One of the toughest things new moms can do is to go back to work when their babies are very young, even if this is something they want to do. Many families have to have two incomes to survive, and sadly, this means finding infant childcare so that Mom and Dad can both bring home a paycheck. Finding the right person or center to care for your infant is very daunting, as infants need the most attention of any age group. It can be hard to hand your infant over to anyone, let alone someone you just met. Take your time and start looking early for the best choice.
If you are lucky, you can find infant childcare within your own family. Never assume that your mom or your sister will care for your infant for free, but some may offer to keep them while you work. Offer them money comparable to what you would pay anyone else for infant childcare. They may not take it, or only take part of it, but make sure you offer to compensate them for their time. This can be the most loving choice, as these are people in their family that they are going to know for the rest of their lives and who will always put the baby first.
For many families, in-family infant childcare is not possible. Some live far from family and smaller families may not have anyone who can babysit for you. When this happens, you can look for an in-home babysitter or nanny, out of home babysitter, or a daycare or childcare center. The in-home care is probably the most desirable, as your baby will remain in his or her own home, but you may find this to be the most expensive. Not always, but most of the time this works out well for all involved.
When you take a toddler or a preschooler somewhere for care, you have considerations that you use when you are looking for infant childcare as well. You want everyone with access to your child to have a clean background check. You also want to know that no one else but you and a per-approved list of people can pick up your child, and that the center or baby sitter has a long history of good relationships with the families with whom they have done business. These are all important and should be on the top of your list of must haves in a care center.
Infant childcare, however, is a bit trickier. Babies sleep a lot, but they require more intensive care. This means that a daycare center that has one staff per five infants may be stretching their employees too thinly. However, a room with ten babies that has three caretakers may work out just fine. Take some time to stick around and see what goes on and how the employees handle and interact with the babies. This will help you decide if you have made the right choice for infant childcare, and will also help you feel at ease once you finally return to work.