Consider Your Child Care Providers
If you're one of the many parents who needs to find good quality child care for your young child, you know how challenging that search can be. Once you've decided on what your specific child care needs are–like if you need steady, full-time child care or just someone to fill in the gaps a few times a week–finding the specific type of child care that works well for you and your child will be much simpler.
To help you as you research your options, here are a few of the most popular professional child care options available:
In-Home Child Care
In-home child care usually refers to hiring a nanny or babysitter. This can be a good option for working parents with infants, since the caregiver comes to your home to care for the child. Parents may prefer this arrangement since the caregiver will be completely focused on their child while the child stays in a comfortable, familiar environment. Unfortunately, quality in-home child care can be very expensive, especially on a full-time basis.
Family Child Care
With this type of child care, children are taken to the caregiver's home for supervision. Some parents prefer this arrangement because it feels less institutional and more homely than a traditional daycare setting and because there are typically very few children being cared for at one time. Keep in mind, though, that homier doesn't always mean better, so make sure that the caregiver isn't overburdened and that the environment is safe for your child. And, while this kind of child care may be less expensive than hiring in-home child care, it may still be more expensive than a conventional daycare center.
Center-Based Child care
This is what most of us think of when we picture daycare. This type of child care creates an environment where groups of children are cared for by multiple caregivers. These groups are usually divided by age, and the days' activities tend to be very structured. Caregivers must also be trained in safety basics, like CPR, in order to be licensed in most states. Good daycare centers have low adult-to-child ratios (no more than 1:4 for infants, for instance), and the smaller the groups, the better. Room activities should be stimulating and age-appropriate, and caregivers should be well trained and given the opportunity to receive even more education and training.
While daycare centers tend to be the most cost-efficient child care option, finding one that accepts infants can be a challenge. Good daycare centers also tend to have long waiting lists, so planning in advance is required. Also, keep in mind that if budgeting for child care is a big concern, some daycare centers and preschools have financial assistance available.
After deciding on the type of child care that works best for your situation, it's time to start looking at specific child care providers in your community. To help you get started, take a look at our Researching Child Care Providers page. If you're still thinking through your child care options, explore our Simple Steps for Choosing Child Care page for more information.