What are the pros and cons of using a home-based daycare over a commercial daycare center?

Congrats! :)

The greatest factor in day care quality is not where it’s located, but the people who run it and how they do so. Either type of daycare can be excellent or terrible.

Make sure you visit and observe any place you’re interested in sending your child. Some things to pay attention to:
-Safety factors in and around the facility (including child-proofing, first aid procedures, and signing in and out procedures),
-Licensing
-The adult to child ratio, and the experience and educational backgrounds of the adults.
-How happy the children seem to be (remember that some kids/babies are smiley pretty much no matter what, and some are grumpy even in the best situation)
-Make sure their discipline philosophies are in line with yours
-Make sure needs are attended to quickly, effectively, and pleasantly
-Find out about the structure for an average day: Are kids just sitting there watching TV or entertaining themselves, or are there planned, educational, stimulating, purposeful, fun, and educational indoor and outdoor activities?
-Find out their procedures for sick kids.
-Also, make absolutely sure you know who will be with your child at all times, and make absolutely sure you are allowed to come in whenever you want.

Get recommendations for places from your friends and neighbors, and make sure you talk to parents who currently use the facility.

Don’t be afraid to ask too many questions. This is your child, and any care provider worth their salt will answer a zillion questions as many times as you need to ask them.

My daughter may be paranoid, but she said she wanted a center because she wanted more staff there so there was more accountability. I was pretty financially strapped when she was little and she had some pretty bad in holme child care. I am only now learning how bad some of them were. Big sourse of “mommy guilt.”. You really do get what you pay for.

I am a huge proponent of in home care, such as a nanny…since I was one.

But, doing research since having my own child, statistics prove that children are saying in commercial day cares, usually with more staff. Apparently less risk of being injured by the staff itself. Scary.

But, for me, if I were to get care for my children it would still be in home care by someone I trust..such as a relative or friend. I’d even consider an in home daycare with a small amount of children, so my child could socialize.

How old will your child be when they will need care? I’d shop around prices, and interview people now. Good luck! I’m also due in February!

The one major difference I’ve seen is that a home-based day care is more likely to work with your schedule. Commercial day care centers don’t usually let you come (and pay for) just 3 days a week from 7am-3pm. You’re more likely to find an individual to work with you on this. I’m actually going to be taking care of a child for a few days a week very soon because the mom didn’t need all week care. Though, I’m not licensed, I would encourage you to find someone who is.

Also, congratulations to you!

I’ve had good and bad experiences with BOTH… (luckily not HORRIBLE experiences, but enough for me to move on for the sake of my kid)

Go with your gut… check everything out that @Likeradar mentioned and let your gut feeling be your guide. If there is ANYTHING that you see or feel (or smell) that doesn’t seem right, move on.

(congats to you both!)

When we had our first child, we looked at both daycare centers and home daycare providers. We ended up choosing a home daycare, and loved it. They are not all created equal, so you really have to take the time to get to know the caregiver(s), look into referrals from other parents, and visit more than once to get a feel for the place.

The caregiver at the home daycare we used did everything on her own, with no other employees. She had two of her own children in high school, a large, very clean home, was licensed by the state, and only took on one infant at a time. When our daughter started there, the other children in her care had all been with her for at least two years. She had a large finished basement that she used as the “classroom.” It was full of fun things to do, very comfortable and bright. She ran the daycare like a classroom in many ways, with daily “circle time,” crafts, playtime outside in the fenced in yard, very limited television, and daily communication sheets with parents. We were welcome to call or stop by any time, without notice. Our daughter thrived with her, and we never once had any problems or concerns. We always felt we were lucky to have found her.

The pros were stability of care (centers often have high turnover rates), reasonable cost, convenient location, and excellent care.

The biggest drawback was having only one caregiver. If she was sick or had some kind of family emergency, one of us had to use a sick/vacation day or scramble to find another sitter. That’s really the only drawback I can think of, but if you know someone to use as a backup, things will be easier.

When our daughter was a toddler and I switched jobs, she started going to a daycare center. We were also very, very happy with the center. It was an excellent place. I’d suggest you visit both centers and home daycare centers to find a place that works for you.

I wanted someone who would be like a second mom to my son. I was so incredibly fortunate that I found just that! My son was 4 months old when he first needed to go into child care 2–3 days per week, at 18 months it was 4 days, and from 4–6 years old it was full time.

I worked in Hospitals that had on-site child care, but it was just as expensive, and I didn’t like the idea of having my son in the car with me on those long commutes. I preferred having a home-based center closer to where we lived. Since my son had no siblings and I had no friends with young kids, I saw child care as his opportunity to develop social skills, and I wanted it to be more homey rather than institutional.

His earlier day care providers offered just that – a home away from home in a family-like environment. I found them to be more flexible with their schedule and I know that they really loved my son. The first one’s husband was transferred out of state; and the second one had to get a job that offered benefits for her and her kids.

The third in-home center was the best of both worlds! The woman had a degree in Early Childhood Education, her husband was a chef, her son was a few months younger than mine, and her program had a great balance of structure and flexibility. She had a contract and a set schedule so we knew well in advance when she would be on vacation and such.

It was she who called me and told me that he at 4 years old was acting depressed – which brought my own depression and marital problems to light, and I got myself into therapy. I don’t know that the ‘teachers’ at a preschool/daycare would catch on to that because of the number of kids they deal with… I suspect they’d be just as happy that he was sitting quietly and keeping to himself because he was easier to care for. But Mary knew that this was not characteristic of my son, and she had the resolve to mention it rather than shirking away for fear of my reaction, or thinking it wasn’t her place to comment on our family’s business.

In between # 2 and 3 was a brief stint with a neighbor of #2 (because her situation changed rapidly, so we needed someone in a pinch)... That woman was the type that gives in-home care a bad name. She treated it like it was a playdate for her kids and just let them run around and watch whatever on TV, while she was elsewhere in the house doing her own thing.

Take your time and check references. Some institutional centers can be great! It depends on the people who work there. Congratulations, best of luck, and welcome to Fluther!

i use a great babysitter that my daughter’s been going to since she was 7 months old ( that’s almost 2 years ago). i looked at a day care center, which was $650 every two weeks – and there was no “part time” only full time. my babysitter was $50 a day, now she’s up to $60. the day care center is tax deductible, my babysitter is “off the books.” one big disadvantage to the center was that if my daughter was out sick or i had the day off of work and did not need care that day, it’s still $650 every two weeks. with the babysitter, if baby was out sick or i don’t need her for whatever reason, i don’t pay her. my daughter goes to her three days a week, so that’s now $180/week.

she also gives me extra nice service like when i pull up, she comes down to the car and gets the baby and the stuff, which saves me time. with a center, i’d have to walk the baby into the place, which, when i’m running late for work, would make me later. this is not something all babysitters do, i’m just lucky. she’s very flexible, and luckily, she has not had any last minute problems that prevented her from working, so i’ve not had to scramble to find an alternate.

i’m sure if i used the center there would be advantages to that, too, but i like my babysitter.

We used a larger daycare center. My son got very attached to one caretaker when she was a teacher in his infant room. He stayed attached to her throughout his life. She became a babysitter, and later on, an administrator at the place, and still later she went back to school. Though out all of this she remained a favorite, who seems to enjoy our kids as much as they enjoy her, even now that she’s a big deal professional.

@daloon One of my daughter’s daycare teachers was like that. They were together in the toddler room, and then after our daughter went to the next room up, the teacher started working in that classroom too. They were together until my daughter left daycare to go to kindergarten, and we still keep in touch.

With any type of daycare, the teacher/caregiver makes all the difference!