My DD's pre-K teachers are older (late 40s) and the lead one even has a Master's degree in ECE. I know they make decent salaries. So, as much as I would love it (they are awesome), I don't ask. It would just seem awkward and inappropriate.

Anonymous wrote:You can certainly try, but I don't know very many teachers who would want to come to your house immediately after school. We've used daycare providers for weekend date night babysitting, or for like 8pm dinners on a weeknight, but have never asked for someone to come right after school ends.

you'd have to make sure the teacher is not on overtime/late pickup duty that day, too.

We only use current and former daycare teachers and it is great for all the reasons listed above. We pay more than we would compared to what we could find on something like care.com (in dc we pay closer to $20 than $15) but we don't go out that often. we certainly pay more than daycare but i like giving the teachers the option to make some extra money if they want. They are good at routines and bedtime and then it is easy sailing after bedtime for them. The peace of mind for us if there were to be a problem is fantastic. I know they could handle it until we got home.

You can certainly try, but I don't know very many teachers who would want to come to your house immediately after school. We've used daycare providers for weekend date night babysitting, or for like 8pm dinners on a weeknight, but have never asked for someone to come right after school ends.

I've done it and it has worked out great from a child-perspective. The only con for me has been feeling a little funny about coming home tipsy from a date night/event and wondering if my kid's teacher judges me!

The only con is that they are probably expensive, but IMO, the ease makes up for it.

Anonymous wrote:If the daycare allows it, I see no reason not to. Usually the daycare doesn’t allow having an employee take someone’s kid from the premises because of liability issues

+1 make sure the teacher taking your kid home is permitted. There’s some gray area here. They may not allow it or you may have to fill out paperwork allowing them to release the child to the teacher (like you’d have to fill out paperwork if a nanny picks up your kids from daycare).

We have done it and loved it. Haven’t found a down side yet!

You nailed the biggest pros for me back when I did this -- having someone the child is already familiar and comfortable with, and having them just transition from daycare to home when that was necessary. It meant on less hand-off, one less potential problem.

I have nothing but pros for doing it and have done so for years.

1. they have emergency training (including MAT training if that's important to you)
2. they know and most likely love your kid and your kid feels safe with them
3. you know them
4. they are motivated to do a good job because it affects their professional reputation and further babysitting opportunities.

I think it's a good idea, in general.

Daycare burn out is a real issue so be sure to ask for babysitting in a way that does not make your provider feel obligated to say yes. Make sure she is well compensated. I would suggest a higher hourly than what you think she is paid at daycare.

If the daycare allows it, I see no reason not to. Usually the daycare doesn’t allow having an employee take someone’s kid from the premises because of liability issues

I’ve had friends say they use this option and I confirmed with our day care director that they allow it. We were sent rules to follow which seem straightforward. I’m attracted by the fact that my DD (6 months old) is already comfortable with her primary teacher. It would be convenient since we work in the city but daycare is a few blocks from home, so the teacher could just take her to our house when school is over so we could occasionally stay in the city after work (work events can make this a struggle). It saves us some effort on vetting since she has all the qualifications given her employment at a licensed center. And frankly it would welcome to opportunity to get to know her teacher better. But I’m wondering if this could create any unforeseen problems? Other reasons we want to avoid it?