Are You Looking for a Daycare Center for Your Infant?
You do not have a choice.
You have to go back to work.
Your job provides the health benefits for your family, and staying at home with your new baby is simply not an option. And while you may not have a choice in whether or not you go back to work, you do have a choice when it comes to deciding what local daycare service you will use.
You have visited many centers and so far you have come up with a pretty detailed list outlining what you want in the local daycare service that you select for your first child:
- Quiet, clean spaces are essential. There are many times when a daycare center is full of laughter and conversation, it is important, however, that an infant has a quiet space to make sure that the infants are able to get the important rest that they need.
- Until you visit a space on several occasions you cannot really have a feel for how a child care center runs.
- A report from the 2014 Pew Research Center found that families earning less than $18,000 a year spend about 40% of their income on childcare. This percentage compares to the 7.2% of income for all families.
- Little ones need to be cared for by someone who is gentle, kind, and respectful.
- In many communities across the nation today, 11.3 million children take care of themselves from the time the school day ends until a parent is home from work. For some families, this can be several hours a day with no supervision.
- The period of life between birth to three years old is when the fastest rate of brain development occurs when compared to the entire human life span.
- You want to make sure that you find a childcare center that is focused on enrichment and education. Even the youngest children benefit from a space that is full of books, educational materials, and safe settings where children are allowed to explore.
- Children benefit from an environment where adults talk to them in full sentences and help then develop their language.
- A local daycare service can be very convenient, as well as offering a personal touch of care that some large franchises do not offer.
- Research indicates that 23.4% of children under the age of five are in some form of organized child care arrangement. These settings include day care centers, preschools, and nurseries.
- Estimates indicate that 10.2 million children are in afterschool programs, but there are not enough of these opportunities available. In fact, the parents of another 19.4 million children indicate their children would participate in an afterschool program if there was one available.
Every parent is looking for QUALITY CARE when they are searching for a daycare for their infant. Paying careful attention to the environment when you visit as well as talking to current staff and parents is a good way to make sure that you make the most of a difficult decision.