Parent Time

Who will look after your children? For parents who are not staying home themselves, choosing the right caregiver involves huge — and emotional — decisions. Centre or neighbourhood home care? Nanny or preschool? The setting you pick will be your child’s world for many of her waking hours. And you don’t need to be reminded that good care can bring big developmental benefits. The search can be long and demanding; legwork and gut instinct are your best allies. With the stakes so high, you know the effort is more than worthwhile. So, while your heart is thumping and your stomach rolling over, here are some practical points to help you in your search for loving, stimulating care that will help your child flourish.

Red Flags
Despite parents’ best efforts, a daycare situation doesn’t always work out. There are signs that can indicate problems:

• In a centre, staff are unhappy, turnover is high or fees are much lower than comparable settings.
• Your child has an unexplained change in behaviour such as clinginess, sleep troubles or acting out.
• Your child suddenly doesn’t want to go to daycare.
• Your gut is telling you this “feels wrong.”

Remember, though, that signs of behaviour regression may signal the need to move up to an older peer group. And with some children, transition simply takes a while. If your child is talking to you about his caregivers or his day’s activities, that’s a sign things are going well.

Money Matters
• The parent with the lowest income can claim child care expenses as a tax deduction - up to $7,000 for a child younger than seven, and up to $4,000 for an older child (to age 16). Expenses can also include advertising and agency fees.
• You need a receipt showing the caregiver’s SIN in order to claim the deduction. Check whether the caregiver is willing to issue one.
• Before hiring a nanny, be sure you understand your obligations as an employer; expect workers’ compensation and other expenses to add between $150 and $250 a month.
• Child care subsidies may be available if you are employed or a student.

Resources for Parents
• Todaysparent.com: Parents share tips in the Child Care Forum.
• childcaredirectory.com: An online directory of over 8,000 daycare facilities across Canada.
• wft-ifb.ca: A bilingual online database of hundreds of tips for Canadian parents, including a section on child care.
• delphiforums.com/index.html: Browse under Family / Parenting to find discussion forums for caregivers and parents.

Advocacy Groups
• Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (613) 594-3196; Advocates for publicly funded quality child care for all Canadian children.
• Canadian Child Care Federation 1-800-858-1412; Its mission is to improve the quality of child-care services for Canadian families.

Originally published in Today's Parent, May 2003