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Child Care
For all you working moms out there...
what is the most important factors that help you choose a child care center? and why?
Thanks! 
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Re: Child Care
I had a lot of opposite reasons for going with a daycare center (DD will go in January).
In-home daycare is dependent upon the provider so if that provider gets sick or goes on vacation, you have to find alternate plans for your child. A daycare will always have staff.
If something were to go wrong in an in-home setting, there are no requirements for them to tell you or any repercussions for their actions. If, God forbid, something awful happened to your child, you only have one person to look at for culpability. A daycare center has set rules and standards that need to be met and, if something were to happen, there is a larger corporation to look at.
Socialization is important to us so more kids was a positive for us. You'll need to learn to deal iwth multiple teachers, etc. when your child goes to school so that didn't detract.
When I went to look at centers, I looked for cleanliness, what types of gear they provided, what kind of curriculum is encouraged (another plus for daycare over in-home for us) and mostly, I went with my gut regarding the people who were in the infant rooms.
I am actually the Director of a child care center in Manasquan. I'm sure you're thinking that I'm biased but I truly believe children benefit from being around other children their age.
One of the most important things I tell parents when the come in for a tour is that they need to feel comfortable where they enroll their child. Not all centers are right for all families, you have to find the one that fits you. I usually recommend bringing the child in for a "play date" where they can try a morning or even a day out to make sure it seems like a good fit.
You want to make sure you have your child in a safe, clean and loving atmosphere. If that is taken care of, all of the socialization, learning and development will fall into place.
A nice feature that some schools (mine included) are now offering are internet monitoring websites where parents can log into secure sites and check in on their children throughout the day. It is really wonderful for parents, grandparents or other family members to peek in to see how things are going. It helps to keep families connected in these super busy times. That may be something you would want to look into when selecting a center.
Hope that helped!