working moms....child care deciding factors

I will be going back in Nov and trying to decide what's best for us...

1) day care - affordable and 10 min from my office - can go at lunch etc

2) in home care - there's a local referral service that actually lines up interviews with in home local care providers and will go with me to meet them...they also do monthly in home inspections etc..

3) a nanny in my home - not crazy about this, something rubs me the wrong way about having a virtual stranger alone all day with my kid...i dunno...positive is not having to take him out of the house in the AM etc...

So how did you decide?

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

Each of these choices has its benefits.

For us, we chose a center.

We never wanted to worry about the provider being sick (in a center there is always back up), we wanted structure and we wanted a preschool curriculum available when she reach 2 or 3.

Some other things we wanted-lots of activities (DD can take dance, music and soccer at her center when we feel she is ready) and lots of out door time/free play built into the day.

At the new born stage, we also wanted the teacher:child ratio to be really low.

Also, we liked that at a center many eyes are watching what is going on-we felt there was safety in numbers.

Good luck-it's a tough decision.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

I knew from the beginning that I wanted DD to go to daycare. If we still lived in the city, I would have gotten a nanny.

It's probably silly to feel this way, but I felt weird getting a nanny in the burbs. I know I didn't feel comfortable with someone else driving DD around and I felt that she would get no exposure to other kids.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

I decided to go with a nanny route. I screened my candidates very carefully and got very good references. I was nervous to have DD in our house alone with someone but we installed nanny cams that I can see at work, so I can check what goes on in my house whenver I want.

For me, I like not having to take DD out of the house in the mornings. I just have to get myself ready and not worry about getting her dressed and fed. I like not having to worry if I'm dropping her off where other kids might be sick. It just works for us also because I work from home 2 days a week, so I'm home with them. Plus I can drive them wherever, and now that DD is older, she goes to school those mornings. She's made friends and my nanny takes her on playdates for social interaction when I'm not around.

Of course there are some downsides. If my nanny is sick, me or DH has to stay home. She's been with us for 2 1/2 years and never called in sick - maybe we're lucky. Socialization in the winter sucks because they can't go too far so they wind up watching more tv than I'd like. But again, to me the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

We knew we were going to use a daycare center and are lucky enough to have a full-service, 5-star rated daycare in our church. I know these women and trust them with my boys. It is also important to me that they get a Christian-based teaching when they are a little older, so that was a huge plus for us, also.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

Right now (DS is 5 months) my Mom watches DS 2 mornings / week, DH watches him 1 morning / week and we have a nanny for the other 2 days.

I have to say, that I am not totally thrilled with the Nanny, BUT DS adores her. Hourly, she costs double what a center costs.

I live upstate and winters are brutal. I am happy to not have to take DS out of the house in the mornings and I can see myself continuing with the nanny until he is at least a year old. It worked out the best for us, but if I was looking for FT 40 hour/ week care I think I would have to go with a center.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

Each choice does have its pros and cons. -I use a nanny... it was the option that felt the best to me when I toured the inhome and centers available in my area. I live in Brooklyn.

I found my nanny through our neighborhood website, a referral from another family that had out grown her.

I've come to love having a nanny.... my son was only 5 months old when we started using her, and so to be able to have someone in our home, attending only to him was very reassuring to me. Also, to not have to take him out in bad weather has been such a plus. Knock on wood, he's been very healthy and I think this is part of it.

Since our sitter is a career sitter, she comes with tons of experience, and has really been a great source of support and advisement to me as I navigate through the different baby stages.

One thing I was concerned about was the social aspect of keeping my son home.... but the nanny sets up playdates, park trips, library story time and takes him to a music class that I found. He's def got a social life!

Youve just got to explore all the options, and go with the one that feels best to you, as each child and their needs are so different.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

I'm going with the daycare for the same reason you put... the daycare is 5 mins from my office so I can visit DS at lunch. I don't feel comfortable with someone staying in my house all day (JMO). If I lived in the city it's a different story so the nanny can go out to parks and meet with other nanny's and kids. I don't want anyone driving DS around.
Also, as someone else stated... there's a curriculum. Music time, tummy time, reading, arts, etc. There are other teachers so DS won't be clingy with just one person. Oh, and I'm hoping DS can make some friends out of it. Of course he's only 3 mos, but after some time he'll make friends.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

we went with in home, I much prefer the interaction to that of a center

My dd is thriving at her in home care and her provider is amazing

if she were to ever get sick or one of her kids gets sick, my job offers backup care that I do not pay for (at a center near my job)

it is a win win and I am very happy with our choice

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

I live in the city and daycares run $550 a week and up.

