Finding - and keeping - good child care is one of the most difficult and
least understood aspects of family health.
If both parents work, finding quality child care is vital for the financial
and psychological wellbeing of all family members. Parents simply cannot go to
work, or do a good job for their employer, without it.
So here are Kidspot's top tips for finding - and maintaining - high quality
child care.
Work out the best type of care for your needs
There are so many types of care - child care centres (both private and
public), family day care by an accredited carer in their home, live-in nanny,
live-out nanny, au pair, extended family members such as grandparents … the
list goes on.
Take time to work out what your family needs - can you always be available
for the rigid pick-up times imposed by many day care centres? Make your own
list of costs and the pros and cons. Ask parents you respect for
recommendations and make the time to check out a few child care centres or
nannies if you are considering these options.
Finding good care is a process that's rarely accomplished within a few days
or weeks. Accept that there is no "right" answer, and that your needs
may change over time as your family grows and the juggling at work grows with
new job demands.
Trust your instincts
There's no denying that gut instinct has a huge role to play in selecting
child care. Parents need to get a feel for the carer or type of facility where
their child will be cared for. Even the most well qualified nanny or expensive
acclaimed day care centre can be wrong for you and your family.
Don't overlook the obvious things like checking a day care centre for
cleanliness, safety and signs that the staffers actually like children. Quality
day care centres will allow parents and children to spend an hour or two at the
centre (as long as you supervise your child) to watch how parents, employees
and kids interact.
When you've done your research, don't rely too heavily on anyone else's
opinion, experience or an agency's rating. Everybody has biases, and your
situation is unique -- no other family will have the same combination of baby's
temperament, your work situation, your partner's work situation, where you
live, where you work and your expectations of child care. You need to be
comfortable that your choice is the right one for your family -- not the right
one for someone else.
Trust your children's instincts
If your child doesn't bond with a caregiver, the arrangement won't work. Ask
your child about their caregiver -- as soon as they can talk! Older kids are a
much better judge of character than you think. Small babies and toddlers are
harder to ask, but watching the interaction between caregiver and child will
let you know everything.
Don't make your decision on cost alone
Child care workers, whether they are day care employees, private nannies, or
the teen-aged babysitter next door, are rarely paid well. Yet the costs to
parents for day care is sometimes not worth one of the parents working!
The Australian Federal Government pays a Childcare Benefit to all families
receiving part A or part B of the Family Tax Benefit and most families are
eligible to claim the 50% child care rebate each quarter up to more than $7000
a year. These rebates can be complex, and it's worth checking in with
Centrelink or the Family Assistance Office as to whether your type of day care
is accredited for rebates and benefits. You can also use the online estimator
at Centrelink's site to work out how much child care will cost after all
benefits and rebates are taken into account.
Certainly family day care, community child care
centres and kindergartens and au pairs are some of the cheaper forms of care,
but these won't suit all families. Some parents prefer the peace of mind of a
more expensive day care centre with high staff ratios and quality programs. The
cheapest - or most expensive - options are not always the best to go with