Daycare service providers

There was a time in Nigeria, in fact, in the world when women did the job nature asked them to, home makers and carers! The typical day for the ‘olden days’ woman was to wake up at a normal time, say 6:30am, prepare a meal for the family, wake, bathe and feed the kids (and her hubby of course), take the kids to school, do the laundry, go to the market, have a mid-day nap, pick the kids from school, tutor them in their homework, feed them for dinner, send them off to sleep, go to bed early herself and then resume the cycle again the next day. If she was from the eastern part of Nigeria, she may likely not even do the laundry and shopping in the market as she would have a ‘small girl’ to help her out at home. Those were the good old days. *sigh*

Fast forward to 21^st century Lagos! First up, most of the brothers out there most definitely do not want to marry any lady without a constant source of income. From the financial meltdown of 2009, a lot of people learnt lessons; some husbands’ salaries were reviewed downwards, while some even lost their jobs completely. It affected the women too but the period thought everyone that two heads are definitely better than one.

So, most women are out there working as much as the brothers. In this scenario, who takes care of the children? The women leave home quite early and return late too. The children are either left in daycares or a nanny is employed to stay with the kids at home while their parents go out hustling. The big question is, how do you know the right daycare to put your kids or how do you employ a competent nanny capable of taking care of your kids? These were some of the questions I got and I’ll answer each to the best of my knowledge. You can send in your own responses:

  

Q1. I have a 3 month old baby and I’m due back to work as my paid maternity leave is over. What do you suggest I do, put the baby in a daycare or employ a nanny? I’m really confused and worried…

For me, before I signed the offer letter at my current employment, I did a search around the location for schools and daycare services. The location of my office is a bit far from where I stay and in an emergency, it would take a while getting home (Lagos traffic and all). The cost of the daycare was about 50% higher than what obtained in the vicinity where I reside but the opportunity to go in when I’m on break to see & breastfeed my baby was worth it. Whenever he ran a temperature that was above normal, I was promptly informed and I could go there immediately to check on my kid and if need be, take him to the hospital. I think this saved me a lot of worry and thinking about traffic before getting home as my baby was mostly always safe with me.

Q2. Is it advisable to get a Nanny at home to take care of the older kids or enroll them in an after school programme?

I personally do no subscribe to having a nanny at home. A nanny is just one person who will make all the rules and decisions in your absence and you need to have utmost trust in that individual not to do something untowardly to your kids. She might be high handed in her ‘discipline’ and might do improper things to them while you are aware; she might even go as far as threatening the kids not to say anything otherwise she’ll beat them the more! Meanwhile, an after school programme usually will have more than one teacher watching over and engaging the children. They get to still interact with other children and generally have fun. And yes, a good after school must have a room for the children to rest and sleep, a clean bathroom as well so then can have a shower and change after school. Some of them serve lunch and snacks to the kids because you can’t cook a meal for your child as early as you leave home and expect it to keep till later in the evening when they eat it.

Q3. How do you know a good daycare?

For me a there are a few pointers to spotting a good daycare:

• It should not be too close to the road: A daycare being near the road is a no-no. You would have a challenge when dropping & picking your kids. It should have a large parking space and security men at the entrance to check the passes of each person picking up children.
• It should be well lit, spaced and airy. These are children, very easy to pick up germs in confined or crammed environments. This is Nigeria, so definitely, the day care service must have a generator which should either be far away from the kids or enclosed in sound proof casing so that the kids can freely interact without having to shout. 
•  It should have both teachers and minders. Most people who run daycare services want cheap labour so they’ll pass off a minder as a teacher but they are actually two distinct roles. The teacher puts the kids through what they need to learn for the age, prepares their curriculum and is generally in charge of their mental and cognitive development. A minder on the other hand feeds the children, cleans them up and also keeps the environment clean. While feeding the kids, the minder would also teach them hand and to mouth co-ordination whilst they feed themselves.

All in all, try to do a thorough background check whether it’s a school you are taking your child to or you want to employ a nanny at home. Does anyone know agencies who conduct background checks for schools & nannies?