We got an in home sitter through a family friend referral. She's awesome...we are so blessed. DD is the only one she takes care of. She always takes DD to the park and her sister babysits a little girl DD's age so they do playdates together. Price wise it worked out for us but we are very lucky that DD ended up with a wonderful sitter. Also she only speaks Spanish which is awesome since we want DD to be bilingual.

$$ aside initially my first choice would have been a daycare center.

I think Nannys and in home daycares can be hit or miss. You may have to go through a few before you find one you love. Word of mouth is best if you are going this route.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

I have tried a large center and in home care. I preferred the in home due to the fact that I KNEW who was taking care of my DS every day. Whereas the center, they had students etc.., sometimes I had no idea who was taking care of him, and there was major communication problems between caregivers.

Then I had DS in an in home situation. I loved his caretaker, but they moved due to the economy, this forced me to look once again. Now i am in a situation I absolutely LOVE. Its considered an in home, but it is a seperate house from their residence. The owner is the sub, and she has two people working full time. My DS LOOVES his teacher, and always gets a droopy face when the other teacher ansers the door, he is just so happy, and its a max of 12 kids on any given daym but they usually have less.

They have a great back yard, a music teacher comes in on Thursdays (he loves this) and the other teacher is a certified teacher, and does a preschool curriculum when he moves up. They do TONS of projects, and he def. comes home doing and saying things I know I didnt teach him.

You have to find what works for you..GOOD LUCK!

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

for us, price was a huge factor. We couldn't afford a nanny and the child care chain places like Tutor Time didn't have hours that worked for us (ie needed to p/u DS before 6pm or else overtime, etc)

So we found somebody who does it out of her home. So far so good. We are very pleased a lucky. She is 5 minutes from my mom, sister and DH (I work in NYC so I'm out of the equation). She lets us do more of a part-time sked (since DS is with my MIL about 2 full days a week, but days vary). Its worked out (fingers crossed)

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

Up until the age of 2 yrs, I prefer an in home daycare for the more one-on-one attention. When looking at in-home daycare the daycare had to be separate from their living space. They also needed to have a helper or someone there PT. Once DS was 2 we moved him to a center that had a more structured academic program.

I never considered a nanny becuz I didn't like the idea of someone in my house all day and I wanted another pair of eyes around.

Message edited 8/24/2009 3:20:38 PM.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

I went the daycare route because I would only get a nanny if it was a personal friend or family member, which I couldn't find anyone.

I did not want a stranger in my house. i think in the back of my mind I would always be afraid that I had "that nanny". You know, the one that leaves your child basically unattended all day and sits them in fron of the TV. It's a fear of mine. I'm not saying all nannies are like that.

Daycare facilities have certain codes they must follow.

The daycare I found has a great curriculum and a lot of interaction with other children.

Nannies are very expensive, and for what you are paying, unless they are AMAZING, I don't see any great benefit for the child (other than the very early months--3-6 months) over a daycare center. Other than they get a lot of colds in the beginning at day care. But then again, DD had bronchitis at 2 months before she even stepped in a day care center.

JMHO

Message edited 8/24/2009 3:36:58 PM.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

I really only considered a center. I liked the idea of him socializing with other children his age, since we don't really know many people with young children. We also have no backup babysitting options, so I couldn't depend on one person, since she would get sick, have personal emergencies, etc. I also like the fact that they have a structured curriculum and as he gets older, this becomes more important to me. I know someone who uses an in home provider and she was very happy with her when her DC was small, but now that she is preschool age, she is looking at centers because all the other children at this person's house are babies.

I love our daycare center and I know there are a wide range of experiences out there, but at our center, my DS has the same 3 teachers every day, unless one of them is out sick or on vacation. It has been this way since he started there. I just mention this, because I noticed one of the other posters said there was a lot of inconsistency in the staffing at her center.

All of the options have their pros and cons - you really have to look at the indivual providers you are considering and make the decision after weighing the pros and cons. Not all centers are the same, not all in home providers are the same. My DS also started daycare at almost 11 months, so I might have looked more seriously at an in-home provider if I were leaving him with someone when he was 3 months old.

Re: working moms....child care deciding factors

oops..meant to edit not quote

Message edited 8/24/2009 3:37:32 PM.