Why did you choose a center over an in home daycare?

[Anonymous]

Seems like the in-home will work for you.

You cannot base daycare solely in the shoulders if one parent if the other parent will not be able to pick up any of the slack. It seems like it would be nearly impossible for you to get downtown if your husband is traveling, sick, meetings, etc.

[Anonymous]

I was very pro home daycare until I discovered an online forum for home daycare providers and realized how many trash working mothers, try to find ways to skirt regulations and lie to parents, and have completely chaotic personal lives that invariably affect the home environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was very pro home daycare until I discovered an online forum for home daycare providers and realized how many trash working mothers, try to find ways to skirt regulations and lie to parents, and have completely chaotic personal lives that invariably affect the home environment.

Jeez. Link??

[Anonymous]

I prefer centers. But i think the most important criteria is your gut feeling about the caregivers. I would go with lovingg caregivers in an in-home daycare over a center with teachers who dont want to be there. Second factor for me would be commute. Yours sounds difficult and you may find doesnt work for your family.

[Anonymous]

Not PP, but this is the link to the (a?) home daycare provider forum. It is appalling.

http://www.daycare.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2

[Anonymous]

It totally depends on the center and home daycare. There are home daycares that are above anything you could ever get in a center. Individualized care but still with older kids around for infants to watch, huge backyard to play in, organic food, someone to hold your child all the time, and separate sleeping areas are some of the reasons I'm drawn to in home care. There are centers that are superior to most home daycares with lots of accountability, attention, cleanliness, great indoor and outdoor facilities and have the ability for your child to stay there a long time and have friends their age all the time. If you're having several children it really helps to have them at the same place. It also helps to have children close to home to meet friends nearby. $850 is a lot of money. I'd just want to make sure it was worth that much and doable for both parents. Just from the sound of it, I think one of you will probably want to switch jobs at some point to be a little closer to home. It's very hard having children and both parents having a long commute. By age 3 - 3 1/2 your child may have outgrown the home daycare or even the center. It's also rare that a center is good at infant care all the way up to kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

22:09 That link is for centers and family home daycares. I'm sure there's a forum just as bad about nannies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22:09 That link is for centers and family home daycares. I'm sure there's a forum just as bad about nannies.

It is, but if you read the forum it's almost entirely home daycare providers. And I'm sure there are crappy nannies and centers too, but since PP brought up the existence of a forum I thought I'd link it.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for the input. This has been quite helpful.

I really have a good gut feeling about the in home center. The woman that runs it has two helpers, neither are related to her. They are warm and loving but still seem professional. I did talk to previous parents about illness and closings etc. They did not have issues. But, who knows, anything could happen in the future.

At the big center, the leader is really dynamic, but I didn't get the same sense of love for their job from the teachers. They seem to be fond of the babies, but it is also just so much busier

My gut is telling me go with the in home center until DD is 2.5-3, and then go to a center, nursery school, private until kindergarten.... (we will be doing our local public for k).

I am super leery of DH handling all pick up/drop off, and logistically, dealing with things like doctors appointments and such, I do the bulk of that now, and I certainly don't want to drive from SS to downtown and then out to Columbia...

[Anonymous]

22:19 summed it up very well, OP. If you feel good about the in-home center, give it a try. You can always look for alternatives if you feel it isn't working out.

[Anonymous]

Location, price, personal attention, shared responsibility, personal reviews....I would say the in-home is by far your better choice.

[Anonymous]

We went with an in-home because the small, tailored care that our provider can offer when watching just 3 kids just can't be beat elsewhere. It's like a nannyshare but 1/3 of the cost.

Having been there for two years now, I couldn't be happier. We're now touring preschools and having a really hard time finding a place that can pick up where my DD is right now in terms of letter recognition, counting, etc. Our provider has a child development degree from her home country, which I didn't think about much when choosing her, but it's clear she really knows what she's doing. My kid is learning so much there and we just aren't finding a preschool that offers the same level of education - kind of shocking actually.

With centers, I feel like there are fewer unknowns - you can watch everything on camera - but the overall level of care that can be provided is simply less because of the numbers. If you're risk adverse, you'll probably feel better going with a center. If you find some one you absolutely trust, then an in-home can be really wonderful.

[Anonymous]

There are great childcare centers, there are horrible ones. There are great family childcare providers, there are horrible ones.

Sounds like you have done your due diligence by speaking with other parents whose children have been with the family childcare provider, and that there are assistants there who can care for the kids if she is ill. Go for it! But stay on that center's waitlist for preschool age and because you never know what 2 years will bring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much for the input. This has been quite helpful.

I really have a good gut feeling about the in home center. The woman that runs it has two helpers, neither are related to her. They are warm and loving but still seem professional. I did talk to previous parents about illness and closings etc. They did not have issues. But, who knows, anything could happen in the future.

At the big center, the leader is really dynamic, but I didn't get the same sense of love for their job from the teachers. They seem to be fond of the babies, but it is also just so much busier

My gut is telling me go with the in home center until DD is 2.5-3, and then go to a center, nursery school, private until kindergarten.... (we will be doing our local public for k).

I am super leery of DH handling all pick up/drop off, and logistically, dealing with things like doctors appointments and such, I do the bulk of that now, and I certainly don't want to drive from SS to downtown and then out to Columbia...

That sounds like a great plan. I am actually the director of a center, but chose in-home care for my child. I have never regretted my choice and plan to leave her there until kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

In your situation, I'd go with the in-home. Being close to home so you and DH can share pick up/drop off is a big plus, IMO. We went with a center because we found one convenient for us that we really liked, and because no in-home places near us had a spot. We like the accountability of the center, and the fact that there are many eyes on the kids. But if I'd found a convenient in-home place I felt confident about, I might have gone the other way.