Daycare: closer to work or home, and why?

[Anonymous]

Debating between a daycare closer to our home or one closer to work. Around 30 minutes between work/home.

Is it better to have it closer to WORK, so you can get the kid quicker if something happens? Or closer to HOME, for whatever reason? I keep thinking the plus would be having my commute to myself. But I’m sure there are downsides?

[Anonymous]

Home! There may be days you telework or put your child in care but you have an appointment. And it sucks to have a kid in the car for longer.

[Anonymous]

Close to home so that you can easily take kid to daycare if you're home sick or take a day off.

[Anonymous]

Also because you may change jobs.

[Anonymous]

DS' was about 10 min from house and 20 min from DH's work. It worked out well because either one of us could pick him up or drop him off without going that far out of our way. And there were times we utilized daycare even when we were home.

[Anonymous]

Any chance you would spend your lunch with them?

Are they old enough that car time can be spent talking?

[Anonymous]

Home! Especially with the increase in telework it is almost never in favor of close to the office anymore. I don’t have one friend with young kids that does it. Prepandemic yes but even going into the office every day it still usually was better close to home.

Lots of reasons: way more flexible, if you have a day off because you have a drs appointment you don’t want to drive your child into your office and back.

If it’s close to one parents office it’s usually not as convenient to the other - you really want both parents to be able to easily do pick up and drop off even if one will be primary more.

If you telework than definitely no brainer

You could end up with an infant that hates the car. Most are fine but one of my kids hated it for months, I’ve had friends whose kids hated it for over a year. Truly hell on earth when your baby is screaming in the car so not worth the risk you could have 30 min of that at the start and end of your day. Horrible for both of you.

I could go on, but just get daycare close to home

[Anonymous]

Home- for all the reasons stated above.

[Anonymous]

Lots of reasons to have daycare closer to home, as other posters have noted. The main reasons that I could think of for doing daycare at work would be if it’s onsite, so you could pop over to breastfeed or visit during lunch. Or if your work hours are such that you’re going to be cutting it close to make it to daycare for pickup before the center closes. But otherwise, I’d have daycare close to home, especially if you or your spouse do any telework days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Home! There may be days you telework or put your child in care but you have an appointment. And it sucks to have a kid in the car for longer.

This. And my kid went thru phases where they hated car rides, especially the dark during daylight savings. An hour of car each day can be a lot.

Other consideration is hours - getting to daycare before it closes - but mine has longer hours than my workday.

[Anonymous]

Home.

In addition to what was stated above:

Extra time in the car is an extra chance of an accident.

Time in a car is not stimulating for a child. They’re better off playing at daycare for those extra minutes.

Even if you don’t expect to switch jobs… you might. DH wanted to stay at his job for many years but his manager became intolerable and he quit when our kid was 2.

Your office could close and relocate. It’s happened 4 times in my career.

I’m a Fed and would never put my kids in a daycare in a federal building. The nut jobs have only gotten more hostile to the federal government since Oklahoma City.

[Anonymous]

Home.

Easier to share pick-up / drop-off duties, assuming the two parents don't work really close to each other. Even if you assume one person will be the primary transportation, what happens if you need to work late some night? Travel for a day or two? Spend the morning at a doctor's appointment that you don't want to take the kid to? Get sick and spend the morning puking? The spouse will need to step in at some point.

Also better for building a network of family friends near your home. "Daycare parents" were a big source of playdates and birthday parties early on. It sucks if they are all 30 minutes away and you don't get to know anyone in your own neighborhood.

And lastly, there will come a phase where the kid screams his head off every time he has to get in a car. Or gets carsick. Or starts potty training and has to find a bathroom every ten minutes. Trust me, a long commute with a screaming, puking, or peeing kid is no fun for anyone.

[Anonymous]

Home - unless there is on-site daycare at your work and it is subsidized.

When the kid is close to one parent’s work, that parent has to do both drop off and pick-up. Infant spots are hard to get in the DMV and it ties you to your job. There will be days you want to work from home, you are sick by the toddler is not, and many other reasons you don’t need the hassle of 2 - 1 hour round trip commutes just to drop off the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Home - unless there is on-site daycare at your work and it is subsidized.

When the kid is close to one parent’s work, that parent has to do both drop off and pick-up. Infant spots are hard to get in the DMV and it ties you to your job. There will be days you want to work from home, you are sick by the toddler is not, and many other reasons you don’t need the hassle of 2 - 1 hour round trip commutes just to drop off the kid.

Also home because under age 2, in 30 min your kid will fall asleep on the way home everyday and then their schedule will be all messed up. Also there is a chance you have a kid who hates the car / car seat and screams for 30 min every day after a long day at work.

[Anonymous]

Home. I changed 3 jobs in the 5 years my kid was in daycare and it was one less thing to worry about .