Children's healthy development depends on safe and positive experiences when they are very young. If you work or go to school, you want to know that your child is in good hands while you are away. You may choose in-home care, where the caregiver comes to your home. Or your child might go to the caregiver's home. Finally, there are child care centers. You need to choose the one that works for your family.

It is important to get to know your child's caregivers. They will be a big part of your child's life. The caregiver's training should involve

• Knowledge of how young children learn and grow
• Positive, consistent discipline
• Knowledge of the signs that a child is sick
• Cleanliness and safety practices to help keep kids from getting sick or hurt
• Basic first aid

Using child care in your own home means that an individual comes to your home to care for your child or children. This may be just for an evening or as a full-time care arrangement. This type of care is not regulated by states. However, in some states, families who choose care in their own homes may be eligible for financial assistance through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). If a child receives financial assistance, there will be requirements for the child care provider. Check with your state child care assistance agency to find out whether you are eligible for financial assistance and whether there are any requirements providers must follow.

Tips for Choosing This Type of Care

• It is very important to check your provider’s references, training, and experience. Make sure your provider is trained in first aid and CPR. You will also want to make sure your caregiver is trained in safe sleep, giving children medication, and child development.

• Perform a background check on your potential provider. Contact your state police for more information about how to do this.

• Be sure to discuss your desires and beliefs about nutrition, discipline, safe sleep, screen time, and activities with your provider to make sure you agree on how your child will be cared for when you are not there.

• Discuss how, together, you and your child’s caregiver can support your child’s learning. Work together to plan and provide learning activities.

• It is best to have a written contract with your provider. This document should cover important topics, including hours that care will be provided, rates, fees, and illness policies. Also include any other work that the provider will be expected to do, such as light housekeeping. Read more about recommended items that should be included in a child care contract.

Why Families Choose This Type of Care

Families may choose to use care in their own home because they believe their children will feel more secure in their own home. Some families find this type of care more convenient, especially if parents are working different hours such as second or third shift or have to be at work before other types of care settings open.

This type of care may be more flexible and may be a good fit for families that don’t need child care on a full-time or regular basis.

If there are several children in the family, this type of child care may be more affordable than other types of care.

This text has been adapted from content originally created by Child Care Aware of America Grant #90LH002 for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC).

Family, friend, and neighbor care is provided in the child’s or caregiver’s home by a person who is a relative, friend, or neighbor, or a babysitter or nanny. These providers are typically exempt from licensing and regulations. They may not be required to meet health, safety, and training standards unless they care for children who receive government financial assistance.

The question of whether family, friend, and neighbor care is required to be licensed depends on your state’s rules. It may also depend on the number of children in care and whether the children are related to the provider.

Tips for Choosing This Type of Care

• Although your family, friend, and neighbor care provider is probably someone you are close to and feel comfortable with, you should make sure your caregiver takes first aid and CPR training.

• Your caregiver will be a very important person in your child’s life. It is important to discuss your desires and beliefs about daily routines, nutrition, discipline, safe sleep, and screen time with your provider to ensure that you agree on how your child will be cared for when you are not there.

• Discuss how, together, you and your child’s caregiver can support your child’s learning. Work together to plan and provide learning activities.

• Be sure to think about things like payment, holidays, and safety of the home environment as you’re making your decision.

Why Families Choose This Type of Care

Families who choose this type of care report that they know and trust the caregiver. Families may like the flexibility in scheduling and transportation. Family, friend, and neighbor care is also often the least expensive type of care available.

This text has been adapted from content originally created by Child Care Aware of America Grant #90LH002 for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC).

Planning time away from your new baby means that you will need to find a trusted babysitter to care for your baby like you would. That may seem impossible. But knowing what qualities you need in a babysitter will help you to find the best person to take care of your child. Womenshealth.gov recommends taking the following steps to help a new babysitter get to know you, your baby, and your home.

Safety/first aid:

• Ask if the babysitter knows infant/child CPR and first aid.
• Remind the babysitter that infants should not be placed on an adult bed of any kind.
• Remind the babysitter to place the baby on her/his back to sleep.
• Be sure that the babysitter knows the signs of illness in an infant including: changes in skin color, sweating, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.
• Show the babysitter where the fire extinguishers are kept, and explain how they are used.
• Be sure to show the babysitter where the first aid supplies are kept.
• Remind the babysitter to keep all balloons or plastic items away from the baby.
• Tell the babysitter that children should never be left alone in the bathtub. The sitter should always bring along the children should she or he need to leave the room, such as to answer the telephone or the door bell.
• Remind the babysitter to keep the bathroom door closed and the toilet seat and lid down when not in use.

