As hard as the decision may be to make, if you need to work outside the home after your baby is born, you need to decide BEFORE your baby is born as to where they are going to spend their days while you at work. Many childcare providers, be they childcare centers, or home providers have waiting lists. Find the one you like the best and enroll your child before that day comes that you are going back to work. Doing your research ahead of time will save you a ton of heartache.
Don't assume that every childcare provider is willing to take in part-time children. Some daycare providers want full-time children to keep the books easier to manage and to keep classrooms full. Another aspect of working part-time is weighing whether it is financially worth it. OK, you will be making money, but you have to take into account what the cost of childcare costs you plus add in the cost of gas, work clothing and lunch food. You may end up realizing that it isn't worth you going back to work part-time!
If you decide that going back to work, even if it is part-time, you need to decide what kind of childcare is best for your child. Most definitely, having someone come into your home to take care of an infant is most advantageous because of the fact that your infant's immune system is not fully developed and therefore staying at home will keep your infant away from dangerous germs that tend to cause multiple ear infections and even delay development.
If you are lucky enough to have your Mom or Mother-in-law near and available, this could be a God send to you. On the other hand, parenting theories have changed over the years, and your Mom's ideas on child rearing may differ vastly from yours'. Another thing to keep in mind is that Mom is older than she was when she raised you; she may have forgotten how exhausting taking care of an infant may be.
Another way to go may be for you to hire a nanny. Interviewing potential nannies can be rather exhausting, but if this is the route you want to take, you need to be very careful of who you hire to care for your child. Most nanny agencies are very particular about whom they hire, but everyone is different in their thoughts on raising children, so you need to find someone whose ideals match yours. If possible, have a nanny start working for you a couple weeks before you go back to work so they can become familiar with your baby's routine and your expectations.
If you chose not to go with home daycare for whatever reason, then you can turn to daycare centers. Daycare centers are mandated by states to be licensed and do background checks on potential employees. Daycare centers also make sure that their employees are up to date on emergency care such as CPR. In daycare centers, you also have the security of knowing that there will almost always be more than one adult in the room with your child. This brings about a sense of security in that there will always be sort of checks and balances with each teacher keeping the other in check.
Whatever child care you chose for your child, always go with what your heart and gut tells you. If you sense that something is wrong, you are probably right. Talk to neighbors and friends to see what or who they recommend. Regardless of your choose, stay involved by talking to your child's teacher and even dropping in at random times to see what is going on at different times of the day.
Erin has been writing articles and publishing content for several years that cover a number of popular topics of interest from different walks of life. Recently, her interests have turned to cooking and she has been searching for a professional knife sharpener [electricknifesharpenersinfo.com/professional-knife-sharpener.html] and reviewing different electric knife sharpeners [electricknifesharpenersinfo.com/] for her kitchen.
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