MomTrusted on Parenting, Kids, and Early Education

It’s more than just finding child care…

It’s about creating a safe environment to find child care.

249smiles was created with the backdrop of random Craigslist posts and people telling us to look in the phone book for centers.  What can you learn from the phone book besides for a name and address?  How scary is it to talk to people about caring for your child who have no photo, no information, no parent references?  And why are these the only resources to find care for our dearest loved ones?

With 249smiles the search is safer and just makes more sense!  Our providers can upload photos of themselves, their employees, or facilities, they can give you important (need to know) information, you can get a sense of their philosophies, other parents can leave comments and ratings of the providers, and most importantly, you can contact those parents to ask specific questions about their experiences with the babysitter, nanny, or daycare provider.

It’s about making the important connections with other parents.

We found (in our own experience and in research) that parents don’t generally make the child care decision alone or based on an advertisement…they decide to entrust their child with someone because another parent told them about their great experience with them.  The got a good recommendation from someone they trusted.  They heard it from the mouth of another mother “yeah, my child went there and we all loved it!”  We base our decisions on other people experiences and 249smiles supports that!

It’s about finding the best child care.

There are many different types, styles, and philosophies of child care and that’s great!  There’s no universal ‘good’…we know different characteristics are good for different families.   That’s why 249smiles believes transparency and sharing are key in this process.  Child care providers have the opportunity to really show what they’re all about and give you the information you need.  Learn from what they tell you and from what they don’t.  Ask them questions in the comment section of their profile so you can help other parents in the process.  When you see a child care provider doing something you love, make sure you’re asking other providers if their doing it too!  This is the only way child care providers know what’s important to parents.

Cool things child care providers are doing now:

– Step Up to Quality (for Ohio child care centers)

– Stars for Kids Now (for Kentucky child care centers)

– American Red Cross CPR and First Aid courses

– American Red Cross Babysitter’s Training