Emily Mason 0:01
Today, we are discussing the importance of finding childcare while pregnant, whether you know you are going back to work after your maternity leave or you are still on the fence, this episode is to help guide you to making the right decision when it comes to your baby on the way and the care they will receive if and when you head back to work. Thank you for joining us. This is preggie pals.

Emily Mason 0:55
Welcome to preggie pals. I'm Emily Mason, your host for today's episode. Before we dive in. Make sure to check out our website, at New mommy media.com, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay updated on all of the latest episodes. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button in your podcast app so you never miss an episode. If you're looking for even more ways to connect, Join our online community, mighty moms, it's a great place to continue the conversation from the show, share insights and even find out how to join us live for future recordings. Let's get started. All right. Welcome everybody. Our expert today is Erica Saccoccio. Erica is a seasoned expert with over 24 years of experience in early childhood education as a certified John Maxwell leadership trainer, heart centered Child Care Coach and experienced trainer, Erica brings a unique blend of expertise, passion and leadership to every child care business she works with, starting her journey with A CDA. Erica later earned an AA in early childhood education and a bachelor's in early childhood leadership from Charter Oak State College. She is also a graduate of CCRI, prestigious 10k Small Business Entrepreneurship Program, and serves as a mentor on many boards, offering guidance and support to others in the field. Thank you, Erica for joining us. Can you tell us a little bit about where you're located and a little bit about your family?

Erica Saccoccio 2:28
Sure. So I'm located in Warwick, Rhode Island, which just the little state. My family is amazing. I am married with two children. They're a little older now because I'm a little older, but, yeah, they're great, and I'm now a grandma, so I'm really loving that, and have a couple cats, and life is really good, awesome.

Emily Mason 2:49
I am so excited to talk to you today. Get to know you. Thank you so much for joining us, and we have a bunch of questions lined up, but first we're going to take a quick break.

Welcome back today. We're diving in to searching for the right child care center while pregnant, and we have Erica here with us, so let's first chat about different child care options. Can you break down the most common child care practices for infants?

Erica Saccoccio 3:24
Sure. So there are several options. And depending where you live, obviously they could be a little different. Infant care is is really interesting, because lots of times folks will use family members at first, when children are first born, and then as children get a little bit older, especially when they start getting closer to that 12 month mark, then they start looking for traditional settings. Family Child Care is a wonderful option for folks who are looking for group care that doesn't have too many folks coming in and out. And you know, it's a little bit small and intimate. So I think, you know, lots of folks like that, when we're talking about young children, there's certainly center care, which is what I run, and then there's nannies, right? If you want that, one on one, individualized, customized, you know, you certainly can always use a nanny in your home. And I think when children are young, some folks lean towards either a nanny, if they can afford it, that tends to be a little more on the pricier side, Family Child Care usually is a pretty affordable option. I would just question people and make sure that if you do use that, make sure it is a licensed family child care provider. And then, of course, there's the child care center that most people think about when you talk about childcare, absolutely.

Emily Mason 4:44
And I think all of those options are things as I had my youngest started to weigh in on and and figure out, and it's so overwhelming at times. But also there. So many different options that will work for exactly what you specifically need when you're looking for somebody to help after you go back to work.

Erica Saccoccio 5:11
Yeah, can I share an interesting story that I think folks will really kind of resonate with? So before I got into the fields. I sold furniture. I was in sales. I was a manager of a store, and I had my daughter, and my mom was somewhat disabled, so it wasn't really I didn't have that option of having a family member watch my daughter. I'm Italian, so by culture, we're already, you know, crazy mamas. And I was just like, I started to look for childcare centers, and there were lots of great programs, but I was just like, I can't leave my baby with people I didn't know. And so I quit my job, and that's how I ended up here in the field, and that's a feeling that never really left me. I know how difficult it is for families to leave their children with people they don't know, and so I just think that, because that feeling's never left me, it's kind of how I gage my programs. And just say, would I leave my daughter here? So I really do understand how torn people can get around this topic,

