Question for BTDT moms: Family Group Day Care vs. Day Care Center for an infant (LONG)

Sorry for crashing...I have a feeling I'll be doing that a lot between now and June.

I have started the search for day care for our starting in September. Our little bean will be about 3 months old then. I have visited a few day care centers, and one family group day care.

I feel like for a really little one, I love the homey feel of the family day care setting. I really liked the women who run it. I feel like I would be comfortable leaving my infant with them.

As far as the day care centers, I love the more structured, educational setting as my child gets older. I know I can always do the family-based center for the first 3 years, then switch to a more structured school setting. I just wonder about how hard it is to get into the better programs later on in the game.

For moms who have looked at both types of settings, what impacted your ultimate decision? Any regrets about what you decided?

Also, if anyone has any feedback about any of the following settings, especially for infants please let me know:

Family-based daycare: It's Just Like Home (N. Bellmore - they opened in May).

Day Care Centers: TLC (Merrick; I didn't love it)
Alphabetland (N. Merrick, liked it)
Sweet Tots (N. Bellmore, visiting tomorrow)
Children's Nest (Merrick, visiting next Tuesday)

Finally, if anyone has any other suggestions for family-based daycare in the Bellmore-Merrick area, that would be great. I called a couple from the list I got online, and was turned off just by my phone conversations.

Thanks so much.

Re: Question for BTDT moms: Family Group Day Care vs. Day Care Center for an infant (LONG)

We checked out daycare in the same area.

This site was a huge help I was able to look up different providers and see if any violations had occurred.

Re: Question for BTDT moms: Family Group Day Care vs. Day Care Center for an infant (LONG)