What Is Your Experience with Home Daycare?

The things that are typically ideal is:
that the Provider and the environment is safe/respectful/healthy/kind.
And stimulating and appropriate and organized, PER age development of the child.
And of course, the Provider being CPR and First Aide trained and certified.
And of course, that it is licensed.
And of course, that they have references etc.
And that, the ratio of kids:adults, are as it should be.
And that, there is a handout of the rules/policies/sick rules/payment polices etc.
And that, Provider "holidays/vacations" are stipulated.
And that, a "contract" is signed by both parties.

We have an absolutely wonderful in-home daycare provider. I wouldn't change for anything, because she loves my kids like they are her own grandkids. There are a few little things that I would change in an "ideal world," but small inconveniences are well worth the love and care she and her husband provide.
Love:
- Written contract, including which holidays she has off, what happens when she is sick or needs to take a day off, policies on sick kids, very clear billing.
- When she had my newborn, she would give me a written log for each day- when he ate, how much, when he slept, how long, even cute little notes about coos and smiles!
- She and her husband love kids, full stop. They honestly enjoy having them in their home, and it shows.
- She is CLEAN. Crazy clean. I would never worry about my babies eating food off of her floors. She even manages to stop most viruses from spreading among the kids, which takes TALENT.
- She was very respectful of my breastfeeding, even agreed to let my son fuss and sub water if she ran out of frozen milk. My younger son never had formula, thanks largely to her dedication and support.
Change:
- I trust her completely, but for convenience I would like to have instant access to her house. When I drop of the kiddos, I have to knock and wait for someone to come, same thing at pick up. It can get stressful when I am running late. I understand that they would not want to pass out keys to their home, but maybe a side door with a key code or something would be nice.
- The playroom has a TV, I would like it if that was gone but I understand the use in handling multiple kiddos.
- Her outside area is very limited, basically just a patio. The patio is large enough for the kids to play and ride bikes, but once they are past about 18-24 months it would be nice if they had more room to run or an actual swing set, etc to play on.
Disappointed:
- They do feed the kids too much sugar on occasion. I try to keep my kids away from super sugary snacks unless we are at a birthday party or something. I don't mind once in a while, but they will give things like yogurt with a handful of sugary cereal on it (Coco Puffs). Is it horrible? No, but my kids would be fine with yogurt and blueberries, which I would prefer. I have spoken with them a few times, they usually come back with "it's only once in a while, and just a little bit." They have the grandparent mentality sometimes, and this battle is one where I draw a few lines and let the rest go. Example- we are vegetarian. I found out once that they gave my older son pizza with the pepperoni just peeled off. I totally freaked out, made that and absolute NO WAY. They got it and agreed without complaint.

I like the personalized attention and that both of my children get to be today during the day. My daycare provider has a schedule of when things will take place including workbook time starting when the kids are 2.5. We don't take advantage of it, but she can be very accommodating- if there's a bad accident and we are late picking up, she doesn't charge extra, when I went into labor with my second in the middle of the night, she let me bring my oldest over at 3 am.

Had one bad one and one fantastic one.

Don't do:
-Ask for paid vacations and get upset when parents don't want to pay for your time off. Don't yell back, "You get paid time off, so why shouldn't I?" Uh, no ... I'm self-employed, so join the club, lady.
-Don't plan to take a month off (again asking to be paid while giving no care) in summer.
-Refuse to refund overpayment for the month when someone gives the two week's notice, as required, because you've spent it all.
-When someone gives notice, don't give a list of all of the things you hate about someone's child (especially when it's a special needs child).

Do:
-Treat everyone with kindness and respect.
-Understand the negatives of being self-employed and not expect parents to compensate for them.
-Give plenty of notice about vacation time and make it a sensible length of time off. Understand parents will have to scramble for alternate care.
-Really get to know families. Show a personal interest in kids and be genuinely happy that you're their caregivers during the day.
-Be patient with special needs kids or kids going through phases like hitting or biting. Accept that not all kids are perfect. A little love and understanding when they're at their worst can be transforming for a child. Our son who has ADHD was warmly accepted by a provider and it meant the world to him and us. We're now friends with his old provider even though our kids are long out of her care.
-Be understanding with colds/illness. Our great one would let kids rest in a nearby bedroom when they didn't feel well and wouldn't rush to call for parents to pick up ASAP. She would call to explain the situation but then care for kids often through pick up time so working parents could continue working. She was awesome! She took things seriously but never overreacted. We once used a center that would call and make us pick up at the slightest sniffle.

My kids love our in-home daycare.
She listens to the kind of things that they like to eat, play, etc and makes sure that she has those things on hand. She gives them 2-3 options for lunch and snacks.

The only thing that frustrates me sometimes is that sometimes there are other kids visiting because their sitter is closed that are not as easy going as the normal group of kids. My kids don't get along with them, or they with the others, and so we just have to wait out their visit. Now there is one boy that afer 3 or 4 hard visits has actually become friends with one of my kids and she is finally happy when he visits, but those first 3-4 times were full of tears and 'i don't want to go...' The boy is not a happy boy and my kids weren't happy to be around him, but one day, my kid was at the table with him, just the two of them when the sitter heard laughing. She had never heard him laugh before. That day was the turning point.

Love the price $7/hour. Not the hours 8-4. I think she is great but I am used to corporate day care and wouldn't mind more systems like cubby for each child, posted schedule of day, etc.