Emily Mason 6:13
right, right? And I think I had my my baby at the height of COVID, and so I was even more, I feel like, even more anxious. And my gracious mother in law decided to retire, and she is staying home, and has stayed home for the past four years now, almost with my youngest. So there's, there's definitely different options out there, and everybody has their own path. But I guess, when people are returning to work, how common is it? I guess, how common is it for women to return to work and put their child in daycare? Is that something that happens every day, or what are people doing? It

Erica Saccoccio 6:57
is pretty common. I will say your experience also was also very common we I found a lot of families did use senior relatives during COVID. I feel like that is less so now, and I think particularly when we talk infant, I want to just kind of dial that down a little. I'm going to say infant under the age of 18 months, but we started to see children come back, I would say maybe around 14 months, 12 to 14 months when they were really starting to become really mobile and kind of like started climbing on things, and it became a little bit hard for a senior person, in some cases, to really give the children like the stimulation and care that they needed. Now I'm not saying every experience is like that, but for the most part, if we're just generalizing, I would say that we did see children start to come back a little bit closer to that age mark as they started to approach toddlers, I think families don't always have the luxury of being able to stay home. So I think, you know, I think if most moms could, they would stay home, or some version of work from home and still be able to be with their child. I feel like that is a true statement in my experience,

Emily Mason 8:12
absolutely and so I'm a teacher by trade, and I always thought my baby's very immobile at the earliest stages, she could just be strapped to me, and I can still teach all day long, instead of going through the anxiety of leaving her every day yeah and yeah, I think that that's definitely something that moms struggle with, is that leaving them and that guilt of leaving them, but also re identifying who you are, going back into the workplace, like taking one hat off and putting another hat back on. Yeah, that can get Yeah.

Erica Saccoccio 8:50
And even for, you know, even for us in the industry, I would say, you know, a good majority of the folks that work in early childhood education started out because they had young children, and it was a great way to earn money while still being with an ear shot of your child. Yeah, I think, you know, I think a lot of folks, that's how they come in, and then they fall in love with it, and they stay, you know. And I think that, you know, it is hard, and you have to find the right fit for you. And every family is different, so you do have to find the program that meets your needs. And we're all looking for different things. You know, parents are not always looking for the same thing, absolutely.

Emily Mason 9:33
So you talked about around 12 to 14 months, you saw like an influx of kiddos coming back into the center. But how young can people put their like? How young can a baby? Be sure,

Erica Saccoccio 9:45
in Rhode Island, it might be slightly different. In other states. Rhode Island, it's about six weeks. But I have to tell you, in my experience, there are far a few between starting that early. I would say typically so. Way around the six month mark is, is pretty common. If you're, if you're, if you are putting a child in, and that's young, I would say probably around that, you know, it depends on the child too. Like, if they're, I don't want to use the word hearty, but if they're, you know, really growing, they're really excelling, you know, they're not sick all the time, all those things. Maybe somebody will put them in at, you know, four and a half, five months, but I'm gonna say six months is probably a really great Gage. Okay,

Emily Mason 10:23
are there any risks, like, I know you talked about a little bit on illness, but are there any other risks of putting them in younger than six months or, Oh,

Erica Saccoccio 10:32
well, I mean yes, but the risk would also be the same if, if you had a child at home. So of course, there's SIDS, right? The risk of your child being scratched or bit by another another baby in the room, especially if the rooms are age mixed, meaning some baby rooms might be infant up to 18 months old, and other schools may separate and do young infant and older infant. So those are things that you want to, you know, want to definitely consider. And same thing, if you're looking at a family child care program a lot of times, those are mixed settings, too. So you may have, you know, older children with, you know, your infant. So those are things that you want to consider. So as you look around, you know, you might want to say, like, How old would the oldest child be in the classroom? I The other thing I want to say, lots of folks will talk about, you know, oh, the kids are always sick in daycare. They're always sick. So will your child be exposed to more people, therefore more germs? Yes, that's true. Centers do their very, very best to try to mitigate that as much as possible with proper hand washing and cleaning toys and sanitation and all of those things. But I will say on the flip side of that that's going to happen either way. It's going to happen if your child goes to school or if they start in daycare. So it just happens a little sooner. Kids who don't go to daycare, will typically get pretty, you know, sick during kindergarten or preschool. Um, so sometimes it happens a little bit sooner. But yeah, of course they, you know, there are risks. I have an eight

