Day Care for Infants
Infant day care is one of the most expensive forms of day care that you can find in any of the United States. Infant day care requires a great deal more skill and one on one time so child care centers are required to hire more higher educated staff in order to meet the needs of each child. Since most infants are not walking or even sitting up on their own child care providers are required to sit with each child and entertain them as well as feed them by hand and check and clean their diapers as the need arises. Most infant day care providers will staff one care provider for each two or three children. This ensures that the ratio in the center is similar to what you could expect in a regular family home.
Infant day care tends to be far more intensive and nerve wracking as well, most new parents can attest to that. As an infant we are unable to perform even the easiest tasks on our own, we can’t even roll over without help which means if there is a little spit up after eating there is a choking hazard; and infant skin is extremely sensitive so they require prompt and frequent diaper changes to prevent rashes and discomfort. All of these facts are contributing factors to the higher costs of infant day care services. The number of infants compared to toddlers and school aged children in the day care center should be things that you look at when you are selecting a day care center for your children. When you look at your own household composition and think about the level of care you provide your children, you should think in a similar fashion about the infant day care. Possibly you have 3 or five children of different ages, all of your children are taken care of with the same level of care, infant care providers are usually equally qualified. It is not so much the number of total children, but the number of infants that makes the difference. For this reason most infant day cares will have a cap on the number of very young children or infants that they will accept at any one time. One infant and three five year olds is fairly easy in comparison to five infants and one five year old.
Infant day care will always be the one of the hardest things that a parent will have to decide on. Paying someone else to care for your child is a very hard thing to do and making a decision between different infant day care providers is even more difficult. The best thing to do is to visit the facility or home with your child and see firsthand what the child care facility is about and how they care for the children in their charge. When you visit with your child you should allow the child care providers to handle your infant and see how both they and your child react to the experience. This will give you a better idea of what they will be like when you are not there.
