Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

I am on a quest for daycare for DS (Way more options here in Suffolk than Queens-how sad).

I have a list from the Suffolk Cty Child Care Council, which I will be visiting this next week.

Some are in home and some are centers. What (aside from the obvious) are the differences?

I went to Kiddie Academy last week and all we need to provide are diapers, wipes, necessary ointment, bottles, blanket/sheet& pillow, And change of clothes. They provide b'fast, lunch, snack, milk ad sippy cups.

Do in home places provide same/similar things?

TIA!

If anyone has any feedback on places in Riverhead, let me know!

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

The main difference in MY opinion.

Daycare center are much open, more people to watch and notice things. It's not in someone's home which also has multiple age groups together (usually).

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

I have never went to actually look at in home daycares, but a co-worker of mine did and she found that 99% of them had dogs which was a turn off due to allergies and potential biting.

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

I use Tutor Time here in Nassau, based on a friend's recommendation and that of my pediatrician. I wouldn't have considered someone's house.

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

I been thinking about the center one then the ones in homes.

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

I use an in-home daycare (I am in NY, but not on LI). We had to find daycare at the last minute, but we were super-lucky because we are really happy with our provider. Though she has a range of ages, she also has an assistant. She is licensed, and she is very serious about the state requirements.

The smaller kids are in a separate playroom, unless they are eating. Usually when I picked DD up, the older kids were in the dining room doing homework, or the living room. The older kids tended to mix with each other, so it was never a concern for me.

I'm not opposed to centers; we looked at one and thought it was fine, but we got a better vibe from the place we chose. After the fact we also heard something about how they staff that bothered us, but at some point we will be moving so I'll have to go through this again, and next time I will ask more about where they get their people from.

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

I am a NYS licensed home daycare provider (currently on an extended maternity leave ) In my opinion, they both have their pro's and con's

With a center-
Pro's-
- There is always someone available to be there for DC (doesnt close for illness of provider etc..)
-Is usually less relaxed than an in-home care program (for some children, rigid structure works best, for others not so much)
-Usually not a mixed age group

Cons-
-Rapid turnover of staff sometimes
(from speaking to parents of my daycare kids, this was a major problem and kids couldnt get attached to anyone, leaving them feeling un-easy)
- Less parent/provider interaction (not as personalized as in home daycare)
- Larger groups (children can feel lost if they aren't used to that setting)
______________________________
With a home center-

Pros-
- Family style situation, more 1 on 1 with both child and parent
-Flexibility (for children that flourish in flexible environments). Provider can alter the days plans if she see's something isnt keeping the childrens interests etc...
- Mixed ages can be beneficial for the little ones, learning from older children (especially if there are no siblings at home) Older children learn how to be caring and gentle with little ones..
- Smaller group= less chance for illness

Cons-
- If a substitue is not available and the provider or her children become ill, you need a back up plan.

All in all- A licensed home daycare has the same monitoring by the state &you can get the tax write-off's with both- Its really a matter of the "feel" you get when you interview ! Good Luck, sorry this was so long !

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

I use in home and it works out great for us. We pay a riduculously low fee (25 a day) and the sitter I use has 4 kids of her own ages 6,5,3, and 2 and mikayla loves them all

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

We are using a center. I liked the amount of security and people watching the children. I also liked the structure and academic bent of the center. It is almost more like pre-school than daycre. DS will be 14 months when he starts.

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

When I was doing the investigation of violations for the places I was considering, I took a lot of time to look into how it all works and it seems like the centers have more frequent visitors from the inspectors. I could be wrong about that but it appeared that way. Also, I was able to find a center that was in business for a long time but many of the licensed in home places were newer. I called some in home places when I was pregnant and just feeling them out over the phone left me feeling like it wasn't right for me.

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

Not to be a downer--but the reason we chose in home care was due to high staff turnover which usually meant DD was exposed to more "strangers" vs a care provider who was more constant. A daycare is open but it also increases the risk of exposure to a "predator". Most of the abuse cases I reserached actually happened in a daycare setting so I was so stressed out while on materernity leave cause there seemed no "safe/right option.

Then I discovered our in home care provider:

There are pros and cons. For us DD is the only infant, the others are 2 and 3 years old (amazingly well behaved), there is a seperate room set up like a classroom in her home where they do projects and her backyard is a kid playground. She cooks for them, sterilizes bottles, cleans like a maniac (white kitchen tells you everything) and the kids adore her. I was able to do a background check and she has no citations/violations EVER. I even got to talk to one of the inspectors who put my mind at ease.

Con: If she gets sick I need back up care. Also she wont accept sick kids. DD hasnt been sick too much and I think its because shes not around kids when they ares sick.

For Daycare I love that there is a curriculum in place but the germs from so many kids was a big no no with a preemie.

Message edited 7/12/2008 7:01:22 AM.

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

Thank you ALL for your thoughts/opinions. I will be driving by places today, but going next week to visit them.

I know I just need to find what is right for us. I did receive a nice amount of information from the Child Care Council (CCC)- she explained the difference of in-home: some are licensed or certified others are just "trained" by the CCC and some can only have 2 children under 2.

I'm nervous, but I know it has to be done.

Again, thank you all!!!

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

We are using an in home daycare. I consider myself lucky to have found her. She's a mother of a co worker and has been working with me to get DS used to it. She's very one on one and loving. IT's a smaller environment and I like that. DS will be 1 and the activities and socialization will do wonders for him there.

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

Now we are using in home, she is wonderful. In the fall or winter we may switch to in our home which will be great!

Re: Daycare questions/opinions: In Home vs Center

I am using a in-home daycare. But it is run like a center on 2 floors / and about 6-8 teachers. I absolutly love it there. They teach DS sign language, Italian (of course things in English) and have a structured progam everyday. It is more personal and DS gets lots of attention. I dont feel like it is a franchise where the teachers are just employees working for a paycheck - all the teachers have been there YEARS. The floors are dedicated for the daycare -nobody actually lives there and there are no animals / personal belongings!

The director is so wonderful. DS is sometimes the last one picked up (6pm on some days) and a month or 2 ago I walked in on her making him dinner because he was telling her in sign language he was hungry. That is when I realized how great the place is

Message edited 7/12/2008 10:12:04 AM.