While many parents would like to stay at home with their child or children, most have no other option but to use some form of day care. It’s estimated that 85% of Canadian mothers end up back at work within a year of their child’s birth. While the federal government has extended parental leave to one full year as of January 1, 2001, many parents will still need someone to care for their children when they return to the workforce. In some families, grandparents or relatives may be able to offer child care; however in most situations, families do not have this option, which can cause parents stress, worry and guilt.

Taking the time and effort to find the right child care provider will pay off by giving you peace of mind and allowing your child to be cared for in a loving, healthy and emotional stable environment. Children are deeply affected by their early experiences and the daycare provider who watches over your children in your absence will have a significant impact on their lives.

Cheri Szereszewski runs CGS Early Childhood Consulting, a childhood consulting business which helps parents decide what kind of child care would be best suited for their families. "Each family has to decide what is right for them. If you decide daycare is necessary, than you should do your utmost to find ways to build quality time with your child at other times of the week," says Szereszewski. "You may wish to set aside blocks of time when no one does anything but spend time together as a family. It could be mealtime, bedtime or whenever."

She advises parents to consider more then just cost, when choosing child care. "I really believe when it comes to child care, this is one area you don’t want to skimp on, because you are trusting the most precious thing in the world to someone else. I don’t think child care is something where you want to risk saving a few dollars here and there." There are tax breaks and tax credits for parents who use daycare and there may be subsidized daycare spots in your area, depending on your income level. Generally speaking daycare for an infant to a two-and-a-half year old toddler will cost $175 a week, while two-and-a-half years and older will cost $150 a week.

The first thing you have to do is determine what days and hours you work, and if you have a partner, his or her schedule as well. You will want to find day care near your workplace or home. There are three main child care options - a nanny, a day care centre or child care provided in a private home. A nanny is the most expensive route to go but a nanny may also be able to do some house-cleaning, meal preparation and laundry while the baby is napping. "If a nanny takes over some of the household chores, this can free you up when you get home to spend quality time with your child rather than having to start doing housework," says Szereszewski. A nanny may also allow you greater flexibility in your work hours as daycare centres and private home care providers generally have set hours. Be aware that there is a huge waiting list for baby spots at many daycare centres and in some areas, couples actually put their names on waiting lists before they are even expecting a child! Infant care is also the most expensive because the care giver/child ratio is much lower.

Szereszewski’s believes that infants and toddlers are best cared for in a home environment. "Good quality home childcare can provide a really positive, nurturing start for a child as it’s very much like being at home," says Szereszewski. While there are many unregulated home daycare providers, Szereszewski says it’s important to choose a provider from a licensed home child care agency. This ensures that provincial ministry standards are being met as licenced providers receive training and may be monitored by impromptu visits to make sure children are being well cared for. This system benefits the licenced operator as well, as he or she has someone to call for help or advice. In a licenced home care situation, there are also on-going requirements including criminal reference checks on daycare providers. Reference checks are done on anyone who works with children and while it won’t necessarily screen out everyone with a less than appropriate background, it does eliminate a lot of potential problems. In addition, should your child care provider be unavailable due to illness or vacation, the agency arranges for back-up care for your child. This is important because if your provider is unavailable, one parent has to stay home from work, which can be a problem both financially and emotionally for parents.

In a home child care setting, there are also much smaller ratios so it’s more likely a child will get individual attention. In a daycare centre, activities are more scheduled to the average, meaning children generally eat and take naps at around the same time. "For infants a home environment is more suitable, but once a child hits 18 months to two-and-a-half years old, social interaction becomes quite critical, so that can be a good time to enrol a child in a day care centre," advises Szereszewski.

If you are interested in having someone care for your child in your home or in theirs, you will want to know as much as you can about that person. Who are they? Why have they decided to care for children? Is it because they are staying home with their own children and desire extra income? What is their experience? Ask the caregiver for references - and check them. Put together a written agreement describing the days, hours of work and payment schedule. Include details like who is responsible for snacks and emergency contact numbers if the child is hurt or becomes ill.

Some day care centres are licenced to look after children six weeks and older, while others look after children two-and-a-half years and up. In each province, the office responsible for daycare licencing (check the blue pages under daycare ) can tell you the daycare centres in your area. After you make a list of the ones you want to visit, set up an appointment with the director or supervisor. "I would not visit at naptime, but at a time when it would be an active playtime for the children. This way you can get a really good picture of what happens in a typical day," advises Szereszewski.

