Would Make the extrA Travel for a Good Daycare??? Advice

I'd stick with the center. An extra 40 minutes is too much of my time that I could be doing other things.

I drove 10 minutes out of the way and then fought 25-30 minutes of traffic back to work to have my kids where I wanted them. On the way home, I drove 25-30 minutes back to her house, then 10 minutes home. It was worth it to me. I only had to do it for a year, but it was more than worth it.

this is a difficult emotional decision. I had to make the same choice over 27 years ago: an in home smaller, seemingly more nurturing option versus a daycare option.

It turned out that my personal time and reserving energy was more important for my children than the absolute perfect daycare. All options will always have pros and cons. In a very short amount of time your baby will grow into a toddler and want to be around more kids his own age. It seems like it's a long way off, but it's not.

I vote for the convenience and saving you time so you have more energy and time in the evening to play and snuggle and cook and be present :)

Hope it all works out well!

Daycare center. Unless the home provider has backup, a center is a more reliable choice. What happens if she gets sick or has jury duty or something? Not an issue for a daycare center, which has enough staff to provide coverage. And two caregivers to 8 babies is a good ratio - they're not all crying and in need of a diaper change or feeding at the same time and with two people there (plus probably a director who floats) if one is tied up with one baby for a few minutes, the other is free to tend to the others.

40 minutes is a lot of time to give up for a home daycare that doesn't sound like a much better scenario. If you're satisfied with the care you have, I would stay there.

I am probably biased in this.

I had a very bad experience with home care. You know that "mommy" feeling that comes over you and you think "something isn't right"? Yeah, I had that and didn't listen to it. Could have cost me my child's life.

I am a big supporter of Daycare Centers. I know my child will be there when I pick her/him up.

Honestly, the ratio isn't that much different in the daycare and home. She has three and the daycare has 4. Remember, 2 people for 8 babies. That's 4 babies per person.

Closer to home? You say it would be 20 minutes out of your way? So, what about winter? No, I would want to be closer to home. Especially picking them up. They are cranky and hungry at 5:00 p.m. and you will have to be in a car for a lot longer than you think.

That's my two cents worth. =)

I have done both.

I preferred daycare. I started out taking my son to a lady's home who'd been looking after kids for 20 years. She also cooked, cleaned, talked on the phone, etc. At the daycare, they focussed on my kids 100%. I preferred that in the end.

Even though the ratio may be higher in daycare, they aren't doing anything else but looking after your kids. They have a structured day. All the kids in the room are around the same age/same schedule.

I thought daycare would be impersonal and like an assembly line. I didn't find that at all.

It's a hard decision I know. Good luck :)

I agree with the other posters - I would do the center. There are so many factors that could turn a 20 min drive into an hour. Plus, as far as I can tell, you are talking about 1 person vs 3 kids and 1 person vs. 4 kids - not that big of a difference. Plus, I think it is a big different to have 2 adults working together vs. 1 adult by herself. If one kiddo is really having an issue, there is still another adult to take over. In a home daycare that is not the case. Finally, what happens if the home daycare lady has an emergency/gets sick? Does she have a back up lined up that you would be comfortable with?

Believe me, I am not against home daycares. I ran a home daycare myself and I have used them over the years (as well as centers). I think that they can be just as great as a center in many ways. However, I think in your specific situation, the center is the better choice.

Good luck!

As long as the daycare center is good, I would stick with that. The extra commuting essentially takes you away from your kids for an extra 2 hours per day.

As for the ratio - the home daycare has 1 person for 3 babies, and no one to back her up. Who's taking care of the babies while she's making lunch, or doing the dishes, or whatever?

The center has 1 person for 4 babies - the ratio is not much different. And if 1 person is heating up a bottle, the other person has her eyes on all the babies.

The center sounds better than the home care to me, even without considering the extra drive.

You NEED daycare to be handy.
20 min out of the way twice a day is really going to wear you down.

When I was looking for daycare for our son there was a home daycare where two 6 month olds died due to being put on an adult bed to nap with blankets around them to keep them from rolling off.
They pulled the blankets over their faces and suffocated.
The lady running the day care put them to nap there because she was planning a birthday party for her own kids.

SO - I went with a commercial daycare.
It wasn't always perfect but the goal of the place is to keep the kids alive till parents come get them at the end of the day.
Ours was right across the street from a fire station (with EMTs) and our son learn to LOVE firetrucks from an early age.
Parents come and go all day long and so see what goes on and there are multiple care givers so if one REALLY NEEDS a break, they can get one without being so distraught they might shake a colicky baby.
There were days when I was sick, and the location was convenient from home (and work) so once in a great while I'd take son to day care then I'd call in sick and go home to sleep until it was time to pick him up.

I'm sure there are some wonderful home day care places but there are also places where they prop a baby up in a crib with a bottle and leave him there.
I just can't bring myself to trust home day care.

