Child Care Options

Child care is one of the most fun yet tedious types of cares among all other cares. Lack of basic knowledge regarding the various options used in Child Care can lead to complicated situations and can in turn affect the child.

For this reason getting familiar with the various commonly used childcare options is essential. Read on and find out about some of the commonly used Child Care Options … 

Nanny/Babysitter - A nanny or babysitter is employed by the family either on a live-in or live-out basis to perform all the childcare duties. Apart from taking care of the child, nannies usually perform some domestic tasks related to the child’s care.

Mother's Help - Mother’s helper need not have previous childcare experience. They generally assist parents with childcare and in some cases also in the housekeeping duties. 

Child Care Center/Day Care Center - This provides care for children in premises particularly built for child care purposes. They provide developmental programs within their care programs. Daycare centers usually provide meals and snacks for the children.

Family Day Care – This is a type of center that provides care services for other children in their own house. These centers provide care for children under the age group of 3 as well as older children up to 12 years of age.

Before / After School Care – this is a center to provide care and supervise the school age children. They even provide recreational activities for the children. 

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Making your toddler get along with a new baby

Getting a toddler used to his/her younger sibling, a newborn cannot be an easy transition and none of us can promise ourselves that they would be the best of friends.

However there are some tricks that could ease the coming of a second child into their daily lives. I am sure all of you would be able to add more tricks as a comment in my comment section. 

Ways to help a toddler to get along with a new baby:

Get your toddler a baby doll to create a loving sense for babies both before and after the sibling arrives. Let your toddler hold, sway and sing to the doll, include the doll in bedtime story routines and be in charge of his/her baby. He/she could hold his/her baby when you hold yours; this would give the toddler important lessons in loving and nurturing a newborn.  

You need to create special toys that the toddler can play with during quiet times when you have to look after the newborn when he/she cries or is hungry. Your toddler can engage oneself during that time. Create a special bin of toys and books for these times and call it by a funny name; it could help your toddler pull something special out during quiet times.

It is normal and OK for your toddler to want to be a baby again just to attract your attention; he/she may want to drink from a bottle, be held more and be carried all the time. You can eventually get him to talk about how nice it is to be big and do things big kids do like going on swings, skipping, racing, sledding and choosing books. 

 You might just have to accept two babies for a little while.Set aside at least 10 minutes on a daily basis for a one to one time with your toddler. Spend time doing an activity or play he/she likes; this time is best allotted when the newborn is napping or when your spouse or helper is around. Since your toddler has you alone, it will keep him/her from acting out.Give your toddler, the older sibling fun jobs to do to help him/her to feel in control of all the change and attention the new baby is causing. Let your older sibling pick out the baby’s outfit, throwing out the dirty diaper, choosing a book to read or singing him/her to sleep.

Make some adjustments much before the arrival of the baby; if you plan on moving the toddler/elder sibling out of her room or crib, or change from day care to a nanny, or make big changes as potty training; do it as far in advance as possible and prevent association with the arrival of the baby. This would avoid accidents while on errands. I hope all these tricks would help make your toddler get along with the newborn baby.

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How to choose the right Driving Nanny

In today’s stressful professional lifestyle it is tough to take care of your job and handle the daily responsibilities of dropping off your kid at school, picking them up and driving them around to soccer games or tuitions and getting them back home. Even if you have the time, it can be tiring after an entire day at work to drive around in peak hour traffic. This is where a Driving Nanny comes in handy.

Driving Nannies are regular Nannies who are also skilled enough to drive your kids around safely. But for most parents, it is a confusing decision to make! Leaving your kids under a Nanny’s supervision at home is easier but not so with the dangers of the road. Here are a few tips to help you choose the right Driving Nanny for your children,

Check the driving record

It is always good to start by checking the records. Speeding tickets, accidents, reckless driving – these are a few things that shouldn’t be on her rap sheet! Minor infractions can be given a leeway, especially if it was a long time ago maybe when she was learning to drive. Check for a clean sheet in the last few years and hopefully no strikes on her license right now if you plan to keep her as a nanny for long.

