Depends on the home day care and the center (not all BH are equal). In general I think close to home is better, as is whoever has the lowest ratio, but I have some deal breakers for any kind of daycare.

Hindsight is 20/20. Stay away from corporate daycares- they see your child as just a number and $ dollar sign. What children this age group need most is a nurturing environment. If the home day care provider is loving, nurturing, maintains a safe daycare with age appropriate schedules, and gets them outdoors often, you have a keeper! If she has a few kids, even better to start socialization. In the meantime, look for pre-schools, etc so you will be 2 steps ahead for the next stage. Good luck. Sounds ideal!

I wish I have next door Daycare! that will be wonderful!!!
Please don't even thinking!

I agree about the home daycare but by next year you will probably be thinking of pre-school which your home daycare might not offer. I just want to throw that out there.

I've tried both, and really found the home daycare was a much more comfortable environment for kids. Especially, if you have special requests, the home daycare is much easier to deal with, while the corporate daycare can be impersonal and rigid. The home daycare was more like "a real home" where people cared about the kids e.g., they could see when they needed a snack or a drink, or a nap, etc. and not just follow some preset schedule. Also, the home daycare we used helped with potty-training and did a lot of other helpful things for us, much the way a friend or family member would treat you.

In home daycare

I'm I'm a daycare Center, if there was home daycare next door - I would do it in a second.

I'll be the minority, but I definitely prefer center based care. There is accountability in numbers and there is more structure and more activities in center based care.

Home daycare for sure. Plus, if she owns and runs it herself I think she'd be more vested in it. The employees at some of these bigger corporate centers are low-paid and there is often high turnover.

As someone that just moved my 1 year old dd from a center to home daycare after just 1 month. No question to go with home daycare

That's a no brainer for me--next door. Just keep everything business-like: pay on time, follow a signed contract for days off, pick up on time, etc. Do not ever assume that you can bend any rules because you're neighbors. If ever there's a slight dispute, err in her favor. You also have a neighbor relationship to maintain.

I have my daycare next door (in home - my son is 8 months old). I have to tell you, besides the fact that the provider is a wonderful, loving person who really puts my kid first, it is AWESOME just trotting him next door and adding nothing to our commutes. Highly recommend the next door option.

I did both for 2 kids-I really liked the smaller home care-especially if you know the person and are comfortable with them.
The larger centers seem more like a factory with different people in charge throughout the day, the kids seem way less attached to the caregiver
I put my kids in the larger centers once they hit 4 so they could be exposed to more kids, different teachers, etc to ease the transition to kindergarten

by the way my son is 2

will be starting a new job in a few weeks, trying to decide between my next door neighbors cute home day care for my two year old or a corporate day care like bright horizons
any opinions? thanks