Just don’t make the error me snd my husband made. We had to drive twenty minutes to get our child at a new center vs six minutes at our old center to save $150 a month. It sounded like a good choice because it was a center with the same name. However, the time it took to get there ended up becoming longer due to traffic and you spend a lot of time in the car. Also, we were comfortable at our old center. Unfortunately, there were no spots at the old center to return and we were stuck. All over saving $150 per month in tuition. Wasn’t our best decision by far.

Perhaps this is a subtle point, but to me it's not absolute distance from my house, it's how far out of my way I have to go on my commute.

So, we happily did a nanny share that was 15 minutes from our house - but I was literally passing their house on the way to my office, 25 minutes away. That's IDEAL - obviously usually you'll have to go a little out of the way. I would probably max out at about 15-20 minutes out of the way in each direction.

Critical. We didn’t even go look at places more than ten minutes off my route - that’s 20 minutes, plus the drop off itself takes ten. That’s 30 minutes if nothing goes wrong.

the far most important thing for us is convenience. It doesn't have to be close to home, but on the way to work or at work...just least out of the way. If I was ranking daycare on quality, I'd pick #3 or #4 if they were more convenient than #1 and #2.

current is 20 minutes away which is more than I want but my kids went there when I worked nearby and it has proven to be better than the one we went to last year that is 3 minutes away.

Mine is 5 minutes from my work. So adds 10 minutes per day. Commute was important, but I wouldn’t sacrifice quality.

Ours is a 20 minute drive away but it added double that to the pre-pandemic commute time because it's out of the way, rather than between home and the office.

It was, however, really worth it.

Ours is 20 minutes drive away. It's not that big of a deal. Or maybe we are just used to it.

Ours is an extra 10 minutes max from the office (and on the way to the highway). No way I would go further than that out of my way. It's a long enough day already. 20 minutes each way means 40 minutes extra in just travel time and that doesn't include the time it actually takes to drop off and pick up. Maybe if you are working from home and don't have another commute it may work but work from home 5 days per week won't last forever in my case, I doubt it will for most people. Add in a commute and traffic to those 40 minutes plus pick up/drop off time and you're easily looking at 90 minutes each way or 3 hours per day. Who has that kind of time?

10 min max. Distance is for sure top thing I look for. If it's not convenient, it won't work for me. So many daycares were excellent, so when there was a tie we picked the closest.

I absolutely factor this in. I wouldn't send my child to a school or daycare I didn't like just because it was close, but I might send her to the one I liked a little less than my first choice if it would save us a lot of commute time.

The commute is every day. Our kid goes to a school that's a 20 minute walk or a 5 minute drive away. Most days we walk and I love both the time walking with her, and the time walking on my own. It adds to our overall sense of functioning and happiness as a family.

If I had to scramble every single day to get out the door and beat traffic for a 30 minute commute both ways, twice a day, that would really wear on me. And I assume it would negatively impact my kid, too, since she'd also have to rush and she'd have a less attentive, less relaxed parent with her.

We like one but it’s a 20 min drive without traffic. Likely with traffic it’ll get closer to 30 min and it’s very stop and go with stoplights/busy area.

Another one is only 10 min away.

Do you factor the commute and what is the max that is reasonable?