Inspect the car

Many families have their own car for Nannies to drive their kids around. A few are not comfortable with that and prefer the Nanny using her car for driving their kids around. If the car used is not yours, inspect the car thoroughly. Look for safety and ensure that there are Isofix seat anchors. Check how safe the car model is and if possible get it serviced at your expense before starting the run.

Insure her and the car!

If the Nanny is driving your car, insure her as well as add the driver profile to your car’s insurance policy without fail. If she is driving around in her car, make sure she has insurance. A small fender bender shouldn’t upset your financial plans for the month.

Discuss terms

Set the rules for gas, maintenance, toll, parking and service costs reimbursement. Will you be covering it in her salary or does she expect you to reimburse it separately? If it is going to be reimbursement, then request for the bills – there is nothing wrong in doing that!

Ensure that you are not taken for a ride but at the same time be a bit considerate. If she loses a toll slip or gets a parking slip because your kid made her wait – reimburse that without nit picking. After all, she is the one who brings your child back home safe and sound.

How to cultivate reading habit in your kid

Cultivating the reading habit in kids can be done early in life; it can be made fun by taking them to a library or bookstore and allowing them to pick up their own books. Do not fuss if they choose the same book every day. Here are some reading activities that would create a love for reading in the early stages.

Ages birth to 1:To encourage the love for reading it is best to have a lot of books around the house; board books, simple stories and touch-and-feel books would be good to capture and maintain a baby’s attention with their simple, repetitive text that includes tactile sensation and bright, bold colors.Snuggle together while reading, so that the baby associates reading with happiness, security and warmth; add more fun by rubbing the soft part on a baby's cheek or touching his/her arm. Pick up books with unique elements like cut-out windows that encourage prediction.Read your books, they could be anything from Shakespeare to Dr. Seuss out aloud; this helps the inflection and the tone of voice of book language to be most appealing to the kids. Reading in a lyrical or expressive way or even sing books to your kids helps encourages the love of language, lyrics and words, which clearly are the fundamentals of reading. It is a good activity to sing nursery rhymes while looking at a book with photos.

Ages 1 to 2: This is the stage when kids are building their vocabulary and interact with books, which shows early comprehension skills. Make reading time exciting by not confining it to bedtime only. Reading could also be done in the bath-tub with a waterproof bathtub book and the child could be asked to mimic the activities in the book; this helps make reading more fun and memorable. Sensory books or touch and feel books like "Does a fish really feel like that? “How about a goat's horns?” are great ways to get kids involved and interested and incite them to give verbal feedback.  

Ages 2 to 3:

Phonological awareness -- rhyming, knowing the alphabet and letter-sound correspondences – are very important at this stage which is a precursor to school success. Dr. Seuss books with their catchy rhymes and alphabet repetitions plus great story lines are great for this age. A very valuable skill at this age is reading comprehension; so after reading the book, ask questions about the beginning, middle and end. Retell the story without the book and ask about feelings like how did that make the mouse feel or was the cat happy or sad and what you would do if the dog sat on your lap. 

Ages 3 to 4:It is right at this age to choose books with repeated phrases; download a few fun interactive picture books on the iPad for building strategies to comprehend text. Kids at this age often memorize their favorite books, so encourage kids to read by lining up his/her stuffed animals for make-believe "story time."

Age 4 to 5: Encourage reading activities like reading grocery lists or instructions for a craft or game in your children of this age. While shopping hand over the list to your kid and let /her collect the items or let teach you a new board game. Also encourage your kid to read leveled books. All said and done do not lay too much emphasis on reading and writing before your kid is really ready; it would be a negative experience. Pull back when your kid is too stressed up and let him/her master a particular level before moving on to the next. 

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