It can be hard to leave your child with someone else, but many families rely on day care at least part of the time. Choosing the right infant day care in Pittsburgh, PA can help make it a little easier to trust another person to care for your little one.
Personalization
Look for a day care provider who allows a baby to sleep and eat when they want to, rather than insisting the baby follow a schedule that makes things easier for the caregiver. Any special needs of the infant should be accommodated by the caregiver, and the environment of the day care should allow for these accommodations to be made.
Licensing
Each state has their own licensing requirements, but any infant day care in Pittsburgh, PA should meet the PA licensing requirements and preferably be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The caregivers should have some education in caring for young children, such as an associate’s or bachelor’s degee or certification by the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition.
Caregiver to Child Ratio
Because infants require more care than older children, any day care center should have no more than three babies or four toddlers per staff member. With an in-home day care, there should be no more than two children under 2 years old and no more than six or eight total children in the home.
Environment
The location should be clean and there should be plenty of age-appropriate activities and toys available. Check to verify that the caregiver’s approach to discipline and nurturing children is similar to your own. Visit the center and see whether the caregivers interact a lot with the babies.
Parent Interaction
Ask whether parents can drop in any time and what type of feedback they’ll get on what the child is doing during the day and how she’s progressing. Some centers have regular parent-teache conferences and send home reports each day or have a website with pictures posted for the parents.
Visit for more information. They provide day care for children from 6 months old to twelve years old.
