For some parents choosing not to vaccinate their children is a deeply held personal belief. Many states do not allow children that have not been vaccinated to enroll in approved child care programs and you may not be eligible for federal government rebates unless your child has an up-to-date vaccination record.
Here are some options for alternate child care.
Informal care
If you are not requiring regular care, often one of the easiest options is to use friends or family to provide incidental care. You can often find groups who will have other parents who occasionally need child care and are willing to 'swap' some child care with you. This can be a good option to get you through irregular issues such as doctors appointments, job interviews or bouts of sickness where you can't care for your child.
Individual care
If you need more regular care, you can look at getting care through a nanny or au pair. These people will only be caring for your child and are not subject to the same restrictions as there is no government connection. They can also offer a personalised service in your own home and the care can be tailored to your child's interests and preferences. This can be a much more gentle approach to child care and can be useful if your child would be more comfortable in their familiar environment.
Child care co-operative
Child care co-operatives are a more formalised version of child care swaps, where different parents take turns in running days of child care for a group. You may be able to find a group of like-minded parents who don't want to get their children vaccinated on a similar schedule and either join an existing child care co-operative or start your own. These co-operatives are often very low cost although still require some funds to cover insurance or fees associated with room hire at a local community centre (some co-operatives are run in the member's houses while others are run in local low-cost facilities). You can often learn more about setting up a child care co-operative through many online blogs and resources such as Frugal Mama. Many co-operative members will also be eager to chat as there is no competition between co-operative for funds (as you are all volunteers).
As you can see there is a range of options for parents of non-vaccinated children to get child care to suit the needs of their family.
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