Choosing a daycare can be both an exciting and stressful experience. While it can be a wonderful experience to see your child learn and grow in an enriching environment, many parents often worry about leaving their children with strangers, especially if its the first time.
Finding a daycare that suits both you and your child’s needs may be a challenge — especially when looking into baby daycare — but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to find a day care business that you’re happy with. Read on for our tips and tricks on how to find good child care for the first time.
Things to Keep in Mind When Choosing a Day Care Center:
- Research shows that approximately 11 million children under the age of 5 are enrolled in some kind of baby daycare or child care facility while their mothers are at work. It is important to remember that choosing daycare doesn’t mean you’re a bad parent! You aren’t abandoning them; your children will still be able to learn and grow while you’re at work.
- Reports have found that the average child spends approximately 36 hours a week in daycare. When choosing a baby daycare or child care center, you want to be sure that there are plenty of activities offered to keep your child engaged and to provide them with a good experience.
- When choosing a daycare, you shouldn’t settle for the first one you find. You should definitely do background research online on multiple day care centers to check for things like their hours, prices, available services and the credentials of the staff.
- While it is important to do research on your own, nothing beats actually visiting the facility in person. See if you are able to schedule an appointment to tour the day care center and get to know some of the staff. You definitely want to be sure that you trust the people who will be taking care of your child while you’re away at work. Be sure to come with any questions you have in mind and list any special accommodations that your child may need.
- Many schools offer day care centers and with fall 2011 statistics showing that there were 30,861 private elementary and secondary schools in the country, you always have the option to see if they have any before/after school daycare programs that you can enroll your child in.
Have you had any experiences searching for a daycare for your child? Tell us about it in the comments below!