By Admin,
- Steps To Choosing Your Day Care
Enrolling your baby in a Day Care can be an emotionally exhausting experience. Leaving your baby for some time (however little or more) in somebody else’s care can feel traumatic, especially in the beginning when you are joining back the work.
However, it may not need to be so, as there are plenty of good childcare options available out there. All you need is a bit of planning and some extensive research so as to find the best option for you and your baby. Here are some steps that you must consider when choosing your daycare.
i. Plan carefully – clearly identify and if possible write down all the parameters you will be looking for in Daycare. It may include things like a teacher to student ratio, the size of the group, qualifications of the caregiver, the time your child may need to spend in the daycare etc.
ii. Begin as soon as possible – there is no right time to search for a daycare center. The sooner you start, the more time you will have at hand to evaluate options. Do not procrastinate and leave the decision for the last minute to avoid an incorrect selection.
iii. Visit the facility – it is very important for you to visit each facility or daycare center that you are considering before making any decision. Also, make sure that you visit them announced as well as unannounced to know the real situation.
2. What To Look For When You Visit Day Care
The next important factor when identifying a daycare is the things you need to look for while visiting. At this stage, you would already have a list of things to look out for as made during your preparation stage. Here are some other things you should look out for when visiting
● The reputation of the daycare center
● The attrition rate of the caregiver
● The commitment the caregiver is ready to make to your child
● The rules regarding discipline (no TV, some TV etc.)
● Whether there are any sharp objects or edges in the low lying areas
● Rules with respect to nap time and eating time
● Whether the toddlers and older children have the same or separate playing areas
3. Benefits Of Enrolling Your Baby in an Infant Care Centre
While some parents may believe that infant care centres or caretaker for babies are cruel to children and all sort of misinformation available freely may scare most of the parents, the fact remains that infant care centers play a very crucial role in your child’s development. Below are some ways in which an infant care center can help big time
- Develops Baby’s Linguistic Skills
When the baby spends time with others apart from family, and from their own age group, their linguistic skills develop much better and they are able to freely communicate their feelings.
- Help To Boost Baby’s Cognitive Skills
As we all know the cognitive skills are extremely crucial for a baby to develop into a healthy and functioning human. By cognitive skills we mean essential skills like thinking, reading, learning, writing, remembering and concentrating. Thus, these need to be developed properly for every child.
When a baby is in a daycare center, they have specified time for each activity, whether it is reading, writing, playing or sleeping. This helps improve their cognitive as well as motor skills.
- Improve Baby’s Social Skills
Parents may teach their children a lot of things, but they cannot teach social skills, especially the way a child learns when actually interacting with other kids and their parents. To develop these social skills a baby needs to interact with a large number of people representing different aspects of society. This happens effortlessly and very effectively in a daycare set up.
4. Safety Measures
All said and done, the safety of your child is of paramount importance. Thus, it must be the topmost factor to consider when selecting a day care center. Here are a few things you must check and do before and after enrolling your child in any daycare center
● Check the reputation and the credentials of the daycare owner and the entire team
● Take feedback from parents of other children who are already enrolled in the center
● Have all the contacts ready for reference at all times
● Make sure your number is available with the center and the primary caregiver for any emergencies
● Visit the center unannounced at different times to see the situation and how the children are interacting
● During your visit, take care to see whether any safety hazards like sharp objects or electrical wiring are present unattended at a low height
● Check whether the older children are disrupting or bullying the younger children
Keeping an eye open and being alert at all times is the best safety measure wherever children are concerned.
Author Bio:- A brainchild of IIT alumni Vipin, Abhishek and Garima, Care24 offers professional care from trained caregivers that help the patient recuperate at home. Care24 has been in operation since 2014 and has successfully helped 40000+ families heal at home in Mumbai and Delhi.
