Budget Child Care: Low Cost Child Care Options

Dropping a child off at the nearest good day care center seldom amounts to “cheap” child care and therefore parents need to explore their options for low cost child care. There are a number of ways in which you can provide cheap child care for your kids. You must research the availabilities in your area to reach a balance between affordability and quality of the care provided.

• Formal day care center :  These places will usually be listed and are fairly expensive. However, they are mostly trained well in providing care and help your child’s interactive skills.
• Not-for-profit daycare center :  These places also have a fairly well-trained staff but are slightly cheaper than formal day care centers as they receive considerable amounts of government aid.
• Daycare Homes :  These child care homes are much smaller than daycare centers and care is usually a family run business by experienced individuals. They are usually more affordable and are probably well suited for those looking for budget child care.
• Family care :  This kind of child care is an informal arrangement made with family members or friends. The quality of such care is usually lower as the individuals are inexperienced at formal child care. However, it is very affordable child care and makes one feel safer.
• In-home Care: As a low cost child care option, a part-time babysitter can be hired on an hourly basis to care for your child at home. This is more convenient and an affordable child care option for you.

Budget Child Care To Reduce Child Care Costs

Budget child care is becoming an increasing concern amongst parents as a good low cost child care option helps them to cut down on heavy child care expenses. By keeping these small factors in mind, you could find it more affordable to provide child care your kids:

• Family care : Keeping your children within the family members for child care such as with grandparents or relatives can be much cheaper and a good affordable child care option. It also gives you peace of mind and flexibility of timings.
• Student care : Hiring a student from a nearby college is a good source of cheap child care. These students work for much lesser than a local daycare center and fit a low cost child care budget.
• Arrange swaps : Cheap child care is required by all families. Coming up with arrangements to swap kids according to your schedules with neighbors would be more affordable for everyone.
• Save on taxes : The government allows numerous tax deductions for child care. You can take advantage of the Dependent Care Tax Credit or the Dependent Care Account to make your child care more affordable.
• Switch schedules : By switching around your schedules with your spouse you can co-ordinate to have someone stay at home with the children more often and stick to your child care budget as well.

Avoid Low Cost Child Care Dangers

While cheap and affordable child care is attractive to families on a tight budget, parents must not sacrifice the safety and wellbeing of their children for the sake of finding a cheap child care option. When choosing a low cost child care option, it is essential to ask some important child care questions and avoid some basic dangers:

• Avoid start-up budget day cares as they may be inexperienced.
• Research your cheap day care center well.
• Avoid young and irresponsible students as a cheap child care option.
• Lay down strict rules if you leave them with family or friends
• Inspect the place thoroughly before leaving your child in someone else’s care

Child care demands are increasing while the costs keep rising. It is therefore essential to keep all these tips in mind to make cheap child care more affordable for your family.Low cost child care options are not impossible to find but before you jump at the temptation of a cheap child care option, make sure you do your research well enough so you can leave your child in their care.

Taking Childcare for Granted

While child carers naturally develop a bond with the children they care for, it is still a job for them. When parents take it for granted that the child carer will look after the child even after center hours, or on holidays, they are not respecting the childcare professional. If a childcare center is willing to perform these kind of duties, parents should be willing to pay for the extra time of the employees of the center.

Payments of Childcare Bills

Treating childcare centers like babysitters is a mistake many parents make. The center is a business, and must collect payments in time to meet other overheads and costs, as well as pay salaries. When employees are not happy, it affects the children at the center, so make sure you make your payments in time.

Childcare and Housekeeping Duties

Children can be messy and need to be looked after. During learning games and constructive play, children often end up with soiled clothes and shoes. However, child carers cannot be expected to rinse mud and paint stains off clothes and send back clean lunch-boxes. In addition, parents should teach children to behave the same at the childcare center as they would in their own house; i.e no littering, flushing the toilet after use, etc.

Childcare and Parents

There are some lines between child care providers and parents that should not be crossed. Child carers may be very familiar with a child and family; this does not allow parents to make payments late, to involve child carers in family disputes, or ask for babysitting favors.

