Are you finally going back to work after having a child? If so, you'll be looking for someone to watch over them during the day while you're away from home. While many people immediately think of finding a daycare facility for their infant care needs, you may have some luck using home based care instead. Here are three questions you may have about using this alternative form of infant care.

1. Will Home Based Caregivers Be Licensed?

You should be aware that a caregiver that works out of their home may not always be licensed, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. These people typically take care of a couple kids only, which puts them far below the minimum requirements for a license. Not having a license is not necessarily a bad thing, since the level of care your child can receive could potentially be better than if they were at a facility since they'll receive more one-on-one time.

You will need to do your own research to determine if an unlicensed home based caregiver is best for your infant. Try to get references of people that have used the caregiver's services in the past, and ask a lot of questions about what the caregiver does during the day.

2. What Kind of People Run Home Based Infant Care?

If you are looking at several home based caregivers, you may notice a pattern that a lot of them are parents that have recently had a child. They may have decided to stay at home with their own child for those first few years, and want to make additional income while watching other children at the same time. This means that the caregiver for your child will often be a parent themselves, and they will treat your infant in the same way that they treat their own.

3. What Are The Disadvantages of Using Home Based Infant Care?

The biggest disadvantage of using home based infant care is that there is often just one person that handles everything. You may find yourself without anyone to watch your kid if the caregiver or their own child is sick. You will definitely need to plan for a backup caregiver, such as a friend or family member, on those days where infant care is unavailable.

In addition, you are also the one that is responsible for doing the background check on the caregiver, rather than selecting a local infant care facility that has already been licensed and gone through the vetting process.