Familiarity with your house:

• Be sure to give the babysitter a tour of the house.
• Ensure that all windows have been closed and that the babysitter knows to keep them closed.
• Show the babysitter how to operate your child safety gates and where they go.
• Show the babysitter where the flashlights are located.
• Make sure that you have put away all sharp items including scissors, knives, and any other objects that can cause injury.

Many moms go back to work after having a baby and rely on child care for their children. Relatives or family members sometimes take on child-care duties, or children are enrolled in child-care programs. All parents wish the best start for their children. Child care is more than just a service that allows parents to work. It is a world that will affect a child's development in many ways — physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. Finding quality child care that is affordable can be challenging. Many parents need inexpensive or cost-free day care where they know their children are safe and are being helped to grow and develop. Parents can contact their local social service agency (listed in the phone book) for information about government-sponsored programs such as Head Start and Early Head Start and other community programs. Womenshealth.gov recommends taking the following steps to choosing quality child care.

Steps to choosing quality child care

• Look – Visit several child-care homes or centers. Visit the home or center more than once and stay as long as possible so you can get a good feel for what the care will be like for your child. Continue to visit even after you start using the home or center.
• Listen – Make sure the place is cheerful and not too quiet, which can mean not enough activity. Happy-sounding children means they are involved and busy.
• Count – Count the number of children in the group and the number of staff members caring for them. The fewer the number of children for each staff member, the more attention your child will get. Your state will likely have child to provider ratios to follow, so make sure there aren't too many children.
• Ask – Adults who care for children need knowledge and experience. Ask about the background and experience of all staff that will have contact with your child in the home or center.
• Be informed – Find out more about efforts in your community to improve the quality of child care. Ask if the home or center is involved in these activities. Consider getting involved yourself.

Finding the right child care can sometimes be a stressful experience. There’s a lot of information to consider. It may feel overwhelming at times.

Here are some simple steps that can guide your child care search and make sure you have all the information needed to make the best choice for your child.

Learn the basics.

• Understand your child care options.
• Learn how child care programs are licensed and regulated to ensure children’s health and safety.
• Learn about additional quality standards that help programs go beyond licensing requirements to provide high-quality care to help children learn, grow, and get ready for school.

Search for child care programs in your area.

Use your state or territory’s online child care search tool. States and territories are required to have an online child care list or search to help you find child care.

Investigate.

Review the information that your state or territory provides about child care providers on their online child care search or child care consumer education website. This information can help you make informed child care choices.

Licensing Status

Check to see if the program is licensed, registered, certified, or legally licensed-exempt. Also, see if the program’s license been suspended or revoked.

Inspection Reports

Look at each program’s inspection reports to see if the program has violated any health and safety requirements and if and how they fixed those violations. You can also see if there was a child care complaint filed against the program that was found to be valid.Quality Ratings

Child care quality ratings are how states measure and improve child care program quality. States use these ratings to share information about the quality of programs in a way that is helpful and understandable.

Contact each program.

Ask these questions to help determine if the program meets your child and family’s needs.

• Are they licensed? If not, are they legally licensed-exempt?
• Do they have space for your child(ren)?
• What are their hours of operation?
• What is the cost of care?
• If you receive child care financial assistance from your state or territory, ask if they accept child care assistance payments.
• When can you schedule a time to visit (in-person or virtually)?

Visit several programs.

It’s important to visit each program to experience the environment firsthand.

• Use the tip sheet during your visit to make sure you look at, listen to, and ask about key program features, which will help you pick the best program for your child.
• Because of the current pandemic, some programs may not be able to offer in-person tours at this time. In this case, discuss virtual tour options with programs you are considering.

Consider all the information you found.

• How did you feel when you called and visited the program? Did you feel welcome? Were the children happy and engaged in age-appropriate activities? Are you confident your child will be happy and safe there?
• Which provider made you feel most comfortable?

It is difficult to imagine that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers would be excluded or expelled from a program because of their behavior. But there is growing evidence that young children are asked to leave child care and preschool settings three times as often as school-age children.

Families can be asked to remove their child from a child care program (or reduce their child’s hours) for many reasons. Here are a few examples:

• The program or the schedule for the day is not a good fit for the child.

• The teachers may not have the knowledge to assist the child.

• A teacher may not know what is going on in the family.

