Reply to "Education Center" versus Daycare for an Infant

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Reply to ""Education Center" versus Daycare for an Infant - Your thoughts?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm due in June and will need child care in September for a 12 week old infant.  I still haven't decided if I want to go the daycare route or nanny share route but I know I need to make a decision very quickly.  If I go the day care route, I've looked at numerous day cares in my area (Columbia Heights, Petworth, 16th St Heights) based on many of the reviews and feedback on DCUM and the day care spreadsheet that is posted and I've narrowed it down (I think) to two very different options.  While I've pointed out 2 specific places, I'm assuming the pros and cons will be similar for these types of day cares in the area.
[b]
1. Licensed Home Daycare (Little Praudde, CoHi)[/b]
A few pros/differentiators:
- 3 blocks from home (I work from my home office); I can easily walk there  [i]This is a huge pro[/i]
- Good reviews/feedback
- Kids all play together
- Looks like they are having a lot of fun and the care givers seem nice and involved with the kids
- Decently priced - ~$400/week - $1733/month

A few cons:
- No formal learning curriculum; seems more play-based
- Day care takes everyone, including the infants, outside the daycare and to the park many blocks away (this makes me a little nervous being a FTM) [i]Don't worry about them walking the kids to the park.  My girl LOVES going on walks with the group now.  They can handle a group of kids in public, I promise.[/i]
- No English spoken at all it seems (I'm not sure if this is good or bad). I will be doing my best to teach my child at home, of course, but will it be detrimental if they cannot help teach my child to read, learn colors, shapes, days, months, etc in English?  [i]Is there NO English at the in-home?  It's a must-have IMO to be able to communicate with the lead teacher/owner.  My girl hears only Spanish during the day though, and I see that as a positive thing.  If YOU can't communicate with them, that would be a deal breaker to me.[/i]
- BYO food (when they are older) and diapers - only a con compared to the other ($$$) place below  [i]My daycare supposedly provides meals, but my girl is picky so I have to pack lunch anyways.  Better than her not eating, but not the plus that I thought there would be.[/i]

[b]2. Larger Education Center Day Care (Bright Start Child Care, Petworth)[/b]
A few pros:
- Very nice, new, clean center
- Child can continue there through preschool  [i]This is a huge plus[/i]
- Separate infant room with both English and Spanish speakers
- An actual "curriculum" for infants - (i.e. It's Blue Week - they have the babies touch, taste, see, etc blue items)
- They provide healthy snacks and diapers  [i]Packing a lunch is a PITA, but again, my daycare supposedly provides meals, but I pack a lunch anyways.[/i]
- Kids stay on site for play time on their own playground  [i]See, I see this as a con.  I would prefer for them to get out and see new things, instead of the same playground every day.[/i]
- A webcam in the room for parents to check in and see the infants  [i]A webcam and daily log are really nice.  Does the in-home not provide daily reports at all?[/i]
- An app where they enter EVERYTHING your kids does throughout the day and you get emails/alerts
- Have things like parent/teacher conferences  [i]I check in every day at pickup.  Not sure what else we'd talk about in a formal conference, but maybe that's more relevant for older kids?[/i]

A few cons:
- Driving a mile versus walking a few blocks
- About $450 MORE per month - when you add in all the fees, etc - so around $2200/month  [i]That's a huge difference in price.  That may be the deciding factor for me, if that much money makes a difference to your budget.[/i]

So, as you can see, I'm impressed by what the Larger Education Center Day Care offers but, being a FTM, I'm not sure which of these "pros" are really that important.  And, the biggest question is, is it really worth $450 PER MONTH MORE??

Any thoughts or experience with these different types of day cares?
[/quote]

I have a 15 month old in an in-home.  I love it and am so glad we ended up doing an in-home instead of a big center.  She gets lots of love and individual attention, the policies are SUPER flexible and accommodating, and I've developed friendships with the other moms.  That said, I worry that she'll need to switch before starting DC PK3 at 3.5 years.  It's going to be a judgment call in about a year, but I'm not sure if the owner will start to provide more structure as the older group of babies/toddlers gets older.  Though they already do the "theme of the week" which you mentioned your center does.

Based on your pros and cons, I'd do the in-home then evaluate at 2-3, like I plan on doing.  The short walk and cost savings is huge, and finding a preschool spot is much easier than finding an infant spot.  A good, loving in-home is the best of both worlds (nanny and daycare), so if you feel confident you've found a good one, then I'd do that.[/quote]

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