone desires. In addition it needs to be affordable, flexible to you home needs and available when needed.
The most common types of child care services include daycare centers, in-home nanny, and day-burg/baby sitters among other traditional forms of care. If this is your first time considering a child care option, consider one of the above alternatives.
There are different benefits and drawbacks associated with each type that you will need to weigh. These have been discussed later in this post.
Read: Nanny or Daycare for your Infant
Step 2. Create a Checklist of Your Child Care Needs
Once you have identified your desired child care type, create a list of your child care needs. This list will be your checklist to shortlist potential caregivers and finally select one. Include on your list everything you consider important to you and your child such as profile, basic training, experience, period, characters, and credibility among others.
Also, include your limits/expectations from your childcare provider’s such as required skills, remuneration, terms of engagement among others. The list may differ depending on your desired child care type. You may need different things from a day care center than from a live-in nanny.
For Live-in nannies and day burgs, your list may include
Age: Under 30
Gender: Female
Citizenship: Foreign
Language: English
Salary: under …
Training: Caregiving, first aid, driving etc.
Skills: Cooking, swimming,
For Day Care Centers, things to look out for include
Legality: Licensed and certified
Location: Close to home or office
Flexibility: Offers extended operating hours i.e. early opening, late pickups,
Safety: First aid kits, hygiene, adult-child ratio, supervised play, etc.
Read: How to Conduct a Short Nanny Trial
Step 3. Look for and Shortlist Potential Childcare Providers
Once you have a list of needs that the desired caregiver needs to fulfill, this is the most crucial stage; actually finding the caregiver that meet those needs. An easier approach is getting recommendations and referrals from family, friends, relatives and colleagues.
Find out more information about them and put them on your list if they are close to what you are looking for. Include key information such as location, referral contacts, and charges among others. If you are shortlisting nannies, call their referrals and past employers to learn more about their work, weaknesses and even why they left the employer.
For daycare centers enquire about the service from parents already using the service. Read reviews on their websites and social media pages as well. Your local county office can help with the list of licensed centers within your area to look into.
Once you have adequate information, narrow down your list to the providers closely fitting your needs . Keep the number to a minimum of three.
Read: How to Find Nannies and Baby Sitters on Short Notice
Step 4. Find the Right Childcare Provider Match to Your Needs
Using the information you have gathered you will be able to have about three potential caregivers whom any can be your future child care giver. To be able to make the right pick, an interview is appropriate. The physical interaction with your possible future nanny will help you get a feel of their physical energy and vibe.
During the interview get as much information from them as possible which you will use in selection. Find out their flexibility on their off days, other personal commitments, expected duration of stay with you, and experience in child caregiving, among others.
Also discuss your child/home unique needs/rules and find out if the nanny will abide. Be sure to learn about their limitations and weaknesses too. Armed with this information, you will get just the right match; the one who closely meets your needs, and is affordable.
For a day center, selecting the right daycare center will entail verifying the information you have already gathered. Visit the center and get the feel of their child care routine. Assess the facilities on how best they meet your needs. Speak to one of the administrators and get the information on their licensing, certification, staff qualifications, policies and general operational rules among others.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Daycare, Nanny, Baby-sitter, etc
A. Benefits of Daycares for Working Moms
Daycares are designated centers that offer standard hours of child day care services to children of varying ages. Depending on applicable laws, child daycare centers are required to be registered and certified to operate. Some centers offer child care necessities such as meals, field trips, diapers, drinks among other necessities.
- The center’s staffs are well trained and experienced in early childhood learning and childcare which translates to a high quality of care.
- The type of care is a favorite for many because of the more structured classroom-like environment.
- A child easily develops social skills from the social interactions with other children of the same age.
- They offer a variety of learning and play activities, facilities, equipment, supplies and activities that other forms of care lack.
- The children are exposed to learning at an early age which offers for a smooth transition to formal schooling.
B. Drawbacks of Daycare Centers for Working Moms
Since it is not an in-home care arrangement, you will need to drop your child (ren) and pick them up from the center in the evening. This arrangement is very inconvenient and inflexible especially for mums who need to start work early or work till late.
The center may also be a distance from you which will make the whole arrangement costly and time consuming. For instance I would only prefer child care centers near me.
Read: Questions to Ask During Daycare Tour
C. Benefits of Nannies for Working Moms
- A live-in/in-home child care involves a nanny as a caregiver who will live in with you and offer child care services from your home. They will commit full-time hours to you and will work as your employees.
- Live in nannies offers the flexibility and convenience that most moms need. You will be able to start work early or work till late as you are guaranteed you child(ren) are in great care. They offer a sort of 24 hour child care.
- In addition a live in nanny is a very convenient and affordable child care especially if you have more than one child under care.
- Also, the arrangement offers a sense of security and safety, which will let you work comfortably and optimally while you are out there. If you are lucky to have one that stays long, your children will enjoy great stability.
- Lastly, live-in nannies will offer extra help around the house than other child care options. They can clean, cook and do laundry for the family.
D. Drawbacks of Nannies for Working Moms
Because of the flexibility and convenience offered by live-in nannies, this type of arrangement may cost more than other types of care. Besides, you will offer them room and board. Also the child may lack interaction with other children of the same age that may hamper their social skills.
E. Benefits of Baby Sitters for Working Moms
This type of child care service involves a nanny that comes daily to your home. They offer standard hours as they come in the morning and leave in the evening or other required hours. The baby sitters can be provided by daycare centers to offer age-specific child care at your home.
- Baby Sitters offer hour-based service and hence may be cheaper for part-time care needs.
- They come in handy if you just need to run a few hours errand.
F. Drawbacks of Baby sitters for Working Moms
- Baby sitters are less convenient and costly if child care services are needed on a long term basis.
- They are also inflexible as they only work standard hours.
- They are hence not appropriate if you work odd hours such as an in the early morning or late in the night.
Other Childcare Alternatives
There are other child care services are available as well. If your child is almost of school age, you have alternatives such as preschools programs, and school-age programs among others. This may vary from one region or country to another. You may also consider other traditional caregivers such as your friends, relatives, and family if they are available to you.
Key Factors and Considerations in Selecting Childcare Provider
Some considerations to make in selecting a childcare provider include;
- You may feel it unsure about engaging your care giver on a long term basis right off. If so first engage your caregiver for short period for a trial run before entering into a binding contract. You can use this period to judge whether you are happy with their services or not. Learn how to conduct a short effective trial here.
- Discuss beforehand how you want everything handled and run. Finding a quality childcare provider is dependent on this.
- Be patient in giving instructions such as feeding time, screen time and bathing procedures among others.
- Give room for improvement and adjustment. Remember that both your care giver and child will need to adjust and transition into the new arrangement.
- Your caregiver needs to learn your child new care routine such as meals, sleep and play among others. Do not let this transition affect your assessment hence make the trial period time adequate.
- During this period lookout for changes such as how your child (ren) behaves around your caregiver, changes in moods, signs of tensions such as fear and crying among others.
- If after this you are happy with the services you are receiving then you can sign them up for a long term engagement.
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