Although every parent would likely choose to say at home with their baby, that isn’t an option for most people. Many parents have to make the decision to bring their child to a daycare center or hire an in-house nanny.
Either way, you want to make sure your child is getting the absolute best care when you’re not around. But the best care goes beyond just making sure your child is supervised and safe! Your child should be in a nurturing environment where they can learn, practice social skills, and make meaningful connections with other people. They can get all of that and more at a daycare center, but not necessarily with a nanny.
If you have been wrestling with choosing between hiring a nanny or finding the best daycare center to nurture your child while you’re at work, keep reading! We’re going to discuss all the benefits of a daycare center so you can make the best decision for your family.
Daycare Centers Encourage Healthy Social Skills
Babies start learning right away. Their brains are developing at rapid speeds when they’re young and they need to learn how to interact with other people as soon as possible so they can grow up to be socially healthy adults!
Daycare centers allow your child to be surrounded with young children of different ages. They will have a chance to be around people who are different from them and develop friendships, possibly for the first time.
Children really miss out on this type of experience when you hire an in-house nanny. There are certainly opportunities for socializing outside of daycare centers – parks, libraries, etc. – but day care centers offer stability and consistence that children need when they are learning how to develop relationships.
Educational Resources
Daycare is different from preschool, but most daycare centers will offer educational opportunities and structure that is similar and will prepare them for preschool and/or kindergarten.
When you drop your child off at day care, you can be confident that they will have access to books that teach and inspire, craft tools that allow them to express themselves, games that are educational and fun, and toys that let them use their imagination and get creative.
Even if you have many of the same tools and resources at home, your nanny will likely be the only person who is playing with and teaching your child. Day care centers let your child have fun with their peers and learn from the guidance of multiple adults.
Regulations and Accreditations
Daycare centers have to have official licensing that shows they are abiding by all of the state and local safety, sanitation, staffing, and space laws. Accreditation isn’t required for every daycare center, but it might be something that you want to keep an eye out for if you’re really in search of the best daycare for your child!
Accreditation is not exactly an easy thing for a daycare center to achieve. They have to go through multiple check-ins and work closely with the state and families they provide care for. Accreditation shows that a daycare center goes above and beyond what is expected of them and most parents can see a notable difference when they bring their child to an accredited center after leaving a traditional one.
Nanny’s aren’t required to have any certifications at all. Of course, you can require that the person you hire meets certain qualifications, but that process could be more effort than it’s worth.
Extra Supervision
Daycare centers typically have more than one person in charge of every group of children. You can rest assured that your child is being well supervised by multiple people who have years of experience working with children of different ages, behavior types, and educational levels. Daycare center teachers are usually ready to handle anything because, chances are, they’ve already seen it all!
The extra supervision will provide reassurance that your child is safe when they’re at daycare. A nanny may have to leave a child unattended for a short period of time to go to the bathroom or grab something from another room. With more than one caretaker, your child will never be alone.
Affordability
Daycare centers are typically more affordable than hiring a nanny, and you tend to get a lot more for the cost! As we mentioned before, daycare centers are required to meet certain state expectations, they provide educational, entertainment, and social opportunities, they usually have structure that helps to prepare your child for school and life, and your child will have access to lots of different tools and resources that you might not have at home.
A nanny, like most privatized services, are going to be much more expensive than public services. Not to mention, hiring a nanny officially makes you an employer! That means you will have to file a lot more paperwork, file their taxes, and provide them with a W-2. For some people, this may seem like too much of a headache, especially when combined with a nanny’s hefty salary.
Meaningful Beginnings Daycare Center
We offer premium childcare services to the Richmond area of San Francisco for children three and younger. Here at Meaningful Beginnings, your child will be taken care of as if they are one of our own.
We have recently redesigned our facility to replicate a natural cozy home with a wood theme. We find that children respond best in settings that mimic their home instead of a sterile classroom or an overwhelming play area. Our new facility will prevent overstimulation and encourage cognitive focus and creativity.
Our facility also has a safe outdoor play area so children can release some energy and get a little bit of physical exercise when the weather permits! Our overarching goals are to support children physically, socially, and intellectually – our newly designed space allows us to reach our goals better than we ever have before.
Schedule a tour and check it out for yourself! Your child deserves to have a Meaningful Beginning.
