Most families use a combination of care arrangements to meet all of their needs; the best child care arrangements are those that work best for you, your child, and your family.

Types of arrangements used by families include:

• Parent only care,
• Care by a relative
• Non-relative care by nannies, friends, or neighbors (in the child’s home or a family child care home)
• Child care centers
• Specialized child care for children with special health needs.

Resources:

• Healthy Kids, Healthy Care
• Is This the Right Place for My Child?
• Child Care Information for Families

All of a child’s early experiences, whether at home, in child care, or in other preschool settings are educational. The indicators of high quality care have been studied and are available in many formats. When care is consistent, emotionally supportive, and appropriate to the child’s age, development, and temperament, there is a positive affect on children and families.

Depending on each child’s needs, benefits of high quality child care can include:

• Enhanced brain growth and child development
• Greater success in school (better math and language skills)
• Better cognition, social skills, interpersonal relationships, and self-regulation
• Decreased need for special education and related services later
• Lower adolescent pregnancy rates and lower juvenile crime
• Higher graduation rates

Resources:

• AAP policy: Quality Early Education and Child Care: From Birth to Kindergarten
• 5 Steps to Choosing Safe and Healthy Child Care 
• Is This the Right Place for My Child? 38 Research-based Indicators for High-Quality Care

To find out what the quality child care options in your area are:

• Ask people in your neighborhood or at work who care for their children.
• Ask your pediatrician or primary care provider what he or she recommends.
• Look for quality child care options online:
• Find the Closest Child Care Resource and Referral Agency:
  The National Association of Child Care Resources & Referral Agencies
• Find Accredited Child Care Centers:
  The National Association for the Education of Young Children
  
• Find Accredited Family Child Care Homes:
  The National Association for Family Child Care

Visit the "Inclusion and Exclusion Guidelines for Child Care" page.

The AAP has collaborated with other key national organizations to determine national recommended standards and guidelines for child care programs. There are a variety of ways you can learn about national and state standards to better understand the guidelines that your child’s program operates under.

• Individual States' Child Care Licensure Regulations:
  The National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education
• AAP Publication:
  Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards, Third Edition
• Healthy Kids, Healthy Care