Perspectives on nanny vs. center for part-time infant care

[Anonymous]

I am looking for childcare for my infant son for when I go back to work part-time, and am debating the merits of hiring a nanny/babysitter a few days a week vs. finding a good day care center. I'd love to hear some opinions on the pros and cons of each, especially from parents who have experience with both options.

If anyone has a specific recommendation in the North Potomac area, it would be much appreciated as well! We live very close to the North Potomac Children's Center, and I've looked for but not found any useful independent information or reviews of it. Robin's Nest Child Care is another center I've heard of that's not far away.

Thanks for any insights you can offer.

[Janicep]

Our child is at home 3 days a week with our nanny and at daycare 2 days a week. It is the best of both worlds as they get to be around other kids and learn new things, and they get one on one attention. Also, this scenario give you more options and "back ups". If it is something you can manage and your child is at an age (our child is 13 months) where it would be beneficial, I definitely recommend doing both. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I am also returning to work part-time and am looking for childcare for my son in the same area that you are. I'm debating the same issue- nanny vs. center and am trying to find daycare centers that will take an infant part-time. If you find anything out about Robin's Nest, or find another center that will do part-time, would you mind emailing me at [e-mail]? I'm sorry I don't have any good information for you!

[Anonymous]

I work two days a week and our son is with a nanny. He was in daycare for a few months, but I prefer that he have one-on-one interaction with his caregiver, plus like that he's not constantly being exposed to sickness. It's a tough call, but ultimately comes down to what you feel most comfortable with. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

We had been on a wait list for day care for nearly a year, had our then 4.5 month old in there for all of six weeks and he contracted RSV. After 3 days of hospitalized, three ER visits and the pediatrician's prediction that he would not recover for 6-8 weeks, we realized that daycare was not worth the time lost at work, heartached about our baby and stress of knowing he could get that sick again. We've hired a nanny at tremendous expense (nearly three times the cost of daycare) but feel that you cannot put a price on good health in a baby's first year of life. Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

We had a hard time with both... we were on 3 different wait lists for centers and didn't get into any of them in time. When we started searching for nannies, it was nearly impossible to find one with a valid work permit (student visa's don't mean work permits!) We ended up finding a great in-home day care in our neighborhood that was the best of both worlds - only 4 children but certified by it county. Most counties offer a list of certified in home day cares that you could check out. It took looking and comparing 7-9 in home facilities before we were comfortable with the one we selectd. It ended up being cleaner and more professional then some of the centers we were waitlisted.

[Anonymous]

I also chose in-home day care for my 6 month old. The provider has 2 other children she cares for, so it's not one-on-one like a nanny but she still gets enough individual attention. I work 3 days and week and couldn't justify paying the full-time price at daycare. It was a time-consuming search since I had not decided on which situation would work best for us. I ended up interviewing and visiting 14 nannies/providers/daycare centers before deciding.

[Anonymous]

We looked at Robin's Nest a few years ago and were not comfortable with the setup for an infant. There are two rooms but the children were primarily kept in one large area with makeshift dividers for the babies. The staffing ratio approach did not make sense to us. The director explained that since she was licensed as a center and family daycare she had more flexibility. Her relatives would also fill in. The result, from our view, was far less supervision for way too many kids. It didn't seem that clean and I'm not a neat freak though I do understand that kids make messes. I would suggest spending an afternoon there. The log tracking for daily activities was not as good as other centers. Ask lots of questions about the staffing. The director was very energetic and if there weren't a zillion kids there it could be a good family daycare.