Make observations about the daycare centre such as what is the atmosphere like? Is it relaxed? Is it clean? Are the bathrooms neat and tidy? Are the children involved in activities or are they running around with no focus? Are there books to read? Are there creative ideas to challenge the children? "Make sure all areas of development such as social, creative, sensory, cognitive, language, fine motor skills, gross motor skills are being developed," says Szereszewski.

Observe the staff. "Are they sitting up on chairs overseeing children or are they getting right down to their level, eye-to-eye, involved and interacting with the children. This is very important." Szereszewski says. Caregivers should be interested, energetic and genuinely enjoying and responding to the children. Ask what philosophy of discipline. What will they do if one child hits another? What if your child doesn’t want to eat? What if your child doesn’t want to nap at naptime? Also insure that the centre is licenced by a government body and that staff is fully trained and qualified. Province to province training requirements vary from college degrees to six month training programs.

A daycare centre will usually have hours starting from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. and close between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m.. Typical daycare centres will offer year round, full daycare services for children of all ages and some may offer on site kindergarten classes. Keep in mind that day care centres keep strict hours of operation and that they want children picked up on time! To enforce their business hours some daycares charge a dollar for every minute that parents are late. Szereszewski says "it gets expensive to have staff stay after hours to care for one, two or three children so they really want to discourage people from being late." However, don’t always be in a rush when dropping off and picking up your child. Leave a few minutes to either speak to staff or see for yourself how your child acts in the day care setting.

Many parents fear that their child could be the victim of physical or sexual abuse. While the vast majority of all daycare centres are loving caring places, parents must be aware that abuse could occur. If your child is unusually fearful of going to child care, has unexplained bruises or other signs of physical abuse, or talks about inappropriate actions on the part of adults or other children, you may want to consider making other child care arrangements. If you are worried that your child or any child in a child care setting is being abused you should report it to the Children's Aid Society.

Szereszewski’s child care consulting business has some excellent questions you should ask when searching for child care. By asking the following questions, you should be able to find a comfortable and caring environment that will benefit your entire family.

Play

• What activities with infants or toddlers do you enjoy the most?
• What learning activities do you do with young children?
• How would you plan a day with my child(ren)? (Encourage the care giver to give details)
• When you take my child(ren) out, where would you go? What would you do?
• How much TV do you think is good for children? What kinds of shows are appropriate for infants or toddlers?

Safety and Health

• One of my biggest fears is …(my child falls off a swing, chokes, stops breathing, etc..)
• What would you do if this happened?
• How could you prevent it from happening?
• Under what circumstances would you call me at work?
• What would you do if my child became ill suddenly or were injured?
• What kind of first aid training do you have?

Nutrition and Sleep

• How would you introduce my toddler to new foods?
• What would you serve my toddler for lunch?
• What would you do if my child(ren) refuses to eat?
• How do you settle a child who refuses to sleep? What if nothing works?
• How do you give a child a bottle?
• How do you deal with a child who cries continuously for a half-hour after his parents leave?
• What would you do if a child put his bowl on his head? Eats with his fingers? Throws food? Hits you?
• What methods of discipline do you find work best with an infant or toddler?
• What kinds of behaviour do you set limits on?
• Think of other children you have cared for. What behaviour irritated you most? How did you deal with it?
• How do you handle a child who whines? Bites? Has temper tantrums?

Personal Suitability

• What do you like most about care giving?
• What child care situations have you worked with? What did you like best about these situations? Least? How did you deal with it?
• What are your reasons for leaving your present job? (check her answers with her references)
• What are your interests and hobbies?
• What are your expectations of parents?

Details of the Job

• Do you have any questions?
• May I have the name of two current or former parents whose children you have cared for as references?
• What are your salary expectations?
• Are you flexible about hours? Changes in day (with notice)?

If considering a home care situation, survey all areas that your child would have access to and observe the "child-proofing" that has been done. For example, are there safety caps on electrical plugs or cords that your child could get caught in? Are knives stored safely out of reach or in a locked cupboard? Be sure to ask about methods of discipline and how they would handle situations where a child is not sharing, or is physical with another child, etc.

Take the time to find the right child care provider for your family and lifestyle. The resulting peace of mind will benefit everyone and allow you to be productive, knowing your child is happy and safe.

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