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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We had 2 kids in Bright Horizons at the same time (ouch!) and had a positive experience.  I think you get what you pay for in terms of a daycare setting that is accredited (our location, at least), reliably open/available, and a positive and safe environment.  Back when there were less options for workplace flexibilities, being open to coincide with the federal holidays (and the general workday) was very important.  If someone called out sick, it wasn't up to me to figure out what to do, the center had to adjust and handle to provide the service I was paying for.  Personally, I wasn't up for managing a nanny or au pair, and found the daycare setting to be what worked best.

I feel your sticker shock - we had the same!  [/quote]

Many of these brand name centers are high quality, but much of the extra money you pay goes towards enriching their investors. Of it is the best choice for your family go for it but I would not specifically seek out a Bright Horizons or the like. Look up the daycares convenient to you, look up their licensing inspection history, tour, ask about when they close and how much turnover they have, and make a decision from there. We thought for sure we'd send our child to a Goddard School when she got older but fell in love with our much less expensive locally owned center.

https://earlylearningnation.com/2023/03/private-equitys-growth-in-child-care-chains-imperils-access-for-many-families-research-finds/[/quote]

+1 it is in part, expensive because it is a chain that is run for profit. I'm also in Arlington and I would say no, those are not typical prices. Bright Horizons is always far and away the most expensive as others have said. FWIW I put my oldest in a center (not Bright Horizons so I can't speak to that) as an infant and pretty quickly pulled him and went with a home daycare which was a better fit for our family. So like others have said different things work for different people. We really loved the home daycare setting for the infant/early toddler time period with a transition to a more preschool center based setting around age 2 - 2.5. What I liked about home daycares - smaller setting, less kids (both the home daycares we used over the years had 5-7 kids at a time), consistency of caregivers which is really important in those early years, and a huge one I didn't realize before having a baby: SEPARATE NAP SPACES. A dark, quiet room for napping makes all the difference for infant sleep habits. Most centers babies are all in one room on different nap schedules which was hard for my oldest.

Just like anything not all home daycares are created equal, but there are some really great ones out there. My 3 year old just asked last night to call M his home daycare caregiver - we called her up and they chatted for a few minutes, she sang him a song. He left her place six months ago and we still visit and every little bit he'll ask to call like he did last night. She's our neighbor so it is easy and fun to keep in touch.

If you're interested in home daycares if you have access to MONA it is a great place to find openings and get reviews from folks.[/quote]

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