Home Daycare Thread

[janinegirly]

I know it''s a very broad subject line, but I''m getting ready to start my little girl in daycare--or at least seriously look at it. We''ve had a thread on nannies, and so I''d like to hear about people''s experiences (pros and cons) with daycare.

In my case, my little girl will be aged 1 (or a bit older) when she enters daycare. I am hoping to limit it to 2 days a week, as I''ll be working from home 2 days a week, and the 3rd day plan on juggling homecare between myself, DH, and the MIL''s. I''ve visited the 2 daycares in our area, and have a strong preference for one-it had a cozier feel, smaller "class size" and very friendly staff. The price is about $800 for 2 days a week! (per month), but worth it in the end, and this area is expensive (but cheaper than NYC at least). I like that C would be able to interact in a cozy envioronment with others her age, but still have a majority of time at home with me.

I''m curious on others'' thoughts--specifically on part time daycare vs. full time (5 days a week) and also starting later (over a year old). Is it harder on them being older, or having few days at the daycare (for consistency)?

I am also looking into a part time nanny which provides the advantage of being at home, but it''ll take more time to find someone I am comfy with, plus I have some hangups with a strange woman in my house (and all the sterotypes of nannies..etc. While I know stereotyping isn''t fair, I''d rather not deal with the potential drama). But if I get a great recommendation that we can afford, I''d certainly consider it.

Sorry for the rambling, pipe in if you have any thoughts on any of this...or something related!

 

[MustangGal]

We use a sitter that does it out of her home. Kyle started there at 9 weeks old, she lives on the next street over, so nice and close. My mom did in-home care when I was younger, so it was the model I was accustomed to. He goes 4-5 days a week, about 8 hours a day. I do plan on moving him to a preschool at about 3 years old.

For us, this was the most economical choice ($550 per month), and we thought it would be the best environment for an infant. Our sitter has 3 kids of her own (1 in school, and 1 starting preschool soon), and takes in one other child besides mine.

DH was not a fan of daycare, being raised by a SAHM, but now he''s a convert. We have a 2.5 year old nephew that is cared for 3 days a week by his grandmother, the other days by the mom. He has no real interaction with other children, doesn''t know how to play or share with other kids. Seeing how isolated he is compared to our 5.5 month old, DH actually likes the idea of daycare now.

For you, being only part time care and a 1 year old, a center would probably be a good experience for your LO. She''ll interact with other children, have structured activities, and experience different things than she would get at home or even from a nanny.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I agree that daycare provides a great avenue for child interaction, however, at age 1, I do not think a child would benefit from that. They're too young, IMO, but that said, I did put both of my kids in very PT day care at a young age and then later preschool because I needed to get errands and other work done and none of my family would help out. The center was excellent and both my kids continued to go there until kindergarten. Like I said, it was very PT, but being there, helped my kids adjust to being taken care of by other individuals and both were confident when entering elementary school. After about age 3, was when I noticed them interacting more with "peers."

I do not think having a nanny creates an isolating experience for a child, however, that is only if you hire a nanny who is very energetic and willing to create a social networking for your child.

(for the daycare/preschool, we paid $10 per hour and that included food, but my kids brought their own lunches.)

 

[dani13]

Hi Janine-

Dont have anything to add to this thread, just wanted to say hi!!! How is you new house coming along? I was thinking about you the other day- got my hair cut at a salon in downtown Summit- I just love it there- its such a cute town!!

Anyway, I hope all is well with you and your family!!!

 

[janinegirly]

hi dani! Summit''s going great, thanks! Lots of families and the town is v.cute (and lot of people commute to NYC like us). Haven''t gotten to explore the town as much as we should have since house & baby keep us busy, but maybe we''ll stroll around this weekend! You''ll have to tell me about the salon if it''s a good one .

thanks for checking in, hope you''re doing well!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Janine!

My son, James, has been in part-time daycare since he was 6 months old. He goes to a home-based care provider and is usually there 2 - 3 times a week. I love our sitter so much! She takes only one infant at a time to I know that James got the individual attention that he needed as an itty bitty baby.

Our sitter charges a daily rate and also has a weekly rate for the full-time kids. Her rates are pretty competative, especially compared to the center-based places we checked out before I went back to work.

I think that daycare can be good for socialization, but I agree with MC in that small children don''t really socialize as much as older toddlers. James "knows" the three regulars at his daycare and lights up when he sees them so we consider them his friends although at this point it''s still parallel play since he''s only 1 and they are between 2 and 3 years old.

We use part-time care because we have family that''s available to help us very cheaply and sometimes for free - so we take advantage of that

Hope this helps!

 

[janinegirly]

hi diva:

so do you feel james beneifits from the socialization aspect or that he''s still a bit young for it (I think he''s just over 1?). I did take a look at the toddler class (18mos-3yrs) and admit it looked like the most fun/interactive. They had a huge play room and were dancing, clapping and boogieing away!

 

[MustangGal]

Even though Kyle doesn''t necessarily interact with the other kids at daycare (other than pulling the hair on the 7 year old

), he likes to sit and watch the activity around him. This keeps him pretty occupied, which he wouldn''t be as much at home. While my nephew is isolated, as others pointed out, not all kids with SAHMs or nannies have to be, just in his situation they never take him out

, and don''t go to any playgroups, etc. They are planning to start part-time preschool once he''s finally potty trained.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Date: 7/28/2009 11:22:51 AM
Author: janinegirly
hi diva:

so do you feel james beneifits from the socialization aspect or that he''s still a bit young for it (I think he''s just over 1?). I did take a look at the toddler class (18mos-3yrs) and admit it looked like the most fun/interactive. They had a huge play room and were dancing, clapping and boogieing away!

James turned 1 on July 2, and I do think that he has benefited from the socialization aspect of daycare. We also do playdates with some other parents that we know and he''s a very easy going baby - he pretty much likes everybody

He is becoming much more active now that he''s cruising around the furniture and he''s more interested in what other people are doing - I don''t know if this is from daycare or just part of growing up though. He "dances", claps and makes so many different noises - sometimes on command LOL!

 

[D&T]

We go through an in home daycare. First we went to an institutional like LaPetite - hated it -for the really little ones anyways, then we had a great in home day care who was also certified and specialized in preschool- She would have many activities and learning times with the kids, and made well balance meals for all the kids. Then we moved and had to start all over finding another in home day care, we like where we are now, but I just can''t find that kind of person who has it all like our first gal. Anyhow I think an institutional setting is fine once they are out of diapers and are more independent imo. I think it helped when I started my DDs at 7 weeks old versus now. They would have had a harder time detaching from me, I also work from home one-two days a week just recently, and its nice to have that extra time with them. My almost 9 month old is started to have anxiety fears of me leaving her, even though she''s been to our gal since she was seven weeks old, she''s just starting to understand that mommy is leaving her for just a little bit, but when we pick them up, they are as happy as can be and sometimes don''t want to leave their friends.