I think you could try it for a week or something and see how he does, but the benefit of being in a home setting is mostly that things are less overstimulating and things can be on your kids' schedule. It isn't clear that that is would be the case here.

This is what we do - daycare (including nap) for around 6 hrs, babysitter for the last 3 hours of the day. Expensive but worth it for our family.

Anonymous wrote:Leave your son at daycare for the day. Hire this lady to come over three days a week and clean up, do laundry and ironing and make dinner. That way YOU can spend more time with your child.

+1. He will be fine in daycare for a full day, probably better off than with some stranger at home. He will have nap-time at daycare, socialize, do extra crafts, get potty-trained. We started my dd at age 2 and she thrived.

Leave your son at daycare for the day. Hire this lady to come over three days a week and clean up, do laundry and ironing and make dinner. That way YOU can spend more time with your child.

Anonymous wrote:So you're going to pay for full time daycare plus the lady for 3.5 hours of babysitting?

What happens when her kids come home at 3:30 and have to be at a sport at 4pm? She's taking him? Is he eating dinner at her house?

Yes I'd pay for the full time daycare. Their school is very close to our house, I don't know about sports. He'd have dinner with us just like if we picked him up at 5:30. Assuming he gets to know this family and they mostly hang around the neighborhood, do you think he'd be better off hanging out with a family in the afternoon or being at the daycare? For all I know he will just watch tv at their house for three hours ha! From what I have seen of the ES aged kids involved be neighborhood, they do their homework and then go out and ride bikes and play with friends. They seemed like sweet kids and they were really nice to my son, but I doubt they'd be playing with him all afternoon. In daycare he'd have his friends, but also all the toddler dynamics of daycare.

This is why i have aleays used AuPairs. Flexible, part time childcare. My kids have always gone to a PT preschool. I'm of the belief that a daycare day is wayyy too long. My kids are now in 1st ans 5th grade and we are done with the program at the end of this coming summer. It's been great that despite me working my kids have not had to keep a grinding schedule.

So you're going to pay for full time daycare plus the lady for 3.5 hours of babysitting?

What happens when her kids come home at 3:30 and have to be at a sport at 4pm? She's taking him? Is he eating dinner at her house?

After being SAHM for 2 years, my child will start daycare full time with a 7:30 drop off. He currently is in a morning program from 8:30 to 11:30, and he enjoys it. I feel ten hours is a very long day even though I like the center. Should I look into hiring someone who could pick him up a little earlier, like 2pm? I met a woman who has two older kids, and she's looking for flexible work. I'm thinking she could pick him up, and he could hang out at her house (she's my neighbor) with her and her older kids-they are 11 and 9. I'd continue to pay for full time care as a back up. My work hours are 8-5 with 30 min commute. Is there any point to this? Do you think this would be a less taxing day for my son? He will be 24 months when this all starts.