Talk to me about in-home daycare

[Anonymous]

I never thought I’d consider it, but now I am as my options are limited and my DD is only 2 (i.e., she doesn’t need to traditionally learn but be disciplined to work and play among other kids and be nurtured). Likes/dislikes?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I loved in-home care. No managing an employee like a nanny, more socialization than a nanny, less corporate than a center.

Most kids start to leave around 2.5/3 for preschool, so be prepared to look for a place with older kids and to know this might no t be your plan all the way until K.

[Anonymous]

I was in the never considered it camp bc honestly I had some unfair stereotypes about them. But after touring one that truly felt like family were taking care of the kids and seeing how clean and organized it was, I definitely changed my mind and are so happy our kid is there. She is 2. I agree it a nice medium between a big center and a nanny and ours is very close by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in the never considered it camp bc honestly I had some unfair stereotypes about them. But after touring one that truly felt like family were taking care of the kids and seeing how clean and organized it was, I definitely changed my mind and are so happy our kid is there. She is 2. I agree it a nice medium between a big center and a nanny and ours is very close by.

And I’ll add that during the pandemic it has been nice to only have 6-8 kids bc there’s less exposure.

[Anonymous]

We love our in home daycare- it was well reviewed and all the parents are highly educated with good incomes (so it’s not like it’s not high quality). I like that my daughter does not have teacher turn over- she has the same people caring for her since birth. The in home daycare provider is phenomenal and you can tell she cares. we also have only 12 families in our daycare so we know all the parents and get together frequently. We probably will leave only because I’m in medicine and we need more coverage for holidays- the downside is that home daycare usually take two or so weeks off a year (which they deserve) and all the holidays, which is not sustainable for us.

[Anonymous]

Oh and we also love seeing our daughter interact with the older kids. The 5 year olds come and hug her at pick up and we feel that she tries to keep with the older kids, which has helped with her development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in the never considered it camp bc honestly I had some unfair stereotypes about them. But after touring one that truly felt like family were taking care of the kids and seeing how clean and organized it was, I definitely changed my mind and are so happy our kid is there. She is 2. I agree it a nice medium between a big center and a nanny and ours is very close by.

Thank you, I did as well but now am seeing the pros of it and now think the home-like atmosphere is more beneficial for my two year old then 7 other 2 year olds running amuck in a center.

How do they handle it when the caregiver is sick? And do they close easily due to weather?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in the never considered it camp bc honestly I had some unfair stereotypes about them. But after touring one that truly felt like family were taking care of the kids and seeing how clean and organized it was, I definitely changed my mind and are so happy our kid is there. She is 2. I agree it a nice medium between a big center and a nanny and ours is very close by.

Thank you, I did as well but now am seeing the pros of it and now think the home-like atmosphere is more beneficial for my two year old then 7 other 2 year olds running amuck in a center.

How do they handle it when the caregiver is sick? And do they close easily due to weather?

Caregivers haven’t been sick yet, and they have closed once because the power was out in the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We love our in home daycare- it was well reviewed and all the parents are highly educated with good incomes (so it’s not like it’s not high quality). I like that my daughter does not have teacher turn over- she has the same people caring for her since birth. The in home daycare provider is phenomenal and you can tell she cares. we also have only 12 families in our daycare so we know all the parents and get together frequently. We probably will leave only because I’m in medicine and we need more coverage for holidays- the downside is that home daycare usually take two or so weeks off a year (which they deserve) and all the holidays, which is not sustainable for us. [/quote

🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and we also love seeing our daughter interact with the older kids. The 5 year olds come and hug her at pick up and we feel that she tries to keep with the older kids, which has helped with her development.

Agree on the interaction with different ages. My kid is an only and I really like how he gets exposed to different ages. It’s really sweet to see the older kids with the younger ones.

[Anonymous]

In-home is best for 0-3, then most kids move on to preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In-home is best for 0-3, then most kids move on to preschool.

At ours everyone leaves at 3-4 so that’s the oldest there is. My kids actually left for a half day preschool (which seems odd but I work early in the day since my team is in Europe).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in the never considered it camp bc honestly I had some unfair stereotypes about them. But after touring one that truly felt like family were taking care of the kids and seeing how clean and organized it was, I definitely changed my mind and are so happy our kid is there. She is 2. I agree it a nice medium between a big center and a nanny and ours is very close by.

Thank you, I did as well but now am seeing the pros of it and now think the home-like atmosphere is more beneficial for my two year old then 7 other 2 year olds running amuck in a center.

How do they handle it when the caregiver is sick? And do they close easily due to weather?

Many have two caregivers and if one is sick or has to leave for an emergency they maintain ratios by calling in a sub but they always have one regular caretaker to supervise the sub. Our contract has the name of the sub in there (sub is a relative and we have met the sub). We are notified if the sub is there. All subs need to be background checked.

[Anonymous]

The problem with in home daycares is that they are not well regulated and you never know what they are doing. My ex-wife worked at an in-home daycare that was one of the very sought after ones - they plopped the kids in front of the TV for hours at a time and had untrained employees coming and going. Google is your friend, but you will find that they can be quite dangerous. In fact, DMV is particularly poor for policing these daycares: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/death-of-baby-at-virginia-in-home-day-care-not-as-isolated-as-it-seems/2012/03/12/gIQAXbma8R_blog.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with in home daycares is that they are not well regulated and you never know what they are doing. My ex-wife worked at an in-home daycare that was one of the very sought after ones - they plopped the kids in front of the TV for hours at a time and had untrained employees coming and going. Google is your friend, but you will find that they can be quite dangerous. In fact, DMV is particularly poor for policing these daycares: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/death-of-baby-at-virginia-in-home-day-care-not-as-isolated-as-it-seems/2012/03/12/gIQAXbma8R_blog.html

I'm not worried about this for mine as I run by it every day. No untrained employees, they don't have baby "containers" or put kids in front of the TV.

I also know exactly what happens every day in excruciating detail because my kid is a very verbal one as is my close friend's child.