Open Communication and Childcare

It is most important for parents and child care providers to develop a stream of communication in which both sides understand and respect the needs of the other. Making unreasonable demands is not excusable. Parents need to keep in mind that there are other children at the center and the providers will do their best to provide care as good as home care.

Also, childcare centers take time to create and distribute brochures, pamphlets and rule books, as well as design contracts that care for the best interests of the family, the child and the center. Parents will be expected to read these contracts carefully before agreeing to anything.

Childcare Expectations

Parents need to talk to child care professionals before signing up for their services so that they reach a full understanding of the discipline methods and principles followed by the center. A childcare provider will have to control unruly behavior in children, and parents should discuss the methods of discipline.  Specifications about health problems, allergies and special instructions need to be discussed at this point to understand if the center is able to provide this.

Parents cannot expect unreasonable services such as not allowing children to mingle with certain other children, or particular religious training. There may be other child care centers that cater to these requirements as part of their profile, and parents should consider these centers instead.

• Children should not know about the darker side of human nature
• Discussing sex with children makes them more likely to experiment with it at an earlier age
• Their own social circle would never harm a child so there is no need
• Their parents never discussed it with them and they turned out fine
• It’s not possible that an adult could look at or treat a child in a sexual manner

The Importance of Teaching about Child Sexual Abuse

Children are exposed to risks of sexual abuse at the hands of parents, siblings, relatives, teachers, older children, clergy members, childcare providers, family friends or neighbors, and from strangers on the Internet. Making them aware of the risks will reduce the chances of them being sexually abused or molested. It is not possible to protect a child from the outside world for long, and just as you would warn a child about fire or electrical points, teaching them about inappropriate sexual behavior will keep your child safe.

Initiating Communication about Child Sexual Abuse

Children develop a healthy curiosity about their genitals between the ages of 3-5. Starting from this point, creating a healthy atmosphere of communication and answering questions can actually keep your child safe from sexual abuse in children. Start by teaching your child the real names for body parts at an early age. Explain the difference between boys and girls genitalia. Also teach the concept of private body parts by explaining that anything covered by a swimsuit is private.

Age-Appropriate Teaching for Child Sexual Abuse

Between the ages of 5-8 is also a time to teach children about inappropriate touching from anyone. Reinforce the idea that they are not to blame for child sexual abuse and that they should feel free to tell you if something happens to make them uneasy. As children begin to go to school and play outside the home, teach them about safety away from home. Not talking to strangers, not accepting candy from people they don’t know, and avoiding lonely places are basic safety norms to teach children. Teach children that if they are uneasy about being touched or asked to do something, saying No once and getting away is the best tactic to adopt.

Encourage sharing of scary experiences or something that made them uneasy. Make sure these conversations about child sexual abuse take place when the child is comfortable and feels safe. Sometimes, it is a good idea to start these conversations when children are playing a game or helping in the kitchen, so they don’t feel forced to talk.

As children get older, discuss dating, date rape, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and behavior that your family accepts or finds distasteful. Talk to your children’s school about starting an age-appropriate sex education program which includes these concepts, or discuss your questions with a pediatrician or counselor.

References

1. Child Sexual Abuse. NLM NIH Gov/Medline Plus
2. Child Sexual Abuse: What is it and how to prevent it. ERIC Digests
3. Say No! Protecting Children Against Sexual Abuse. OCFS State NY US

Some areas to consider when evaluating childcare:

1. Childcare evaluation: Your child’s safety
Basic safety precautions are not always enough when it comes to small children, especially when it comes to more than a few together in one place. Ask your center for an explanation of the security protocol, fire safety measures, and other health and protection measures around the house. During childcare evaluation, it is particularly important for you to know about the policies of the center for children being dropped and picked up. It is a good idea to take a look around the center and meet some of the other day care professionals there.

