Good quality childcare is critical for many families, regardless of whether both parents work full time or not. The more time a caregiver will be spending with a child, the more important it is that they are responsible, trustworthy and caring, but even babysitters hired for casual nights out or a nanny who comes a couple of mornings a week to give a stay at home mom a break need to be carefully screened. Here’s an overview of good quality childcare.
Good Quality Childcare Involves a Familiar, Constant Caregiver
When families use childcare, the child will need to form an attachment with their new caregiver in order to feel safe and cared for during the time spent away from parents. It is important that caregivers are familiar and trusted, so spend some time together with a new caregiver and your child before leaving your child with her to help that attachment form. Also, try to choose a caregiver that can commit to providing care for a significant duration of time. Having a different caregiver every few months is very stressful for a child and interferes with the formation of a healthy attachment between caregiver and child.
Consider Cooperative Childcare
A childcare co-op can be a great option for families that live nearby and have children of similar ages. Not only is a childcare co-op free, but it’s a great way to build relationships and friendships within your community. Children can form attachments between their friends and other trusted adults in their neighbourhood, and as parents you can choose to create a childcare co-op with other parents whose parenting style you agree with.
Hiring a Nanny, Babysitter or Daycare
If you need more hours of child care than you can meet with caregivers within your circle of friends, family and neighbours, the next place to look for good quality care is hiring a nanny, babysitter or daycare centre. When looking for and interviewing a caregiver, it is important to ask questions about the person’s past experience, child/caregiver ratios, emergency procedures and what kinds of activities the caregiver will have scheduled for the children.
Look for Responsive, Empathetic Caregivers and Happy Kids
When viewing a prospective caregiver or daycare centre, look at how the children are playing and interacting with the caregivers. Are they happy and relaxed? Be wary of high child/caregiver ratios, especially for infants and toddlers, who need to have a caregiver who can respond to their cries very quickly. Also be wary of caregivers who either leave kids in front of the TV for several hours each day or schedule an organized activity into every minute. Kids need a healthy balance of planned activities and free play, with little to no TV time for children under 2.
Finding good quality childcare takes some careful research, including checking references, carrying out an interview, watching the caregiver interact with kids in a natural setting and, most importantly, listening to your intuition and your child’s experience with a caregiver. If you don’t find a match right away, don’t feel bad about letting a caregiver go and finding someone else. If you do find a wonderful caregiver, make sure you let him or her know just how much you appreciate their work!
Michelle Carchrae - Michelle Carchrae has worked as a Volunteer Phone Counselor at Childline and as a Training Developer and Call Centre Trainer, but the job ...
Join the Conversation