Our 7 month-old is really thriving at the Bright Horizons Crystal City and we couldn't be happier. Great teachers who interact, sing and play with our child. We even receive email photos during the day that illustrate what our little one has been up to. As for diversity, some of the teachers / helpers are from other countries and some of the children's parents are from other countries making for a nice mixture in the classroom.

Lastly, when our little one went home sick one day, the teacher called to check and see it everything was alright.

I am not a person who usually posts anything but I feel so passionate about our experience at Bright Horizons Crystal City that I had to comment.

I am considering enrolling my little one there. He is only 5 months old. I am concerned that the staff will not interact with him or play with him the way that my family does. I am worried that they will just leave him crying in a chair somewhere. Can other parents with infants there comment on the facility and their experiences?

Also, it seems like the staff is not very diverse - is this the case? When I was there, all of the teachers I saw were of the same one race.

Another negative about BHCC - it's $1865 a month for infants, which makes it the MOST EXPENSIVE BH in the DC area. I think Covington Kids may be the same price and has a 2:1 ratio, whereas CC is 3:1. Also, they do not offer a sibling discount, which is problematic for the non-wealthy who have more than one kid. For nearly $3800/month you could hire a nanny!

But, all that being said. We have our DS in the Toddler room at BHCC and couldn't be happier. The place is extremely clean, well-run, and cheery. We visited a lot of daycare centers that were drab and rundown. CC is sunny, bright, and definitely a good "vibe" amongst staff.

Unfortunately, if/when we have baby #2, we will need to go elsewhere.

I have my infant daughter at BH Crystal City and we are mostly pleased with the center. She has been there since 5 months and is now 1. The teacher/infant ratio is 1:3 officially, but there are many days when it's less because parents work from home or pick up the kids early, etc.

We also think the management is highly responsive and interested, and the teachers are loving and genuinely care about our daughter. We love the facility - it's new, clean and well kept. Lots of bright sunlight and open air, and the kids go outside a lot when the weather is good. This is in direct contrast to other facilities I visited where the infant rooms were windowless or, in the basement somewhere.

It is a corporate facility and they are very stringent about licensing requirements and sanitation, so the teachers are not allowed to be flexible with certain policies related to breastmilk, feeding, use of blankets/toys/boppies, etc. You have to sign a lot of releases if you want to do anything against the norm. But, i can see why they require that. Everyone washes hands a lot. No shoes allowed in the infant classrooms. Rooms are sterilized/wiped down with bleach every night, along with all toys.

Positives: our daughter is exposed to a lot of signts, sounds, games, adventures she wouldn't get at home, ranging from jello play (messy!), to all kinds of painting and music. She is enjoying this more now as she is getting older.

Negatives: PRICE PRICE PRICE! BHCC is outrageously expensive, and I have heard is THE most expensive Bright Horizons in the entire network. We have also found that sometimes there is so much of a focus on ratios that the kids are "musical chaired" between rooms/teachers during lunch breaks and mornings/evenings for drop off/pick up. There is some amount of teacher turnover, which is also not the best. There are also a lot of strict requirements for the kids as far as nap schedules, etc.

All in all, we are very pleased with our experience. Our daughter has thrived there and has grown a lot socially and developmentally. Of course, she started at 5 months...I think it would be more difficult for a younger baby. The itty bitty babies I've seen there are often left to stare at the window or cry.

12/10/2009 poster: can you please give more details? Do you have a child enrolled there and the director is unresponsive regarding concerns about his/her care? I'm considering the center for my infant and would like to know more details. Thanks.

They are entirely unresponsive. I will be having a VERY frank conversation with the "Director" there and clearing the record about appropriate follow up in the next few days. Perhaps they will figure out what custom serive means after their lesson. Otherwise they'll be looking for a new lease!

Anonymous wrote:my child has gone there for back-up care. I was very happy with the facility, they made my son feel welcome immediately.

The "corporate" feel from my point of view are rules that are focused to help ensure the well being of the children. An example, as soon as a child comes to school they need to wash their hands. From my POV, a great thing to instill in order to help minimize colds. Another example, they requested pictures of my child and all those authorized for pick-up. Where my child is enrolled full time did not have a similar process in place.

I agree with this. I had heard comments about Bright Horizons feeling "corporate" so didn't think I would like the place when I went on a tour, but I was pleasantly surprised. It does have a more uniform look than some centers I have toured, but I actually think it's a postive thing. The classrooms are very neat, clean and to some degree "stylish," as much a daycare center can be. By this I just meant that great care seems to be spent on making it an aesthetically pleasing environment. It's an environment I would be happy to be spending my day in, and although I hadn't thought of this is a criteria in searching for daycare, it does contribute to me feeling comfortable leaving my child there all day because I know that they put a lot of care into all aspects of the center from staff to training to create a nice phyiscal enviroment for the kids.

my child has gone there for back-up care. I was very happy with the facility, they made my son feel welcome immediately.

The "corporate" feel from my point of view are rules that are focused to help ensure the well being of the children. An example, as soon as a child comes to school they need to wash their hands. From my POV, a great thing to instill in order to help minimize colds. Another example, they requested pictures of my child and all those authorized for pick-up. Where my child is enrolled full time did not have a similar process in place.

We just enrolled our son there and are very happy with it. It is expensive, but access to a very clean environment and outdoors are great. We visited many other daycares and couldnt believe the infants/toddlers rolling around on the floor where we were walking with our dirty shoes. It just seemed gross - it sounds trivial, but the fact that the infant/toddler rooms are no shoe (you have to wear booties) was a big deal.

I'm on the waiting list but they tell me it will likely be about 2 years.

My child has been there for awhile and we're very happy with the staff. They definitly do care about the children. We transfered from another daycare (as have many other parents since this location only opened about a year ago) and the other parents I talk to agree that their child is much happier here.

I had the same experience with getting different answers from different people regarding wait list/open slots. When I took the tour, there were things that I liked, but overall I found the Center to be very sterile and definitely corporate. It's also incredibly expensive.

I thought they were very difficult to deal with pre-admissions. I got different answers regarding the waiting list from different people and they seemed very cold and "corporate". I got the distinct impression that they did not care about the child and only cared about money.

NO, I heard they have quite a waiting list? Did someone reccomend then to you?

Has anyone had any experience or heard of any experiences with Bright Horizons in Crystal City?