How2Day: Alternatives to a Nanny & Day Care

Some parents believe they are their children's best caregivers. Mother image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
Nannies are often afforded by the rich and famous, while day care seems too institutionalized for some parents. Consider your options and resources when considering alternative child care ideas. Ask other parents what they do to meet their child care needs. Check with your local church to see if it could coordinate a weekly nursery program for members of the organization, or find out if your child is eligible for a pre-kindergarten program.

Staying at home with your child means sacrificing time, money, a career and your freedom, but some parents feel that these sacrifices are worth the effort. By staying at home with your child, you can control how he spends his time, what he eats and how he learns more so than if he were in day care or with a nanny. According to BabyCenter.com, almost half of all Americans choose to have one parent stay at home with a child for the first two years of his life. Typically, this is the mother, unless she is the main breadwinner for the family, in which case the father stays home instead. Several options for stay-at-home parents to work from home, including crafting and freelance work, can alleviate the financial stress.

Choosing a relative for child care involves an increase in trust, affordability, flexibility and the transition into care, according to ChildCareAware.org. When you decide to leave your child with a trustworthy relative, you most likely already have a positive relationship with her that provides an easy transition into day care for you and your child. Although you may pay the relative something for her time, she will typically charge less (if anything at all) for caring for your child. Deciding whether to leave your child at your home or transport her to the relative's home offers additional flexibility. To ensure a professional child care operation that will develop beyond your family ties, create an agreement concerning the details of care, such as meals, daily schedule, television time and amount the relative will receive for her service.

If you are able to take care of your own child but need to be able to work at least part-time outside the home, consider starting a group babysitting program. Talk to friends, neighbors and family members to find four to five families that would be interested in sharing child care duties. You could work as a babysitter one day per week for free and then work outside the home for the rest of the time, while someone else in the group provides the same benefits. The child care would be free for everyone as well as offering a social environment for a small group of children and parents who already had relationships. This format is a bit different than community cooperative day care, in which the families offer to care for one other family at a time. Also with cooperative care, families use the service temporarily and not for everyday care.

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