7 tips to ease the transition into child care Visit your new center with your child. Talk about childcare with your child. Practice experiences outside the home. Give yourself lots of time for drop off. Ease into it. Ensure your child has proper supplies. Celebrate the time together outside of child care.
What should I do if I have a concern about the health or safety standards of a day care setting? Call 1-800-732-5207 (during working hours).
Family day care allows for up to six children, ages 6 weeks through 12 years, plus two additional school-age children. There must always be one caregiver for every two children who are younger than 2 years old. You can learn how to get or renew registration to operate a standard family day care program.
The licensing of childcare enterprises in New York is handled by OCFS. All operators must attend a 15-hour health and safety training program. In addition, the daycare requirements state that every two years, each provider and helper must complete 30 hours of training in nine different topics.
State Fiscal Year 2024–25 Schedule of Income Ceilings FAMILY SIZE1-23 Family Yearly Income Ceiling (100% of SMI) $79,143 $89,660 Family Yearly Monthly Ceiling (100% of SMI) $6,595 $7,472
We recommend you start looking for infant daycare at the latest 2 months before you plan to go back to work. If you live in a big city, such as Boston, you might even have to start looking before the baby arrives. Anticipating will give you the opportunity to choose between quality childcare provider options.
Age Considerations: Many childcare experts suggest that infants can start daycare around 6 weeks to 3 months of age, though some may choose to wait until 6 months or later. This is often influenced by parental leave policies and the baby's developmental readiness.
Start looking at daycares around you to tour them and determine the one you like. As soon as you are certain of the general time you would like to enroll her, call to get on that waitlist. If that is going to be May of 2024, call now and book it. Book as far out in advance as they will let you.
Stories like Jessica's are all too common. In a large-scale survey for BabyCenter, 40% of families looking for daycare have been placed on a waitlist, with an average wait of about 6 months. Many mothers say that they experienced 2- to 3-year waits for more affordable centers.