From LKJ ~ I am curious. Right now Luke is in daycare, and I don't have any complaints (yet). My neighbor down the street is opening a home daycare and is taking in only four children so now I am partly interested in her. Her rates are about $50 cheaper a week, and now I am confused. For those who put their child in daycare or with a home sitter, why did you make that choice? What advantages and disadvantages do you see in each? I have been weighing the options and still can't make a decision (and my husband is no help).
From goofygirl ~ I use a daycare run out of someone's home. She is state licensed and can take up to 10 kids (with only two being infants under the age of 2). I picked it because my daughter was kept home for the first two years of her life while I finished college, and I thought it would be a good transition for her than an institutional daycare. I pay $85 a week which includes breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack.
From Kris10 ~ Good question. Here is my view:
Pros to daycare:
- Very reliable. They don't call in sick
- usually includes the cost of food
- nice play ground equipment
- provides structured activities and routines
- usually no television
Cons to daycare:
- Can be dirty (look around)
- Not a homey feeling (important to me)
- Small quarters
- Parents don't always know other parents or children.
- Charge you even if you or your child is sick.
Pros to home based sitter:
- Homey environment
- cost is usually lower
- You often get to know the parents and children
- Seems more personal
- Cleaner depending on the sitter
- May be willing to work with you schedule
- The child develops attachment to one person
Cons to home based sitter:
- She may have to cancel if she's sick
- Possibility of the children watching TV all day
- Fear of it not being licensed
We have a private sitter whom we adore! I couldn't imagine any situation better than what we have. We are so lucky. Our sitter runs things out of her basement which is set up like a mini daycare complete with kitchenette. She schedules their activities including three TV shows (Teletubbies, Sesame Street and Price is Right ). She has music time and toy time. She only takes teacher's children and therefore works around a teacher's calendar, not expecting money when we're off work. I hope that helps. I didn't put a lot of thought into this, but that is what I came up with off the top of my head.
From Norma62 ~ Well, here in Argentina (at least in Buenos Aires), home daycares are uncommon. So I put Agustin in daycare center because of the easy replacement, scheduled activities and home security--my husband is very serious about this last point. Plus, he will probably stay an only child, so it will be good to have other children around. He's been there since his 7th month and does okay.
From ChristieS ~ I think that Kris10 has some really good points. I have had good and bad experiences with both home and center daycares. I've had the same daycare mom for the past four years and she is really good.
From DediH ~ I can only speak about in-home daycare, since that's really all we looked at, not for any special reason. When I was pregnant, I worked with my daycare provider's husband, and knew his wife was a SAHM. I asked him jokingly one day if she would be interested in watching our baby, and he said yes. When we met her and met their children, I just "knew" that this would be the right place for our child. I wouldn't have felt bad about putting her into "organized" daycare, but we lucked out that we didn't have to search all over for a place we liked.
Pros so far of having her in in-home situation:
- my daughter knows and loves her daycare provider, and it has always been the same person (no turnover).
- Dcp (daycare provider) has two children that my daughter loves to play with
- Dcp can give lots of individual attention (i.e: started putting my daughter on the potty at one year, and she is now in big girl panties at dcp)
- As a first-time mommy, I have actually learned a tremendous amount from dcp, and we have a great relationship.
Cons:
- When dcp's children are sick, my daughter doesn't go (and vice versa), so we probably take more days off because of that than those parents whose children are in organized daycare.
- Dcp's children do come first (like their schools, etc.) which I totally understand. We've had to work around some scheduling conflicts with her two children and their schools/preschool.
- Her cost isn't really any less than organized daycare, and doesn't go down as my daughter gets older.
That's about it. We're actually considering starting dd in a preschool when she's 3 to get her more exposure to kids her own age.
From Emama ~ I think the previous posts do a good job of outlining pros and cons (but that won't stop me from repeating them!)
Reasons we chose (and like) daycare:
- It's never cancelled due to illness (this was an issue with friends who used single providers, but we didn't have family or friends we could use in a pinch).