What I liked in the home daycare I used when my son was little:
Healthy foods and almost no treats. She figured treats could be for at home.
Family style eating (Kids all sat together, passed around the bowls of foods and served themselves)
Almost no TV/movies (except some days at nap time for the kids who could not nap)
Outside time every day, field trips, the pool, playground. The woman running the daycare had TONS of energy and her little boy was super energetic so she liked to get the kids out. I LOVED this. My son loved it.
Lots of outdoor things to do...bikes, push bike, scooter, (helmets of course), etc.
I liked that she never took vacations so I was never left in a bind (not totally realistic, I realize people need a vacation now and then)
I liked that she really loved each child and was interested personally in my child.
I liked that she did not force kids to nap (my son was 3 and had stopped napping already)
I liked that she wanted to chat/talk with me at the end of every day. Go over everything about my child, told me details, worked with me on things.
I liked that when she had a fussy baby in her care, she just carried him/her constantly. This made the baby so much happier. She would strap him on for all day if needed.

We moved our son from a larger classroom preschool/daycare to a home montessori preschool/daycare three months ago we love this for him for various reasons. The lower teacher student ratio, they average 11 kids and there are three adults, the home cooked meals, beautiful spacious yard, and the montessori learning. What we don't love is the kids are mixed in ages and sometimes my son wants to be treated like the baby, which isn't going to happen :), they don't apply sunscreen in the afternoons, they are not as vigilant about cleaning the toys or hand washing, we don't get the educational updates/summary of developmental stages. The classroom is a bit small, since it is a room out of someone's house. I think home daycare is a better fit for my son, who had no interest in the larger setting and often withdrew from activities and did his own thing. Good luck with your daughter's daycare.

I worked in a larger corporate day care. I liked:
The cubbies for each child
The paper that went home at the end of the day that had what they ate when, if and when they pooped, who they played with, if they said anything funny
Set meal and snack times
The cleanliness - it was super clean at all times. We bleached the toys every day. We washed all the sheets every day. We bleached the changing table after each child. We washed our hands and the kids' hands a million times a day.
Low student/teacher ratio

Hope that helps...

Best one before we switched to a center:
Bilingual, gave daily written report, Teaching/Learning environment where kids felt safe
Advanced Weekly written schedule of outside activities, if she veered from it she let you know. Her daily schedule was set up like most day care centers but she watched infants on up but she included ALL the kids in the activities just adapted them to be age appropriate.
Worst:
Talked about other parents (made you wonder what she said behind your back)
Stated she was using a certain curriculum base & I never saw it
Let my son run around naked while potty training him, took a pic & sent it to me. Felt that was inappropriate even if he was only 2.
Fed them junk food

For the most part, I liked my home daycare. But keep in mind that those little ones remember and talk.

My daughter would tell me that they went somewhere, either to the daycares mother's house or sister's house. Then she would say that they didn't go and I couldn't get a straight answer. The daycare did ask for a field trip release, however we discussed that she was not insured to transport the children and the field trips would be to the park across the street.

One day I was invited to a party at the mother's house and my daughter ran in and ran straight to the toy room. She was so comfortable in that house. I knew she had been there before.

My one disappointment.

I had my daughter in 3 home daycares before we moved her to a center because it was too expensive to keep her in the home daycare we had her in. The two that were amazing had one former special ed teacher running it and one who had a degree in early childhood education. They both had days that were full of scheduled activities and she learned so much. The one that was terrible was luckily one she was only in for a few weeks while her first daycare lady had a maternity leave. She had no sort of schedule and I'm not sure how often she changed diapers, as my daughter ended up with a bleeding diaper rash. I took her out of it quickly and my MIL ended up finishing out the maternity leave for us.

I loved getting a daily list of what she ate, what their activities were, even what songs they sang. Our 2nd daycare lady had this all listed out on a sheet she filled out during their nap times.

Both daycare ladies were happy to go along with the schedule we had her on, as we're very schedule oriented people. It worked out very well for us.

I have had my kids in daycare as infants and now run my own daycare.

The daycare that I had my daughter in before my son was born was one someone recommended to me. Basically, I think that they were burned out and I think they had been doing it for so long that THEY were bored with it. There wasn't enough imaginative play allowed and they were not attentive to dirty diapers, which is why I pulled her out. And their house was not set up as a daycare.

Here are some recommendations~ Write up a contract. People will say that it isn't binding if people ever break your policies, but that's not really why I created one. Parents love having everything written so that they know what to expect and they know what you expect. It also makes you look more organized and like you run a business rather than just "baby-sit". You have to give them paperwork to fill out anyway... just make it a packet of information. I will be happy to share mine if you like. It's pretty comprehensive.

Parents love that we do lots of art and we use lots of different mediums. We are set up to get messy which is something that some families don't do. It's much easier with a group, and it's good for the kids.

No TV.
Nutritious snacks and lunches.

Keep your house clean and organized. It needs to look "company ready" every day.

Create a schedule. Show what you plan to do and what time it happens; outside time, art time, creative play, music, snack time, lunch time, washing hands and diaper checks. This is also great for the kids because they learn what to expect.

Lots of outside time.

Lots of toys, books, puzzles etc... and accessibility. Get a kids table and chairs that the kids can sit at to eat and do art. Put safe toys low enough that kids can reach them and play with what they like. Teach them to put things away when they are finished. Get a step for the bathroom sink so kids can reach to wash hands.

Inclusion of all the kids. For example parents want to know that if their infant can't yet play with play dough, that they are at least included in the group and observing with everyone, rather than being left alone to play.

Play with the kids. You should be on the floor playing with them most of the day. You'll also see that engaging them keeps them from fighting with each other. Also create busy time alternating with quieter time and be able to read their mood when the kids need a change in activity.

Teach with songs. Parents love when kids sing about things that they've learned.

Feel free to message me with questions. There are so many bad daycares out there... I like to help people set theirs up to be successful and good.