Additional:

Our son's day care had 2 care givers to 8 babies.
Here's what the fire drill procedure was:
There were 2 cribs on wheels (the other 6 cribs were not on wheels).
When it was time to evacuate the building, they'd place 4 babies to a crib and wheel them out the door.
I've seen them do it and it works perfectly.

We started at a small center with the intent of moving to a home daycare when I could find one. I ended up never looking for one. Within a month, two of my coworkers were left high and dry by their home daycares. One quit when her husband got transferred out of state. One quit when she got pregnant and had to go on bedrest. Another coworker had to take a couple of days off because her home daycare person got strep and couldn't care for the kids. She didn't have back up care.

I would be more comfortable with two caregivers and 8 babies then one caregiver and three babies. Rarely would all 8 babies be crying, and if they were, in a center there would be extra hands that could be pulled in. In the home daycare, she probably won't have extra hands to pull in.

I would rather not spend the time in the car. I'd rather be at home playing with or cuddling my baby. And the few times I got calls that my baby was running a fever, I was glad I could get there ASAP.

If you decide to go with the home daycare, really check it out. Is she licensed? What are her routines? What are her safety plans? Do you have backup if she can't care for your child? What is her vacation policy? What does she do if all three babies are crying at the same time? What if your baby gets sick and you can't get there right away?

I would stick with the closet drop off and that would the daycare center. You are a working woman and has to be at work at a said time and anything added to that trip causes you to be late for work.

When the weather gets bad that extra 20 minutes can become an hour very quickly. Also the center has set times to be open that will allow you to be a bit late where the home center person would want the child(ren) gone so that she can have her personal life back.

I would try to make my life simple not complicated by the extra drive time factored in each day. You will be tired from the job and want to get home as quickly as possible.

When my son was little he went to daycare center because I did not have to worry about not having a sitter for the day as they could call in additional help. He wore cloth diapers daily and if he had a special formula I would bring it. It was like being home with structure for each room and people there to love on them and play with them daily. They went on trips to the library, had pony rides, and birthday parties and going away parties. I had peace of mind knowing he was safe and happy.

The ultimate choice is yours.

the other S.

Daycare. The extra time will make a difference to both of your children and your sanity. Time is your most valuable asset.

I know it is a tough decision and I was fortunate enough to not have to make that decision.

My train of thought is the extra time you are on the road, extra gas, extra wear and tear on your car, and your stress level of being in traffic longer with 2 kiddos who might be in bad moods.

Time = $$ to me. So what is the extra 40 minutes of time along with my above comments worth to you? Which set up do you feel would bring less stress into your household?

In some states it's even 1:6. You have to decide if that is a limiting factor for you or not. Where my DD attended, it was 1:3 and what that meant was the moment there was a 4th kid, there were at least 2 teachers. You should visit and see how they handle the kids and see if you overall like the center. I chose our center because it was small and homey but it also provided me care anytime, and I was not limited by her teacher's vacations or sick days. You should also drive the commute to the sitter's house and then on to work at the hours you would have to do so. Find out if that 20 minutes is really 15 or 50. Another factor for me was the amount of time I'd need to have the center open for. I couldn't guarantee that I could be back close to home by 5:30 for the one place due to traffic, so I chose a center near my work instead.

One real advantage of a daycare is reliability. Staff members might take vacation or call in sick or have emergencies, but the director has extra staff that can float and people to call as subs. So you aren't left in the lurch when someone gets sick.

My husband and I both work full time, and our time with the kids is precious. The evenings really fly, and it's bedtime before you know it. So I would not be willing to give up 40 minutes of that time each day.

Really, a ratio of 2 adults to 8 babies is the same as a ratio of 1 adult to 4 babies (the 3 she currently had plus yours). And if you wee already conting your daughter, a ratio of 1 to 3 is only slightly better.

Our kids go to a daycare after school, and our youngest went there full time before kindergarten. It's been a great decision for us.

If time is a big issue, I would stick with the daycare. If the ratio is what has you concerned, once your child is there, it is the same--1:4. Like others have mentioned, what if the caregiver gets sick. I do not have kids in daycare, my husband is home. But I do like to see how others handle it just in case. If I needed to put my son in daycare, would be checking out the one on the way to the train first and then the other 2 available near me. Time is a precious .

Considering your constant string of questions about your son's daycare when he was little I would say drive the extra distance. You will find the same flaws with this one, of course you will probably find the same flaws with the at home sitter as well...

Went and looked at the rest of your daycare posts and found you started out with a sitter and she wasn't good enough. So whatever you feel is best

To the home care providers. I have a lot of years of child care in centers and although I KNOW there are many women who are dedicated and provide excellent care, I know this. I don't mean to say you're not a good provider. I don't like home providers for my kids.

That lady at home will be leaving all 3 of her babies alone while she goes to the bathroom. That lady watching 3 babies by herself will go cook for them and be busy several times per day where they have NO one looking after them.

