Does DC commute to daycare?

[Anonymous]

We're considering a move from a daycare near our house to a much better daycare near our work which is about a 45 minute commute from home. If your child commutes with you (30 minutes or more), can you please tell me how the experience has been? One of my concerns is that DD will nap on the way home each evening and as a result go to bed later (which is a concern b/c as it is she goes to bed at 9pm and I really need at least an hour of adult time each night to keep my sanity!). My other concern is that on my infrequent days off, I'd still have to come downtown to drop her off at daycare (or of course just keep her home with me, but it's easier to work on the closets on my day off if she's at daycare...). Overall, assuming the commute isn't too hard on her, we're willing to make some time sacrifices to get her into this better daycare situation. Being close by to her during the day is nice, too. As it is, if she gets sick or hurt, it would take me close to an hour to go get her. Any opinions one way or the other? Anyone out there who did the commute and switched to something closer to home?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Some of it depends on your daughter's age and temperment. I did a horrible commute when DC was an infant and it was fine. He did sleep, but he was sleeping often, so it didn't really matter. Now that he's 2.5, such a long commute would be a nightmare. He's restless in the car, and wants to get out and play and be active.

I would weigh those things against the quality of the day care. If the day care near your job is significantly better, to me it seems logical to deal with the commute. The majority of her time is at day care, so that should be the top priority. In addition, if her day care is near your job, you are shortening the time spent at day care and increasing the time the two of you spend together. It's not ideal, being in a car, but it's still time together. You could sing, point out cars and different types of trucks, people walking by, talk about the clouds and sun and rain, whatever is appropriate for her age.

[Anonymous]

We recently moved. We used to live about 15 minutes form my husband's work and son's daycare. Now it is a 45 minute drive. We loved our daycare, so we decided to see if we could still make it work. So far, it has worked for us, and we've been doing it for about a year. My husband typically does drop-off and I typically do pick up. We stagger our schedules so he is usually at DC from 10-4.

Bad mommy confession: One thing we did purchase when we moved was a DVD player for the car. We let him watch cartoons in the morning on his way in. It definitely helps pass the time for him. (I'm bracing myself for DCUM judgement...)

He's been fine on the ride home. It did take a few weeks for him to adjust, but I made some CD's with music he likes, and we talk (as much as you can with a 3 year old.) We keep toys in the car for him to play with. He does fall asleep in the car sometimes (maybe once every 2-3 months or so) but it doesn't seem to affect his sleeping. I just figure those are the days he's played really hard at DC.

It also has been our experience that we don't take him to daycare if one of us will be home. You have to be really committed to cleaning those closets in order to brave traffic both ways. In some ways though, that's probably a good thing.

In the next few months, we will start looking for something closer to home, but that's mainly in preparation for him starting school.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Anonymous]

I commute with my son to daycare. It's about 30 - 60 minutes depending on the day !!! I'm over DC traffic, but that's a different topic. We started this when he was 15 months and I was warned by a few people that he'd nap on the way home and it hasn't happened once. He falls asleep in the car a lot, so I'm still surprised this hasn't happened. He has fallen asleep in the morning a few times, but that's it. We have a few kid song CDs that he likes, he has a sippy cup with milk and snack on the way home. Just be prepared with food and milk and it should be fine! I am considering the DVD thing as he gets older, but for now he's happy looking out the window and seeing Beep Beep every time some aggressive driver honks at me.

[Anonymous]

I am considering the DVD thing as he gets older, but for now he's happy looking out the window and seeing Beep Beep every time some aggressive driver honks at me.

LOL!

[Anonymous]

We commute, but it's less than 30 minutes -- I just wanted to comment about the OP's concern about his/her child falling asleep on the way home... Mine does periodically but it has never affected her sleeping through the night, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

[Anonymous]

DD is about 6 months and we've been commuting to DH's daycare since she was 4 months. So far not too bad and we commute by buses so we have to collapse the stroller and carry the infant carseat. She feeds and naps in the morning and evening and it really hasn't cut into her sleeping at night. We like the daycare so far. They have open visiting hours which DH uses to full advantage seeing DD during his lunch hour and I go whenever I can get off work early/or take an extra long lunch break because I work across town.

[Anonymous]

Do any of you do it by Metro rail? I'm in the process of setting up daycare downtown. We live on the red line and will do at least one way on the train. How is that working?

[Anonymous]

How's the red line working for you? Been on it lately? It's a nightmare, esp. during rush hour. And if the elevator goes out on either end of your commute, can you handle the escalator with whatever you are bringing that day? It's harder than you might imagine, esp. if still in infant car seat and you have a lot of gear to drag along to daycare (day's worth of milk in addition to the usual supplies).

[Anonymous]

PP who takes primarily buses. Not sure about Metro. They seem to have gotten worse since the Red Line disaster. It seems like everytime I take it (on the weekends or if late at work) they are either doing service maintenance or broken. I have rarely seen it run at a decent time and I take the Blue/Yellow lines.

Have you thought about having DC in a carrier? It might make it easier to navigate Metro with Red line being so crowded. DD didn't take to either the Moby or the Ergo, but we'll try again when she outgrows her infant carseat.

[Anonymous]

OP here. If I had to do it by rail and DC was small enough, I'd definitely try the Ergo carrier. I guess it might be harder to sit down on the train, but the Ergo is fantastic and would free your hands up for other stuff. Ergo also makes a backpage (that you can wear on your front if the baby is on your back) compatible with the carrier. That said, commuting by train or bus would be difficult if you also carry a breastpump and DC's food/milk for the day.

[Anonymous]

Sorry - BACKPACK

[Anonymous]

not trying to hijack, but can the posters who commute by car in the morning give some ideas on good, healthy breakfast food the kids can eat in the car on the way to daycare? thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:not trying to hijack, but can the posters who commute by car in the morning give some ideas on good, healthy breakfast food the kids can eat in the car on the way to daycare? thanks!

10:22 here. We try to do breakfast at home most days, but if we do breakfast in the car we just give him a baggie of cereal and cut-up fruit.

[Anonymous]

Like the PP, we normally feed breakfast at home but on the days when I've been running late and haven't been able to let DC finish breakfast I've resorted to whole wheat bagels with cream cheese, slices of cheese, or other similar things that our DC can hold but won't pose a huge choking hazard (I always try to give her fresh fruit first thing at home and leave stuff that's more easily handled for the car ride if necessary). My DC is about 16 months old and, unfortunately, a baggie of food wouldn't work w/her b/c she'd just toss it early in the drive. For whatever reason, though, she maintains a death grip on a bagel, cheese, etc. I've also given her Earth's Best snack bars, but only when desperate b/c I worry about her getting too much sugar and the fruit filling is IMPOSSIBLE to clean off her carseat...