Emily Mason 12:12
year old and a three year old. And so when the eight year old brought something home, the three year old gets it. And I was also teaching in an elementary school at that point, and so we were all just sharing germs every week today, and I think that's always a risk, but I looked at it like you did of okay, she's gonna be a little bit more sickly on the front side of this, but once we get to kindergarten, hopefully it's

Erica Saccoccio 12:37
it is absolutely I mean, I know both of my my children were in childcare for most of their life. And I will tell you when they when they got to kindergarten first grade, they were hardly ever sick. I kind of joke around and say I can walk through a plague and not get sick at this point. So, yeah, you know, you know, you just have to do your due diligence too, and you have to find, you know the right again, the right fit for your for your family.

Emily Mason 13:04
You talked a little bit about research and looking at different room styles and different setups. Why would a mom need to start doing that before she has her baby or while she's pregnant? What are the pros and cons of Sure, doing that early,

Erica Saccoccio 13:21
well, you want to get the very best center, and the very best centers typically have pretty long wait lists. My center, for example, we can have a wait list over a year long. So I think that's that's pretty common. And again, depending on where you live in the in the country, there's some places called childcare deserts where they have 10 times more children than daycare spots, now, more than ever. But you want to get the best, the best center and or setting. I'll put it that way. And how do you do that? How do you know, right? So you want to start with folks that you know. Ask them where their children go and what their experiences are. That would be first. Certainly, check reviews would be second. Now most states, I think at this point, it's a federal level. Most states, you can go onto their licensing websites, and you can look up compliance reports to see how many violations the center has, or if they've had any violations. That is public knowledge. And then there are something called quality rating systems in most states, which will tell you what the center has done to not only meet licensing, but exceed requirements and licensing. So there, there are four or five ways that I would absolutely vet before even setting up a tour of a program.

Emily Mason 14:38
Awesome, awesome. All this has just started, I think, opening the book for us to jump in and ask more questions. We're going to take a quick break, and when we come back, we have some more questions and more things to talk about with Erica. You. Eric, welcome back. We are talking with Erica today, and Erica has been sharing some great resources, ideas and really initial thoughts on what it looks like to look at a daycare, figure out childcare, and we've really kind of skimmed the surface so far. So we're going to take a little bit of a deep dive here. And I guess I want to know what you've heard from women who are choosing to not go back to work after taking maternity leave. Why? Why are they not wanting to go back to work. What are their reservations?

Erica Saccoccio 15:42
I don't know if it's necessary. Reservations around childcare specifically, I feel like after COVID, I think the whole world has changed. And I think that we think about our time and what we value differently. I think that people really, I mean, I know if you really can have that time with your child, you want to take that time with your child. So now there are so many work options from home that just makes sense that weren't available 10 years ago. So I think people just have more choices and more options. And I will say, Let's like, let's talk about the elephant in the room for a minute. You know, the news does not always put the best things on there, and I do, as somebody who's been in the field for such a long time, I get so frustrated about that, because there are millions and millions of educators who pour their hearts and souls into these programs, and you always only hear about the ones that are not doing what they're supposed to. And so that really does state that that is the view of our industry. You know, we don't have control over the media, but I just think that is something that puts a lot of reservations in people's minds, and I totally get it again. Like I said, I quit my job. I was like, All right, I'm coming to work with my kid, because I'm not leaving her

Emily Mason 17:01
Right, right? Yeah, as you said, like different working styles. And I think it was again, transition for everybody, thinking about how comfortable we are on Zoom now versus five years ago. It was painful to sit on a zoom five years ago with people, and now, you know, we have this pretty well oiled machine happening when it comes to how we can can have conversations, and that we really realize that work isn't a consistent eight hours like some people can work in four hour spurts and then take a little break and work in another four hour spurt. There's not a one size fits all. So I feel like that's kind of like your some of the pros and cons that you started to address with choosing that childcare setting of what works for the families, what doesn't. If we dive in deeper and just specifically look at daycares, what would be the pros and cons of a daycare what would be things that moms may need to look at more than what you've shared so far?

