In today's busy lifestyle, most parents need help with childcare at one point or another. In most communities, parents have the options to choose from various childcare arrangements available such as nannies, baby sitters, nursery schools or day care centers. While you may feel guilty leaving the care of your child to another person, a good childcare arrangement can improve the quality of life for both you and your child.

Before you select the type of childcare arrangements, you will need to identify the options available to you. The easiest way to do this is to obtain references from friends, family, neighbors or colleagues. Once you have a list of references, pick up the phone and make a preliminary screening of the childcare facilities and care-givers by phone. Some of the general things you will want to know about include their years of experience, qualifications/accreditation, fees, operating hours and holidays. To further determine the suitability to your child's age, find out the number and ages of children currently in their care and the daily program or activities provided.

Once you have short-listed the childcare, arrange to meet the care-givers. If you are selecting childcare away from home, be sure to visit the home or center so that you can see for yourself the atmosphere you child will be experiencing. To get a realistic idea, you should arrange to visit the facilities at different times of the day such as during play, lunch and nap times. Good care-givers or centers will welcome parents at anytime. Among others, you should lookout for suitability of equipment, safety and cleanliness.

You should also spend time observing the care-giver(s) as they interact with the children under their care. This can be best observed when the children are just arriving or during activity time. You would expect them to greet the children in friendly manner and give instructions in simple language. There should be minimal use of negative words like "no" and "bad". Most importantly, the care-givers should show interest in the children. You know you hit the jackpot if you find one who loves and enjoys children.

As you would have your own values and beliefs, you would not want your child's care-giver whose approach is radically different from yours. A good care-giver will respect and appreciate difference in your family culture, lifestyle and values. Ask the care-givers for any information that you consider important. For example, you would want to know how care-givers enforce discipline when children hit others around them or uses bad languages. If your child takes meal prepared by the care-givers, you would be concerned about the food nutrition and how they handle children who refuse to eat. After all is said and done, nothing is a better indication of the quality of care being provided than a group of happy children.