- There are never more kids than legally allowed (this isn't an issue in all in-home daycare, but several that I know have more kids than they're supposed to and the parents know that).
- The center is large, so Emmett is always with kids his own age doing age appropriate things (he's almost two and does dancing, playing, "reading" etc.)
- Safety. In-home care can be just as (or more) safe but we felt comfortable with all the training the workers got.
Things that could be better:
- Cost. We don't have to pay when we pull our son out during the summer, but we do pay when he is sick or over breaks (it sometimes hurts to pay for three weeks at Christmas when my son is out, but then I guess I'm getting my paycheck too.)
- It's not as homey as in-home
- The dcp has very low turnover, but my son changes rooms and thus teachers every year or so (though he visits his previous teachers!)
- I know the other kids, but very few parents.
Yup, I just repeated everyone! I do think, though, that both can be really good and that it really depends on what *you* feel comfortable with and also the specific places. We like our dcp because it "felt" right and still does, two years later. A good daycare is much better than bad in-home care, and good in-home care is much better than a bad daycare if that makes sense.
From abuddi ~ I will probably put my daughter in daycare when she gets a little older. Right now my aunt watches her and for half of what I was paying an in-home sitter. She has been there since she was six months old. I tried the in-home dcp with a highly recommended dcp and it didn't work out. Surprisingly, she did not like the fact that I breastfed and thought my daughter was too attached to me. After taking her out, she stated that she would never watch another breastfed baby again. I think she is good for older kids, but not babies. My daughter was obviously not ready for that type of environment. Now my aunt has had to take days off but usually lets me know a month in advance. However, she has watched her when my daughter was under the weather or running a temp. The only time she won't watch her is if she is vomiting or something and knows she is really sick. With daycare around here, if your child is running a fever, you have to get them. My daughter is very attached to my aunt and uncle, and they have a big yard that she can play in so I know she is not stuck in a house all day. I am really blessed, too because I don't even have to dress my daughter in the morning. I send her over food and snacks periodically so I don't even have to lug a lunch or anything. All I do is change her diaper and send her over in her pj's so we both will have an adjustment when she does go to daycare.
From Katie's Momma ~ Our Kaitlyn is registered to start at a daycare centre in just a few weeks. While we interviewed both in-home dcp and public daycare, we chose a daycare centre for the following reasons:
- reliability (we are not left stranded if the dcp is sick)
- flexibility with pickup and drop off times
- security (child is not secluded - there are always other children/dcp/parents around). We both have a huge fear of someone harming or molesting our child.
- training
- absolutely no spanking is permitted
- certification (ece, first aid, cpr)
- child is in the care of several people
- ratio is 3 babies to 1 dcp
- no television
- children given equal opportunity (home dcp is always going to put her own kids first)
- child gets used to several dcp, rather than one - we are looking for a teacher, not a substitute mother
- the dcp sole responsibility is the child - not house cleaning or shopping or the phone
- learning atmosphere (rather than babysitting)
- excellent meal plans (lists are posted)
- excellent outdoor play area
- social atmosphere (other kids her age)
- vacation time (we are not left in the cold when home dcp wants holidays)
- tax receipts
- encouraged to drop in anytime
- unintrusive viewing area
- unionized staff are paid well
Potential cons are:
- children tend to get sick more often
- cost
- turnover of dcp staff
- not available nights/weekends
- unionized staff can strike
Hope that helps!!
From SelinaB ~ We decided to go with a lady who watches children in her home. We have several friends (with similar views about families) whose children are going/have gone to stay with this lady, so we have many good recommendations. Our DCP watches 1-5 kids (staggered so there are almost never five kids there) and Andrea will be the only little baby. The other kids are staggered in age to 4 years old. I like having kids of different ages together. There is also a garden that the kids get to help with; we're looking forward to getting to know our DCP over the next couple of years and to watching Andy grow in her extended family. Our first day is tomorrow!
