5 Tips to Help You find Quality Child Care for Your Family Today

This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students. However, all thoughts are my own.

For a long time, I never used child care services for my child. I was simply afraid to leave Pookah alone with anyone. He has asthma AND he has food allergies.

What if something happened while I was gone?

This led to a lot of missed opportunities and struggles to get things done when my husband was out of town.

But eventually, I had no choice. As a working mom who sometimes has meetings just when school is ending and whose husband travels a LOT for work, I finally had to break down and find the right child care services for our family. I needed reliable, quality, and AFFORDABLE options.

I found it.

And you know what?

Everything was fine.

But I know a lot of you are still reluctant!

So, I have

5 Tips to Help you Find Quality Child Care for Your Family Today

1. Decide what you need.

Do you need before school care? Do you need after school care? Daycare a few times during the week?

Decide exactly what you need to help you find exactly what you are looking for.

2.Know your budget.

After you decide what you need, decide on a budget.  And only look for options that fit within that budget.  It will save you the stress of looking at that perfect daycare only to find out later that it is unaffordable. 

3.Use Quality Rated ‘s state-certified rating system.

The Quality Rated system helps parents just like us find quality child care right here in Georgia. Quality Rated has a free search tool that makes it easy to find child care options by price, distance, and services offered. It also lists all licensed and license exempt child care providers in Georgia (even if they are not Quality Rated) so that you can have a comprehensive overview of the options you have.

4.Get Recommendations

Now that you’ve found a list of child care facilities through Quality Rated that fit your needs and budget, ask your community for their input. You have friends, relatives, and playgroups. Find out if they have any additional insights that will help you narrow down your decision.

5.Trust Your Gut

In the end, after you have researched, found childcare that is licensed, recommended, and in your budget, you still have to trust your gut. Even if everyone else loves a daycare or an afterschool location, and it just doesn’t feel right to you: go with your gut.

This is your child! Make the best choice for you and your family.

If you are looking for another resource to help you find child care for your child, make sure you check out this Choosing Child Care Checklist from Quality Rated Child Care.

Have you heard of Quality Rated? How did you find the right child care for your child?