OwnADaycare: What options do parents have for infant daycare?

Murphree: Parents have the following options:

A family member, such as a grandmother

A nanny in their own home

Care in a child care provider’s home

Group care in a day care program/school

OwnADaycare: What is the earliest age that a parent should put his/her infant in daycare?

Murphree: 10-12 weeks

OwnADaycare: What are some important questions that parents should ask when selecting an infant care provider?

Murphree:

What do the caregivers know about infant development, so they can provide appropriate age and interest level activities and expert, loving care?

How do they feel about nurturing and stimulating infants?

How will the caregivers interact with the infants?

How do they feel about schedules for infants?

How responsive will the caregivers be to each child?

How much experience do they have?

Are they certified in infant/child CPR and first aid?

Is the environment clean and safe?

What kind of equipment and materials are available?

How will the caregivers communicate with parents?

What expectations do they have of parents?

OwnADaycare: What is an appropriate and safe teacher-infant ratio?

Murphree: Maximum of 1:3 ratio.

OwnADaycare: What are the pros and cons of infant daycare?

Murphree:

Pros:

Daycare programs are regulated by policies, procedures, and licensing standards and are supervised by well educated, experienced administrators to make sure all criteria are met on a daily basis.

Programs are dependable.  Nannies and home care providers aren’t always available, due to illness, vacations, and can quit without notice.  They are also usually unsupervised and unregulated.

Programs offer parent education meetings and other opportunities for parents to socialize with each other.  Caring family/school teamwork is encouraged and supported.

Cons:

Infants interact with more people/children and may get colds, ear infections, etc. more often than those who stay at home with a nanny.

Some programs have high staff turnover, which disrupts the consistency of care for infants.

OwnADaycare: Some parents have concerns that putting their child in infant daycare will disrupt attachment and bonding. What are your thoughts?

Murphree:

When infants are in high quality daycare, there is no disruption in attachment.  There may be problems if the quality is substandard. The type of relationship an infant has with all the adults in his/her life is what matters most.

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A healthy environment for your not means that you live in a place with positive ambience. It also goes to say that the people around are warm, supportive, caring, and loving. This is why it is important that when you are considering hiring a caregiver for your baby, you should know about the qualifications a professional caregiver must have. When you pay a visit to a child care center, keenly observe how the caregivers go about their jobs.

A professional caregiver should also know things about caring for the young. Important information such as the development stages of an infant, care for his or her health, and preparing for his or her food should be well known by the person providing the service.

You may also want to know about the caregiver’s professional development like if he or she is still attending refresher courses or continuing education to update his or her skills and technical know-how.

It is also important that parents observe the way the caregiver interacts with the infant. The caregiver must understand that very baby is different and that the child may have unique needs from that of other infants. Some babies want to be played loudly while some may prefer quiet playtime. Others may want to be cuddled often or touched regularly but some infants like to be let alone. One infant may also have the ability to sleep despite loud noises in the environment and the other could only catch a sleep only when it is quiet. These differences and many more should be noted by the caregiver and she or he must be aware that every infant may need different attention. Infants’ different attitudes may frustrate caregivers so you must check that the caregiver you are getting for your child is not easily frustrated, can work under pressure, and has the natural aura of being child-friendly.

The way a caregiver treats infants under her care should also be observed. He or she should never say that a baby is bad because of a behaviour that may just be normal to an infant. Having a deeper understanding of the behaviour of the infant is very important to a caregiver.

A caregiver must also possess patience; a lot of it. Normally, a caregiver will be doing monotonous work or activities that are routine including feeding the baby, changing the child’s diaper, and putting him or her to sleep. The ability to “animate” especially when playing with the child is also important to facilitate a healthy interaction with the little one.

In terms of hygiene, caregivers giving professional care to infants must be properly dressed and must observed sanitation since they make physical contact with the baby who might easily be contacted with bacteria. A caregiver should be mindful of the infant’s health and safety.

Most importantly, parents should take time in observing the caregiver so that things that will not be pleasant to the parents’ standard or expectation will be immediately addressed.

See: How to start a daycare center

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