Erica Saccoccio 18:08
Okay, so there's one thing I do want to say, Emily that's super important for me to acknowledge, is the shift, not only in the way that people work, the shift in the last 10 years of active dads. She keeps saying, moms, active parents. I'll say that, let's, let's use that correctly. Active parents have changed by by leaps and bounds. Okay, at drop, at drop, off and pick up, I see just as many fathers as I do mothers or grandparents, right? So I think that also has changed. I think people are sharing the responsibility of what care looks like for a family, and so I think that that is important. Cons, it's it's expensive. Pros, it's less than a nanny. Cons, you know, when you're doing group care, you're not going to be able to get the same level of individual care for a child as you would a nanny or a family child care provider with, you know, two people and six kids. Cons, they could get sick or scratched or hurt from from another student. The pros of that, I guess, like we spoke earlier, is that they might get a little sicker now, but in the long run, they will be able to have a much stronger immune system naturally. I think, you know, maybe staffing challenges in our industry have been well documented. And we know cons, you know, consistency of care for children is extremely important. We know at, you know, levels. You know, early, early years children are developing quite a bit in very short periods of time. So you know, you do have that unfortunate situation where the teacher who your child is very bonded with, may be going tomorrow. So you know, which would look a little different than if you had. You know, a family member watching a child, right? I would say the pros is definitely children get social interaction, especially if they're an only child. So the negative may they be, they might get hurt. But also, if you've ever walked in an infant room in a childcare center and the kids are all in sync, there's so much babbling and fun and smiles that they that they learn from each other and those social cues. So lots of awesome things do happen as well in childcare centers. That was

Emily Mason 20:27
definitely one of the top things that I felt that we kind of missed out on at the beginning of COVID was the socialization piece. I was really worried about that, as my oldest went to a center, and I was like, I what happens? What? Like, what, what are we gonna do without this? Um, and I think, like you said, they're like, I missed the walking in and hearing the babbles and the the conversating, and that was so fun to see their little language kind of start and figuring out what the social norms and rules are in society. I think that's definitely one of the biggest pros that I see from a parent perspective of having a daycare or center like setting,

Erica Saccoccio 21:21
yeah, another pro I would say, is definitely, I feel like, you know, in a center like ours, we are lucky enough to have staff that are with us for quite a length of time, so that's something we pride ourselves on. But the relationships that families make with the caregivers is a very much a mutual or reciprocal relationship. I can't tell you how many new families are like, Oh my God, my kids teething. Or is this, you know, is this common? Or, you know, they'll come to you for advice and support and guidance. And so it's nice, especially if, like, you've moved we have some families, you know, people move around a lot. There's some families that maybe are far away from their extended family, and we're a support system for them. Or if you have a child who has a developmental delay, we can help with getting you resources to help get your child, you know, services that they need. So I think there are many benefits to having your child in a Quality Center. I think that's the key as a Quality Center,

Emily Mason 22:18
yeah, and, and you the support piece, um, even finding moms or dads that you can also meet. You know you're standing in the pickup line, and you start a conversation, you see that person the next day, and you you continue to have those conversations. I think I felt so lonely as a new parent and just like trying to survive, and then I saw another new parent also trying to survive, and I'm like, Hey, I think we might be in the same boat. Maybe we should be friends or, you know, let's have conversations and and build those those connections. So I think all of those relationships perpetuate because of the center and where, where they're at, and that Quality Center, like you said, of having those people, those supports, there to help you,

