Babies Tale

Day care in a private home or family day care provides a home atmosphere and personalized attention. Typically, a mother of a child takes several others into her home during the day. This is usually less expensive than having a sitter in your home, and if the caregiver is really able to be with several children and still be sensitive to each child’s needs, the situation is a good one. Your child will develop skills by being with other children in a homey atmosphere but won’t be exposed to different workers, as she would be in a day care center.

If you’re considering family day care, meet the person in the setting where your child would be care for. Gear your questions to find out about the care giver’s priorities, interests, strengths, and experience with children. Give him or her pertinent information about your child’s needs [medical history, diet, interests, and idiosyncrasies] and your expectations. Obtain references-the names of other families whose children stay with him or her-and check them out.

General Considerations:

If you are considering family day care or a day care center, gather information on each placement you are considering so that you can compare hours of operation, vacancies, fees, adult to child ratios, and general philosophies about child care. If the center is handling very small babies, the adult to child ratio should ideally be three to one, but no more than four to one. If the children are between two to five years old, there should be one adult to five children.
Arrange to visit the most attractive options. Bring your child and go at a busy time. This way, you can check your child’s response to the caregiver and also watch the caregiver’s style of interaction of other children.

• Is the caregiver sensitive to the needs of children od different ages [especially at meal time]?
• How does the caregiver respond to a crisis?
• If you’re there early in the, how does the caregiver respond to an upset child being left by his parents?
• Does the caregiver take the time to allow the parents to express concerns/
• Is the child given enough attention to ease the pain of separation?
• Are children sensitively helped to make the transition from one activity to the next?
• When you talk to the caregiver, do you feel as though you would be a member of the “team,” defensive? It is essential for you to feel that the caregiver respects your relationship with your child and your feelings.

Look at the overall cleanliness of the center or home-let your instincts give you a reading on its feel. Does the physical environment seem safe or are there detergents or medicines within easy reach, or such dangers as uncovered light sockets? What kinds of toys are provided? Are they safe? Do they allow for creative play and skill-building? Licensed day care facilities should be able to provide you with a written program description. If you still have questions after your visit, make a phone call or follow-up visit.

Many parents are reluctant to expose a very young baby to the risk of infection outside the home and to take the chance of having an outsider bring disease into the house. Such fears are understandable, but should not be allowed to unrealistically limit your baby’s contact with people and the outside world. Germs are inevitable- you will bring them into your house yourself, and into contact with your baby. You naturally will not knowingly expose your baby to someone who is suffering a terrible cold or other communicable ailment; you can and should watch for such situations in your baby’s day care environment, and elsewhere. This sort of reasonable caution [which includes regular visits to the pediatrician and a regular program of immunizations and inoculations] should ensure that your baby enjoy normal health.

Once your child is placed in out-of-home day care, the only way to be sure that he is safe is to make unannounced visits during the day. If there are rules against this, question the rules.

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