How to Find Reliable and Affordable Infant Daycare

It should be simple, right? You just need a safe, fun, educational, affordable place to watch your new baby while you work. Surely, that type of daycare exists!

Reliable, affordable childcare options do exist, but it can take a lot of work to find the perfect fit for you and your newborn. Fortunately, I recently went through the process of finding an infant daycare and here are all my tips and tricks for finding a reliable solution for you and your baby.

Step 1: Pick what type of child care works for you

There are pros and cons of every child care option. Generally, you have three types of care to choose from: a daycare facility, in-home daycare, or a nanny.

Childcare Facility

Childcare facilities are licenced businesses, accountable to the state for their educational and safety practices. These centers generally have a large staff and serve lots of children. Your child may start in infant care and be able to migrate to different classes as she gets older. The downside can be that your child may not receive as much individualized attention as the other types of daycare.

In-Home Daycare

These daycares are often small, and are run by a few individuals out of the caregiver’s home. Licencing requirements for home based daycares vary by state. The benefits of in-home daycare is that you may find someone who fits your unique needs and provides quality time for your child. Some of these facilities practice certain methodologies of teaching that more corporate daycares do not provide, such as the Montessori method. They can also be more cost effective. The downside is that it is someone else's home and you need to be very sure that it is a safe environment for your child.

Nannies or Au Pairs

The final option is to hire a nanny, au pair, or babysitter. The benefit of this is that your child will be receiving quality attention from someone you specifically chose for the job. The downside is that it can be quite expensive. To offset the cost, some people “nanny-share”, or have a nanny watch two or three kids from different families at once.

I highly recommend scoping your nanny or au-pair through an agency or through a website that runs background checks. Yes, there is an upcharge for the verification, but these individuals will be in your home taking care of your little one.

Step 2: Prepare financially for child care

Let’s face it, daycare for an infant child isn’t cheap. Use our baby cost calculator to find out what you are willing to afford for your infant’s child care. If paying for child care is a concern, here are a few ways you can offset the cost:

Financial Subsidies

There are subsidies to help families who need safe and affordable childcare, but they vary by state. Child Care Aware is a nationwide network of affordable childcare resources. You should also look to see if your town or county provides any subsidized child care opportunities.

Diaper Assistance

Ask if your child care center offers a diaper club or if it’s included with the tuition. Most daycare centers include diapers within the tuition package or offer unlimited diapers and wipes for $15 a week while they are at daycare. This is a significant savings to purchasing your own diapers, even if you ended up purchasing a generic brand at a cost savings club!

How to Find Local Assistance

I know, we all start by looking online. Sometimes the internet gives you too much information that isn’t helpful. Ask your OBGYN or pediatrician if they know of any local agencies, non-profits, or religious institutions that help support moms with the financial burden of child care.

Step 3: Find care you can trust

Survey your community

The first thing we did was ask our neighbors, co-workers, and friends what childcare they used and what they liked about it. Our close community offered lots of useful advice. My mother encouraged us to look for a licensed center that was National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) certified. My co-worker recommended picking a childcare center instead of a nanny for the socialization the children get. My husband’s coworker was excited about considering a nanny-share with friends who wanted their kids in a smaller community with the flexibility of in-home care. Each member of our parenthood tribe provided great things for us to think about in what type of care we would consider.

Meet the caregiver

Now comes the interesting part, starting to visit or host whomever will be spending their days with your child. We wanted to see the center in action and get a feeling for the environment.

When you visit, whether it’s virtual or in person, I highly recommend coming stocked with a list of questions and a place to write down your answers.

Asking the same standardized questions is incredibly helpful when comparing locations. Inquire about sick policy, weekly rates, how do they handle potty training, and how long has their infant teacher been in that room? Having a list of questions that we could compare between daycare facilities was a game changer in our search.

A mother’s intuition is best, trust it

If something doesn’t feel right, walk away. We found a center that met our criteria: we loved the teacher, the center director was awesome, it was near a police station, close to our home and our pediatrician. However, by the time our son had been accepted the childcare center had major turnover on their staff. The new staff was not as responsive to our emails, nor did they offer us the ability to meet with them. Two months before I was supposed to return to my job we were scrambling to find care!

After scrambling, searching, interviewing and comforting myself with chocolate—we found a program! It turned out that this program was even better than our first! It was incredibly stressful to switch our daycare plan at the end of my maternity leave. Trusting our gut was so integral in feeling comfortable with leaving my son at daycare.

So, here is my #1 tip on finding childcare in a pinch: persevere. It is emotionally exhausting, but if you persevere and focus on problem solving you will find a childcare solution for your baby.

Conclusion

It is universally understood that finding childcare is no walk in the park, but you can do it! You can find child care that you love and is within your budget. Remember to survey your community, research your options, visit, trust your intuition, prep for your first day and enjoy watching your little one learn.

Being a mom is challenging. Don’t be afraid to invite a community to help you raise your child can help take the stress off, especially when you are in the midst of pursuing your dreams.