Did you know that in home care the caregiver can go take a shower, take a nap when the kids lay down, the laws regarding home care are very lax because it's "home" style care. The same you would do with your own child.

They also close if they're sick OR they stay open and give your child their germs. All the ones I've known just call the parents that day and let them know the care giver is ill and closed. They also take vacation each year and you're stuck having to find a provider or pay a friend or family member to babysit for you.

You don't carry your baby into the laundry room while you switch it out, you don't carry your infant when you're standing over a hot stove or doing dishes or answering a phone.

In a child care center that worker calls for a relief teacher to come into the room when they need to leave the room to go to the bathroom, they don't leave the room to go cook or do dishes or run the vacuum in another part of the house. They are always in the room watching the babies they are assigned to.

In the building there is a cook, director, often an assistant director, other teachers, extra staff for driving the van to transport kids to school and back and on field trips. There are fully certified lead teachers with degrees in child development and they have experience with multiple children.

These children are NEVER left alone. That teacher will lose her job and she will not pass a child care background check even in another state, they are out of their career. So they won't break the rules. Many child care teachers are lifers. They've been in the business since high school and are very good at their job.

I think that hands down the center would be the safest and best place for your child.

I went by my baby room one time and my employee was sitting in a rocking chair giving a baby a bottle, another baby was reclining in a bouncy seat and it had fallen asleep, this teacher was using her foot to gently move that bouncy seat. Another baby was on the play mat doing tummy time and one was in a baby bed asleep. They'd had lunch, the older ones had baby food or kitchen food ground in a food processor so all their tummies were full and they were enjoying nap time.

I think scenes like this one make owning a child care center worth all the work and stress. My toddler room teachers had 6 each. The 2 year old room has 2 teachers and they each have 8. In the 3 year old room they each have 12. In the four year old room each teacher can have 15 each and school age kids are 20 per teacher.

In my honest opinion anyone of my teachers could have gone home and got a license and opened a high quality home child care business but they wanted to make sure the kids were never left alone and they wanted to have support so they could take a break or go eat or have time off work when they're sick. In a child care center there are always extra staff to come into a classroom and take over the class when a teacher is off sick or gone on a trip.

I know there are good ones but if they can go out of the room and leave 3 babies alone while they cook lunch and fix snacks or go to the bathroom or even take a shower then I don't want any part of it.

edited to add - since it was brought up - in case of a fire in both home and centers you put the babies in a crib on wheels and wheel them out, or you carry mulitple ones in your arms or you put them in some other carrying item to get them all out.

so it would be 20 minutes one way, then 20 minutes back to the start twice a day, so 40 minutes at drop off extra and 40 minutes at pick up extra? Honestly in that case the one closer sounds like a more realistic place to put your child.
Home care varies, just as center care does. I worked in many centers before starting my home daycare. The one I ended up working at when my daughter was born was a new one for me and I was shocked that they had NO schedule for babies. In her 8 months in that center she was sick non stop, took a two hour nap ONCE in that whole time, otherwise was cat naps, didn't drink her breast milk bottles except a few oz a day (luckily I could come on my lunch to feed her) and honestly it was a bad place as both a parent and an employee. Which is why I left to start my own home based daycare.

I will list advantages of home care - one provider knows your child perfectly cause they are there from drop off to pick up from infancy till kindergarten. Siblings can be together. Older kids can help younger kids learn skills, and they learn empathy by being around the littles. I make sure the infants are sleeping soundly on a good schedule, eating the best options of foods and getting optimal activities for brain growth.

I do close for my vacations and holidays and some sick days, but I also allow sick kids to come, so I know what is going around the daycare and there is no 'dope and drop' where parents give the kids meds so they can still attend daycare, instead a parent tells me what the child is suffering from and I know to keep other kids away or not and the parents don't miss work. Not every provider does that.

If you search there are sure to be closer home daycares. The answer is not one or the other, it is which one is convenient while still providing quality care. Like I said, that can be in either a home or a center, and crappy care can be in a home or a center as well.

Fortunately, our home daycare is in our neighborhood, but she has 1 person that drives 45 minutes (one way)to bring her child and several others that drive past other daycares to bring their children to her home. It really depends what you want.

One thing jumped out at me, aside from the hassle of driving especially in bad weather. You say the in-home provider has 3 babies? A friend has her kids in home day care in our state, and that provider couldn't have 3 babies by state law. She is the only person there, so in the event of a fire, she can only carry 2 babies out in her 2 arms. So she can only have other kids who are older and walking. Same goes for 8 babies in a 2-person center, unless there are other staff available who are doing other things (center director, bookkeeper, receptionist, etc.) who are available in a pinch.

So check the state licensing requirements, and then think about your options. I think there are advantages to both types of settings - and I think your time/exhaustion are important too!