Erica Saccoccio 23:05
yeah, I joke around my family is when they tour, and I tell them, you know, we're so community based at our center, I say, be prepared to be invited to more birthday parties than you can ever plan on going to. But that was true, and I think especially in the infant room, those parents do bond, and they move from classroom to classroom together. And the other thing is, if your center is not really great and one of them doesn't like it, they tell their friends and they all leave. So it's, you know, those parents definitely do talk after hours. So you do definitely have a support system. If you find, you know, you find the right center. I think the other thing is, there are so many different types of schools is, you know, there's play base and Montessori and Reggio and this. So I think just really aligning, like, besides the care part, what do you really want the experience to be for your child? And I think that's the bigger question that parents really need to ask. Like, while my child is away from me for six to eight hours, what do I want that experience to be, other than loving and nurturing? Because that's obvious. We all want that for our children. But, you know, like Montessori schools, like, do I want my child to be able to, you know, have different experiences, or do I want play based? Yeah, so I think you really have to, like, explore what kinds of centers there are too. Not just, I need a center with a good rating, but what kinds of schools like? What's their teaching philosophy? Absolutely

Emily Mason 24:27
so when you talk about looking for a center, what would be red flags that you would tell parents, you know, Hey, watch out for when they're looking at their childcare options. Okay,

Erica Saccoccio 24:44
well, I mean, definitely, like I said, check reviews, check the quality weighting systems, check those, those things are aligned, that are public knowledge, because those are going to help you weed things out really, pretty quickly. The other thing is, I. I almost would tell people to do two tours of a program, right? Do your first formal tour where they know you're coming. It's announced tour. They're gonna, you know, they're gonna go through all the, oh, this is the classroom. These are the teachers, all those kinds of things. They normally give you paperwork. I would bring back that paperwork unannounced. I would visit a center more than once. The other thing I always tell families, too is Go with your gut. I feel like families have good instincts. Pay attention when you're when you're touring the rooms again, what's important to other rooms clean? Listen to how the teachers are interacting with the kids. How is how after the staff acknowledge you, do they acknowledge your child? I had a parent who came in on a tour and said, I picked your center because the other school that I went to didn't even acknowledge my kid was in the room. I'm like, oh, you know, I don't know. She's like, you are so welcoming and loving. And I'm like, Well, yeah, that's, you know, that's part of our core values here. But asking the center director, what are your values of your school, and how and how will I see them as a parent? Ask if there's a parent board, like, if you want to be an involved parent, do you offer a parent board? How are parents involved here at the center? How do we have a say? I would ask those questions Absolutely.

Emily Mason 26:12
So many things to start thinking about, and this conversation has really got my wheels turning. But we're not done yet. We're going to take a quick break. Stay with us. There's some more to explore, and we will be right back.

Welcome back to pray. E pals. We have Erica here with us today, and we are about at the end of our interview, and I am just intrigued. I could go down 100 more rabbit holes about this, but as we kind of wrap this up, what words of encouragement, because this seemed for me, anyway, it felt daunting trying to navigate a child care search while pregnant, because, like you mentioned earlier a year wait, I was panicking of like, well, where do I go? I don't have family, I don't know anybody. I want the best for my kid, and there's this year long, late. So what words of encouragement do you have for women navigating that child care search while pregnant to help alleviate some of that stress and anxiety that they may be feeling.

Erica Saccoccio 27:26
It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. What I would say is you have to find the best option that you can have a list. Have a really big list of the things that are you have to have, almost like when you're buying out things. You absolutely have to have things that are negotiable and things that are absolutely not negotiable. And you might have to drive outside of your zip code. You might have to go a little further for a period of time if you have to to find the right center. And that's okay while you're waiting to get on the you know, the very, your very first choice, you know, but try to narrow it down to like choice number one, number two, number three, and get on all three of those wait lists. Now here's the thing, when we say wait lists, okay, don't get so wrapped up in that, because you can have a year wait list. But then once you start calling those folks, some of those folks have already found alternative care, right? Because everybody can wait a year, right? Some folks have found alternative care or have made other accommodations with their work. So you may have 20 people ahead of you, and as they start to call those people, maybe 10 of them have already dropped off the list, or five of them, right? So although it sounds like a long time, because people want to be honest and transparent when we say, you know, it might be take up to a year. It might not take a year. It might take seven months, because people will find other alternatives of care or their work situation changes, find that your very, very best choice, that you can, that you can get in a space, and always keep yourself on the list for your your your best option, which has happened before and then, so then you have a choice. When that space comes available, you have the choice to move the child to your first option, or maybe you have fallen in love with your second option, and you wouldn't even dream of moving your child at that point.