2. Childcare evaluation: The center and the professionals
When evaluating childcare, take some time to check the certification and registration status of the center and its employees. Understanding the requirements in your area for applying and receiving these credentials is important as it helps you judge how appropriate your childcare center is. It also means that aspects like health and fire safety measures are taken care of, as well as other major issues. Childcare professionals should have first-aid knowledge and should be able to reach doctors or clinics in case of emergency.

3. Childcare evaluation: The childcare professional
When you talk to your childcare professional, open and honest communication is important. Children are hugely influenced by the type of person your childcare worker is, and the atmosphere of the center. The style of care and discipline, the methods of teaching, the kind of interaction – when evaluating childcare, consider whether these are the kind of handling your child is benefiting from. Other factors that you may want to consider when evaluating childcare: religion (basic principles of a specific religion or none at all), cleanliness (the same habits your child learns at home) and topics of learning (too many new concepts or not enough).

4. Childcare evaluation: Your child
The most important question, naturally, is whether your child is happy. A complete childcare evaluation depends largely on this. A safe environment and an adequate number of adults to supervise is not enough if your child is unhappy at the center. If your child looks forward to going to day care most of the time and has friends there, it shows that your childcare professional is working to make sure all children participate in activities and have a genuine sense of belonging.

Also, during childcare evaluate, judge whether your child’s development is being encouraged and stimulated at the center. Parents have different requirements from their daycare: some prefer it to teach basics like alphabet songs or nursery rhymes for vocabulary development and so that learning at school is easier, while some parents choose not to overburden the child’s young mind with anything apart from healthy social interaction, constructive play and personal behavior and habits

5. Childcare evaluation: You and your childcare center
Your childcare center should make your life easier and better, and if it is not allowing you the space and flexibility you need, you should consider other options. Communication with childcare professionals is important, and a good rapport between you and your daycare center will help you understand your role in making the situation smooth and seamless for your child, for your childcare workers, and for you. Any misalignment of motives or preferences should be considered while evaluating childcare and deciding whether it is still a viable option for you.

References

1. Evaluating childcare. Child Care Aware

2. Childcare evaluation.  North Carolina Dept. of Health & Human Services

Drop in child care centers are becoming increasingly popular, centers such as these are ideal for emergencies such as a babysitter canceling at the last minute or a nanny calling in sick. Drop in centers will allow you to virtually just take your child and drop them off, this of course can be a great advantage for parents but also they do have disadvantages.

The plus side

The big plus side is of course that centers such as these don’t need any advance warning you can generally turn up at the center and leave your child in their care. Most centers of this type have fully qualified staff working for them and the center will usually have to be registered for child minding the same as any day care center.

The only time when advance notice is often required is when you have a very young baby for the center might not have enough staff for them to assign a child carer to a young baby. Child to staff ratios must be maintained in any child care facility and drop in centers are no exception so if the center is a particularly popular one then sometimes places are taken up quickly.

The downside

Your child could be upset at being in a new environment with adults and children they haven’t seen before, generally when your child is going to attend child care on a regular basis they will have been introduced beforehand and most likely they will have spent some time with you there.

Suddenly taking a young child to a new strange environment can cause problems if you just drop them off and walk away from them. Also you won’t have had time to talk with staff members or parents and find out what the center is like, at the most you will be able to have a quick look around the place but you can’t be sure that it meets the standards it should.

Staff members won’t know your child and what they like and don’t like, if your child is quiet or can be boisterous or what type of activities your child enjoys and also what they are like at mixing with other children.

Points to remember when using drop in care

• Always remember to take any medication your child needs with you, don’t go rushing off without it and make sure it is clearly labeled with your child’s name, address, age and a contact telephone number.
• If your child is young and will likely have a nap while in care then make sure you take pacifier’s or a particular stuffed toy they sleep with.
• Remember to tell staff of any allergies your child might have, any foods for example they shouldn’t eat.
• Give staff detailed information on any illnesses your child suffers from such as asthma or epilepsy.
• Make sure staff know where you can be contacted during your child’s stay.
• Let your child take a favorite toy with them this could help to make them feel more at ease.
• Talk with your child and make the stay an adventure, make it sound exciting.