Daycare

Putting your child in daycare can be one of the hardest decisions you make, and finding the right daycare is no small undertaking either. For the first 8 months of Carson's life, I was lucky enough to be able to take most of my classes online and bring him with me to those classes I had on campus. This coming term I will be taking all my classes on campus because nothing in my major is available online and I am virtually finished with all my general ed. classes. Carson is not going to be able to handle going to class for hours on end 4 days a week, and unfortunately Bryan and I have almost identical schedules, so there will be no option of passing the baby back and forth between us. So this Fall, Carson will officially be in the care of someone who isn't me 17 hours a week.

Finding the right daycare is tough though, I mean, you are entrusting this person (or people) with your child, the most precious little thing in the world. There are so many questions you have to ask and so many things that you are looking for in the right person. I have a lot of expectations for my daycare provider. They need to be willing to...

• Cloth diaper
• Be aware of my son's food allergies and dillgently watch him (like a hawk) when around food to make sure nothing goes in his mouth that may be harmful to him. They also need to understand that casien and whey are dairy products (and are in just about everything) and just because they aren't feeding him a string cheese and a glass of milk doesn't mean that he can have the graham crackers that everyone else gets.
• Their discipline methods and how long they let a baby cry (which better not be long if at all!) needs to fall in line with ours.
• They must not spank.
• They must have practices in place to make sure that my son only gets his bottle/sippy cup and not someone else's by mistake. For real, this could be detrimental to his health.
• They must give off the right vibe. Seriously. I know it sounds silly, but if I don't get the "totally comfortable with you" vibe from someone, there is NO WAY I am leaving my child in their care, Mama needs to be comfortable!

Here is a list of things that I have come across in ads that just scream at me "Not the right place for Carson" like there is a big neon sign right in my face. The include things like...

• Advertising you vast children's movie collection-Please don't do this, if I wanted somebody to plop my kid in front of a TV all day (not that he would cooperate) I would buy a portable DVD player and bring him with me to class, trust me, it would be way cheaper than paying for daycare.
• Charging more for in home care than nationally accredited childcare centers-If I am going to pay this much, I'm going somewhere that I know my child will be learning and flourishing and under excellent supervision for his allergies.
  
• Ads that have terrible spelling or text-speak-Don't get me wrong, I use my fair share of internet abbreviations and I have some terrible grammar when being lazy, but when in a professional setting (or a school setting) I do not type things like Gr8! Treat your childcare business like a business and maybe I might be willing to put my child in your care...maybe.
  

If you are looking for childcare, check into your state's registered childcare databse. This will give you a list of both childcare centers and in-home providers that are registered with the state (you want that) and are therefore insured and licensed. You want to put your child in an insured licensed facility because you never know what might come up and you are much less likely to run into problems with a licensed provider. Also, ask your friends/family/coworkers/etc for referrals, you never know where you might find the perfect provider for your family and your child. Also, try to make an unscheduled visit to centers once you have narrowed it down to just a few, you want to make sure everything runs the same when you come unannounced as it does when they knew you were coming.