• The child is coping with experiences that they need help to understand.

Providers and families can work together to prevent expulsion by building strong relationships and talking about the child's culture, social, emotional, and behavioral strengths and concerns, approaches to learning, and strategies that work at home and in child care.

How can families work with providers to help prevent expulsion?

• Read your child care provider's policy about expelling children or excluding them from school. Ask questions about the policy if there is something you don't understand.

• Tell the provider about your child’s needs, interests, and preferences for routines like sleeping and eating.

• If you find your child’s behavior challenging, share with the teacher and discuss possible responses.

• Talk to your child’s teacher every day.

• When you have time, visit the program, have lunch, and stay awhile.

• Welcome teachers into your home for home visits.

• Talk to your child’s teacher about the best way to respond to challenging behaviors at home and at child care.

• Follow through on getting a screening or assessment if your child’s teacher suggests it.

What can my child care provider do to help prevent expulsion?

• Develop and share guidance and discipline practices that are developmentally appropriate and promote your child’s social, emotional, and behavioral health.

• Work with you to use these practices consistently and without bias or discrimination.

• Work with you to use these practices as learning opportunities to guide your child’s behavioral development and set appropriate consequences for challenging behavior.

• Work with you to set goals to support your child’s social, emotional, and behavioral development.

• Communicate with you about how your child is doing and make changes, if needed, to help your child.

• Build their skills to support your child’s social, emotional, and behavioral development. If needed, seek support from specialists, such as early childhood mental health consultants, behavioral coaches, school counselors, or special educators.

• Attend to their own health and wellness. Work reasonable hours and access social services, health and wellness services as needed.

What can I do if my child is asked to leave a program?

• Read your child care provider’s policy about expelling children or excluding them from school. In addition, learn about your state’s policies on suspension, expulsion, and exclusionary discipline:

  • Early childhood programs are strongly encouraged to establish policies to eliminate or severely limit expulsion, suspension, and other exclusionary discipline practices. All discipline policies must comply with federal civil rights laws.

  • Some states have laws or regulations that prohibit or limit expulsion or suspension. Contact your state’s child care licensing agency for more information.

• Ask if the provider works with an early childhood mental health specialist. If not, is one available?

• If you suspect your child may have a developmental delay, disability, or mental health issue, ask where your child can get an evaluation. This page has more information about what do to if you have concerns about your child’s development.

• If you agree that it is best for your child to attend another program, focus on creating a smooth transition.

• If your child has a disability, work with an early intervention specialist to make sure your child gets the support needed. Your early intervention specialist can also help your provider support your child more effectively.

• Let your child’s doctor know about the transition in case your child can benefit from screenings or evaluations.

• Ask your child’s doctor if a referral to a specialist could help. Your child’s doctor may recommend someone who can do an in-depth evaluation of your child.

Have you been searching for child care but not been able to find a program that fits your needs? If you’ve used your state or territory’s online child care search and are still not finding the right fit or found that there are long waitlists, here are a few suggestions.

1. Consider all availablechild care options. Even if you prefer one type of child care setting, be open to all types that could serve your child.
2. Expand your search area. Include more towns or zip codes, or search for programs near your work, your home, or anywhere in between. Some state child care search tools also allow you to search for child care along different routes. Consider a different route to work or school and search for options along that commute or near a public transportation stop.
3. Get on the waitlist. If a program you are contacting has a waitlist, get on it.In fact, get on the waitlist at every program that you think may a good fit for your family. Sometimes openings come up unexpectedly and wait times may be shorter than anticipated. So, don’t let an estimated wait time for a slot keep you from getting on a list.
4. Contact your local child care resource and referral (CCR&R) agency. The CCR&R agency has staff to help families find child care. Ask for help finding options that might work for you.
5. Ask your network for recommendations. Talk to friends, neighbors, or people at your work, school, place of worship, or community center. Ask how they found child care and if they have suggestions for you.
6. Make a short-term plan. This plan can meet your immediate needs while you keep looking for an arrangement that best fits your needs. If licensed care is not immediately available, consider care arrangements with family, friends, or neighbors. Contact early childhood education, family studies, human development, child development, or similar departments and ask if they can recommend a current or former student. Student employment offices at colleges and universities may also be able to connect you with student caregivers. However, since these options are not licensed, you must screen caregivers and their references carefully to determine if they would be able to provide appropriate care. Also, determine how you could use your state or territory’s criminal background check process to make sure a potential caregiver does not have a criminal history.