Have you ever angsted over how much to pay your babysitter? I always find myself wondering if I've hit the right mark. Turns out I may be paying a little too much.

Sittercity, the online service that helps babysitters and parents find each other, has a rate calculator that I just stumbled upon over at Kid Baltimore. It's pretty neat. You put in your zip code, the age of the sitter, and the number of kids you have. Then the calculator spits out a per-hour rate.

For my zip code, with 2 kids and a sitter 18-21 with less than a year of experience, it said I should be paying $12 an hour.

The only downside is that it didn't appear to have a field for a younger babysitter. Would you pay less for a high-schooler?

(Baltimore Sun file photo)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Child Care
        

MomofBeans asked: "How do you break a toddler of a biting habit, when she isn't doing it at home, but is doing it at daycare when other children get in her personal space or attempt to take a toy from her?"

I called Margo Sipes, executive director of Downtown Baltimore Child Care, who previously advised us on easing transitions from house to day care. Here's what she recommended:

--First, remember that biting, though distressing, is common among toddlers. "Toddlers are still very oral," she said. "They learn and solve problems through their mouths."

--Don't be surprised if biting happens in a center rather than at home, because the center is where peers are -- and where conflict naturally arises as young kids interact. "Oftentimes the biting happens because there is a conflict over toys or the teacher's lap or one square foot of space in the classroom."

--Have the child shadowed. The best way to solve the problem, Sipes said, is for an adult at the center to be in charge of "shadowing" the toddler -- being close by him as much as possible -- to gently intervene when a bite is about to happen. "Someone right there who can put their hand and redirect (the child) to a more socially acceptable response." It's important for the adult to validate the child's feelings, by saying something like, "I can see you want that toy. Tell him you want it. Say, 'Turn please?' Or, 'Play with this while you’re waiting.'"

--Don't punish. If you do, the child will learn only that he's "bad," but not how to be good, Sipes says. Instead, the center should work on validating feelings and teaching him better ways to express needs. Also, be low-key about the biting. A big reaction may prompt the child to see if he can get the same reaction by biting again.

--Be patient. Breaking the biting habit could take a while -- maybe 4 to 6 weeks, Sipes says.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Child Care, The Monday Consult
        

Inspections of licensed child-care facilities in Maryland are now online, we report today. Now how come they had to wait until my kids were in actual school to start this? I used to angst mightily over these decisions.

Now the question is: If your child is already in a day-care situation you're happy with, are you going to check this site and risk upsetting the apple cart? Or do you want to know everything you can know about the place where your child spends her days?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Child Care
        

This New York Times piece today has some surprising news about how often kids in day care and preschool get to play outside. According to a survey of staff members at child-care centers, sometimes the whole group would have to stay inside if one child didn't have the right clothes for the weather.

File under things you didn't want to know: Kids also apparently eat mulch. And throw it at each other.

I've always felt fortunate about the outdoor play time situation at Govans Presbyterian Preschool in Baltimore, which our kids attended for years (my son will age out in a month). They seem to go outside every chance they get, and the creative games they come up with when left to their own devices on the playground are amazing. My daughter still wistfully looks back on all the play time they had there, even though she's almost finished with first grade.

I tell myself this is a very good thing each night when I shake all the sand out of my son's shoes.

How do you feel about the outdoor play situation at your child's day care/preschool/school?

(Sun file photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Child Care
        

 Where are the best resources for finding quality daycare in the area? I've used the Baltimore's Child website, but I have a hard time believing that it is comprehensive. Also, it is just a long list and does not have any interactive tools for sorting, filtering, etc. Is there a better resource out there? I'd love it if I could read reviews on daycare centers somewhere... Maybe I'm dreaming of something that just hasn't been created yet.

 This is a huge topic, and I know we'll be discussing it often here. But I wanted to at least begin by pointing her to the web site of the Maryland Committee for Children, which has a searchable database of child-care providers. You can customize your search by proximity to your home, age of the children served, and drop-off and pick-up times.

There's also a call-in service, if you'd like an actual person to help with your search. (The phone numbers for your area can be found on the site.) But the site makes clear that its referrals are not recommendations about the quality of the care, and that it's the parent's responsibility to check references and to interview any prospective provider.

I love Debra's "dream" of a site where you could read reviews of day care centers, but I've never come across such a resource locally. If any of you knows of one (or has other ideas for parents on the hunt), please post it here.

I know lots of folks who have children at Tide Point Day Care in Locust Point must be scrambling right now. Does anyone have leads for them? Here's our story about the center's closing, which is scheduled for this summer.

(By the way, this isn't Tide Point or anyplace local in the picture, which was an Associated Press file photo. But it seems to illustrate what we all hope for: engaged teachers, bright lighting, lots of stuff for kids to do.)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Child Care