Daycare Question

I was curious as to what everyone was doing for daycare.

Do you have a family member, friend, or a daycare center watch your child/children?

Why did you choose this and would you do it differently if you could?

Re: Daycare Question

We have family that watches Andrew everyday. We are very lucky because I don't know how we could have paid for daycare

Re: Daycare Question

From 4 mos - 18mos he was taken care of by family who also watched other kids in their home.

Now he is in daycare.

ETA: The only thing I would change is that I wish I could have taken a longer maternity leave - until about 6 mos or so would have been nice. Even though my job allows up to a year, it's without pay and we couldn't afford that.

Other than that, I think I would do the same thing again with #2 - whenever that happens. I would probably start daycare a little sooner though - maybe at 1 year.

Message edited 4/24/2007 12:13:50 PM.

Re: Daycare Question

Daycare center from 3 months old.

1. I didn't want to rely on one person to watch my children. I like having the checks & balances of other people in the center.

2. I didn't like at-home-day cares. I like the structure of a center and how the ages are separated into different classrooms.

3. I wanted to know that the every person who works at the site underwent background checks.

4. I wanted the socialization of a center vs a nanny.

5. I think centers do more with the children than a nanny...crafts, etc.

eta. care-wise I would probably have gone to a center that has more kids in my town. The one I choose is located in the town next to mine. It would have helped Joseph to know more kids in his class. Many of them knew each other since nursery school.

Message edited 4/24/2007 12:32:37 PM.

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Message edited 4/24/2007 12:28:43 PM.

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My mom watches DS.

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I put Jordana in daycare at 3 months. I was happy with the place, but annoyed by some of their administration policies.

After a few months, I took her out of daycare and put her with a nanny. I share the nanny wtih my sister, so our girls are together 10-15 hours a week.

It works out so well!! Its nice not to haev to worry about droppign someone off every morning and picking them up. Its an extra 30 minutes every day to just play.

Also since my neice and daughter are together, they are so close. DD walks around the house sayign my neice's name. ITs the word she says most often.

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I agree with what Barb says...I initially was completely against daycare thinking I would go for a childminder, but after my own child became so social and so bored at home, I thought nursery would be the best bet. And I was right! The kid is so happy at daycare, he loves it. He gets socializtion, the girls love him, he loves the girls, I really like the lady who owns it...the whole situation has turned out really well!

For me, I think that childminders often just wind up taking the baby along with whatever they do on the day...shopping or whatever, I like that at nursery there are lots of different activities, they do food tastings, on pancake day the kids had pancakes...its all very cute!

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My children go to a sitter's home. I chose that over daycare because I wanted a very "homey" atmosphere for my boys, and for them to be cared for by 1 care giver who would meet their needs on THEIR schedule, not a predetermined one.

In September they will be nearly 4 and 2.5 and will be transitioning to a full day preschool.

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I agree wholeheartedly with Barbara... my daughter has been in daycare since 10 weeks old, and I have no regrets. She is learning to socialize beautifully (she already has 2 best friends at school, and she's only 18 months old!), I love how she is learning to bond and adapt to the discipline and teaching style of other adults, and the education is just unbelievable. She started learning sign language at one year, and has a vocabulary of about 20 words in sign, alone.

I like that the day is structured with different activities (i.e. sing-along, sign class, gym class, etc), and that the teacher has all the babies on a set routine. And, for us, it makes an invaluable difference that her school is in a synogogue. I like that her teachers are jewish and celebrate all the jewish holidays with her. And, in 6 months, we're placing her in the hebrew immersion program so she can start learning hebrew, so she'll be able to talk to her family in Israel

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My mom takes care of my daughter but when she is busy, I take her to a nanny at her house.

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DS goes to a sitter's house. My sitter has a son that is almost the same age as DS. And it is just DS and her two kids. I love the situation.

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We have a nanny that lives in. I do miss her not socializing with other kids but she's only 6 months old so at this point, I don't think it's doing her much harm. DH and my work hours are long and we would have to leave her at daycare from about 7:30 am until 6:30 pm everyday and I feel that's too long for her.

I like that she gets one on one attention with our nanny and that she stays in our house so I don't have to worry about her being with other kids who might be sick.

Although I think when she's about a year we will do maybe part daycare, part nanny so she will get thta socialization.