Entrusting your child to a sitter or day care center can be a difficult decision. Here are some guidelines for ensuring the best care for your child and peace of mind for you.
1. Hiring a sitter
a. Check the applicant's personal references. Ask the former employer if the sitter was reliable? Whether the children liked her? If she ever faced and emergency and if so, how she handled it.
b. Ask the job-seeker what she likes most and least about babysitting. What activities she enjoys doing with children and how she would handle such problems as an infant who wakes up with a fever.
c. If the sitter is fairly young, try to gauge whether she is mature enough to handle problems. If the sitter is elderly, make sure that she is energetic enough to keep up with your baby or toddler.
d. Spell out clearly your views on discipline. No one should be allowed to strike a child. Make sure that you tell the sitter that physical punishment is ground for dismissal.
e. Discus whether you allow smoking as health experts advise against smoking in the presence of infants and children. Discuss your policy on alcoholic beverages and whether the sitter is allowed to have visitors to the house.
f. Invite her to spend an hour or so with you and the child and watch how they interact. Does she seem comfortable with the child? Does she appear to like him or her?
g. Trust your instincts. If the sitter has all the right answers, but something about her bothers you, do not hire her.
h. Arrange for your sitter to get a complete physical examination. This should include a TB test, especially if she has recently lived or traveled abroad.
2. Training your sitter: Once you have chosen a sitter, schedule a get-acquainted session in which you give her a tour of the house and detail your child's habits and needs. Of course, the sitter should be paid for the time she spends in this meeting.
a. Emphasize the location of exits to be used in the event of a fire. Review family's evacuation plans.
b. Show her where you keep your flashlight and fist-aid kit. She should also know where to find the fuse box and other essential items
c. Outline rules on use of the phone, TV, stereo and VCR.
d. Specify what snacks you will provide. Note that you will expect the sitter to clean up after snack time.
e. Show her where you keep diapers, extra clothing, bottles, formula food and other baby supplies.
f. Review the proper way to pick up, hold, feed and diaper the baby as well as instructions on sterilizing bottles and serving baby food.
g. Describe your child's special pre-sleep habits such as crying, rocking, sucking on a finer, thumb or pacifier.
h. Trust your sitter as a professional. If you anticipate a long-term relationship, write up a job description and an agreement detailing working hours, salary overtime pay and benefits.
i. Explain the sleeping positions you want for your infant.
j. Every now and then, make an unannounced stop at your or home. It is an effective way to learn what is happening in your absence, especially if your child is too young to talk.
3. Coping with emergencies
a. Post important phone numbers: home, office, pediatrician, police, fire, ambulance, nearest hospital, poison control center, a neighbor or relative to call in a pinch.
b. Leave an abbreviated medical history-your child's allergies, medications, immunizations and illnesses.
c. Review first-aid procedures. Better yet, have the sitter take a course at a hospital or Red Cross chapter.
d. Supply a signed release form authorizing emergency medical services in your absence. You can obtain the form from a doctor or an attorney. Without it, doctors can treat a child only if withholding care would be life-threatening.
e. Leave enough money in an envelope to pay for cab fare to the nearest emergency room. Write on the envelope the phone number of a taxi service, the address and phone number of the hospital, both parent's offices during the day and where they may be reached at other times.
4. Judging day care
a. Inquire whether the center is state-licensed which means it must meet minimum standards of safety, hygiene, and staffing. Although not all states require it, ask if the center conducts a criminal history background check on its employees.
b. Ask about employee turnover. A fairly stable staff often indicates a well-run center with experienced dedicated caregivers.
c. Check social service agencies to find out if any reports have been filed on the center.
d. Whether home or center-based, day care facilities should be warm and inviting places. First, look at the physical facility. Is it neat and free of safety hazards? Do you see toys, books, and play equipment appropriate to young children? Is the kitchen clean and large enough for adequate meal preparation?
e. Is the bathroom clean? Is there a place for changing diapers safely? How are solid diapers disposed off? Antiseptic procedures for handling soiled diapers are crucial to keeping young children healthy.
f. Ask to observe a provider changing a diaper. Ideally, she should wear thin plastic gloves, wash her own and the baby's hands afterward, turn the water off with a paper towel and sanitize the changing area.
g. Inquire about how the staff handles diaper rash.
h. Ask about immunization requirements for the child and other health polices.
i. Observe interactions between the provider and the children and among the children themselves. Do the kids look happy? Does the staff seem to know how to handle conflicts among children?
j. Arrange to meet every one who will have contact with your child including bus driver and janitors.
5. More pointers
a. Check out the activity schedule. See if snack time, lunch and naps are always at the same hours, so the day has pleasant predictable rhythm to it. Young children need a regular routine.
b. Ask if you can visit during the day unannounced.
c. Try to avoid overcrowded facilities.
6. Playing outdoors
a. If the day care center offers a playground with swigs, seesaws and other equipment, look at their condition.
b. Swings should be lightweight but sturdy.
c. On a slide, there should be guardrails or barriers on the elevated platform.
d. If you expect your child to play outdoors for any length of time, be sure to put sunscreen on him or her before the child leaves home. Apply sunscreen to the child's face year round, winter or summer. Cover any other exposed skin as well.
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