Emily Mason 29:15
Yeah, that makes sense to get on all wait lists. I felt like I had to choose one. And so I was like, Well, which one do I choose the shortest wait list? But that does make so much sense to get on every wait list, and everybody else is probably doing the same thing too, you know, getting on every wait list. So, yeah, I

Erica Saccoccio 29:33
think to ask for ask. There were a couple things I wanted to say, though, ask, ask, if you have to sign a contract that I would say maybe might be a red flag. I don't I my contract is like, more like you pay on Monday, and, you know, whatever. It's more like our policies. But if you have to sign on to a program for a year or six months or like that, to me, is a red flag, like, if I'm not comfortable with my child going to your center or. You no longer meet my needs, you should be able to take your child out without penalty. Yeah. And so I think that that's important. The other thing I think people need to ask about is vacation time. Do you still have to pay if your child's sick, or do you get, you know, a certain number of vacations do you have to pay? Some people charge you some people charge half tuition. Some don't charge you at all. So there are some things you really need to ask. Also, how often do they close? Do they close for snow? Do they close for holidays? Are they open year round? So I There are a lot of things to consider that you really need to ask. Because if you work at the hospital, like I have a lot of families that work in a hospital, those places are not closed on snow days. So I can't just automatically close because it's snowing out. I have to have some general rule or guidance of when it's not safe for us to drive. I don't just close because, because it's a flake of snow, like my families need to work, right? This is a reality, though, but this is, you know, this is a reality that families are facing like and you're still paying child care. So I am very much an advocate for families and children, and I try to do things that that makes sense, and I have good family policies. If you're not comfortable with our service, you can let me know on Friday and and I don't mean to sound fresh, but you you can then move on to wherever you feel is best for your family. I think that's important. I also offer five weeks of vacation where parents don't pay, and people are floored by that, and I'm like, if you want to take your child to Disney, I feel like you should be able to take your child to Disney. And I'm sure that there are plenty of childcare owners that are probably screaming at my podcast right now, but that's how I mean, that's truly how I feel. So I think you know, find, find the right, find the right fit for you, and ask a lot of questions, and just remember it's it's not permanent. If you put your child in a place and you stop have bad feelings about it, move on, move to a different place,

Emily Mason 31:55
absolutely. And this has been so enlightening. And thank you so much for sharing your time and your expertise today, where can our listeners find you listen to your podcast?

Erica Saccoccio 32:07
So I'm on all of the major listening platforms, Apple, Spotify, Buzzsprout, my podcast is called the childcare director's chair podcast, and we normally talk about all things that have to do with running a childcare center efficiently, friendly, welcoming at a high quality level, awesome,

Emily Mason 32:29
awesome and social medias. Are you on any of the social medias? I

Erica Saccoccio 32:33
am on all of them. I have a YouTube channel, same name, childcare director's chair. I am on Instagram at CCD, podcast and Facebook, childcare director's check pretty easy. If you, if you type it up, you'll find I'll probably like the first three pages, because I have a lot of I have a lot of media out there.

Emily Mason 32:54
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing everything with our listeners and for our listeners, please be sure to check out new mommy media.com where we have all of our podcast episodes, plus videos and more.

That wraps up our show for today. Thank you so much for listening. If you love praygi pals as much as we do, we'd love for you to check out the amazing businesses that sponsor our show every week, and don't forget to share this free resource with another new mama who might enjoy it. Looking for more great content, be sure to check out our other podcasts, like newbies, parent savers, the boob group and twin talks by visiting our website, at New mommy media.com don't forget to follow us on Instagram at New Mommy Media for updates, giveaways and more. Thanks for joining us on preggy pals, your pregnancy your way.

Disclaimer 33:59
This has been a New Mommy Media production, the information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. While such information and materials are believed to be accurate. It is not intended to replace or substitute for professional medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating healthcare problem or disease or prescribing any medication. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified healthcare provider you.