What is In-Home or Family Childcare?

In-home daycare is an option for parents who are not wanting to put their child in a traditional daycare setting. With regular daycare, children are dropped off at another location where the daycare facility is being run. They are among other children and participate in different activities for the duration of their stay. Someone is always watching the children until the designated time for parents to come and pick them up. In-home daycare differs because it involves having a child care specialist come to the home and take care of the child. These child care specialists are often called nannies.

If you are considering in-home childcare, you will want to find a nanny who is affordable and has a good reputation in the community. Nannies are employed to offer customized and individualized child care. Whether you have one or multiple children, your nanny will be in charge of looking after everyone underage who is at the home. A nanny is more than just a child care professional, as they often develop bonds with the children they look after. A nanny is also a lot more convenient because they come to your home. There is no hassle of dropping off and picking up the child at daycare.

Family Childcare –

If a regular daycare setting is not appealing, and a nanny is too expensive, family childcare is a very good option for new parents. Family childcare involves having a set of children of mixed age spending the day at a home where they are looked after by one or more parents. Family childcare locations are often started by parents who want a job where they can stay at home, or babysitters who want to expand their business. They offer safety, plenty of space, good ratios of adults to children, a healthy reputation and a much lower price than other options.

The highest ratio you can expect at a family childcare operation is one to five, with one caregiver being with five children. If there are more children at the home, there will be an extra person or two helping to look after them. You can leave your child at a family childcare home in the confidence they will be watched and treated in a great environment. And since family child care operations usually host children from the neighborhood, it is easy to get an opinion on their quality and reliability from your neighbors, friends, and family.