Where to Look for Full-Time and Part-Time Child Care

After being a stay-at-home mom to two little girls, I decided to return to work. Little did I know that finding child care would turn out to be harder than finding a job! It took months of active research and tours of 16 daycares before I found one that fit my family’s needs. Looking back, I realize that it isn’t all that surprising, given that you’re often entrusting your child to a complete stranger and paying for a service that’s usually hard on the wallet. My experience led me to create CareLuLu, a free resource that helps parents find safe, affordable, and high-quality child care. Whether you’re looking for full- or part-time care, I’d like to offer you the following tips to help simplify your search and reduce stress.

Figure Out What You Need
Before you start your search, decide on whether you will need a babysitter, a nanny, an au pair, a daycare or a preschool. Figure out your minimum requirements: hours, budget, location, curriculum, type of care, etc. Child care is very expensive and full-time care can be costlier than college in many states, so decide on the number of hours you will really need. Knowing what you need will make your search easier, because you will know exactly what to look for and what questions to ask.

Start Your Child Care Search Early
For nannies, au pairs, home daycares and child care centers, look as far as a year in advance. It’s typically more difficult to find space for an infant in a child care center than for a preschooler because of the teacher-to-child ratios. Au pairs require additional preparation, so get started on the process early.

Do Your Research
Ask for recommendations from family and friends. In fact, for occasional care, it’s probably the best way to vet out babysitters and nannies. As for preschools and child care centers, the researching can be more challenging. Just because your friend likes a particular teaching philosophy or has a certain budget, doesn’t mean you will too. That’s when the Internet can really help.

Where to Search?

• Babysitter & Nanny: If you’re looking for in-home care, you can use well-established services like Care.com, SitterCity, or UrbanSitter. All of these websites offer terrific and easy-to-use platforms to help you find a babysitter or a nanny based on cost, level of education, years of experience and more. Note: These services also allow you to run background checks on individuals, but expect to pay a small fee to be able to contact providers.

• Au Pair: If you’re looking for a live-in nanny, check out Cultural Care Au Pair, Go Au Pair, or Au Pair in America. In a family with two or more children, having an au pair can be cheaper than having children in full-time group care. A live-in nanny can also help your children learn a foreign language from a native speaker! Note: There are special requirements your house must meet in order to be able to participate in the program. For instance, the au pair typically needs her own private room. Inquire about the process in advance.

• Daycare & Preschool: If you’re looking for group care, such as a preschool or a daycare (which can offer both full- and part-time care), use CareLuLu, a free website that offers daycare options near you. CareLuLu provides all the information in one place and helps parents find licensed child care options that fit your family’s specific needs, whether it is budget, services offered, or teacher education. (Also, if you’re in the DC metro or Raleigh-Durham area, you can avoid the hassle of calling dozens of centers and searching through tons of websites by doing a free personalized search on the CareLuLu website.) Note: When looking for a daycare or preschool, go for programs that are licensed, which means the provider has received training, has proper safety procedures in place and undergoes regular announced inspections.

Regardless of the type of care you decide to go with, a "must" for any caregiver is to provide you with three parent references. Don’t be shy! Call those references to get their feedback. Stay away from providers who are reluctant to give you references — you want to make sure you’re leaving your child with someone you can trust. If you’re visiting a daycare, check out these 10 Tips for Finding Great Child Care to know what other questions to ask.

Jen is the co-founder and mom-in-chief at CareLuLu, a free resource that helps find affordable, safe, and high-quality child care.