How to Choose a Daycare Center

How to Choose a Daycare Center

How to choose a daycare center is often a dilemma for most parents that must be taken seriously. Recent studies have shown that, if children are provided a good day care environment, they can continue to grow and develop appropriately. The hard part is defining the standards which make a daycare center good or bad. Here are some important things to remember.

First, be sure to check that infant daycare workers in the daycare centers you are considering know the proper way to put a child down for a nap. Children should be placed on their backs, not on the side or stomach. Sleeping on the back decreases an infant’s risk of SIDS.

Next, carefully investigate the type of daycare center that is best for your child. There are family child care providers that watch children in their own homes, but be careful. Infant daycare providers and all home childcare centers should be licensed, be able to provide a number of number of references, and they should only be caring for a small amount of children at one time. If there are any children who have recently left the daycare, ask for the families’ contact information and when you speak with the parents, ask why they took their child out of daycare with the provider you are considering.

Formal day care centers are a popular alternative to home care. Often the only reason parents opt for home-based daycare centers over a more formal setting is the difference in daycare rates. Parents with small children who are on a budget will usually prefer to receive about the same level of care and attention through a home-based daycare center, rather than pay the high daycare rates of formal daycare centers. These formal daycare centers must be licensed and may be either non-profit or for-profit. Sometimes they are associated with a local church or other type of community organization. Usually the only disadvantage to day care centers in terms of care, is the larger group size (which may lead to more frequent bouts with illness). If your goal is socialization, the lack of highly individualized attention your child will receive in a formal daycare center then would be less of a concern.

4/30/2007 11:50:28 AM