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Working Moms
In-Home vs. Center-based Daycare?
Hi ladies,
We're currently researching daycare options for our little man who is due 8/4. I was hoping you moms with children currently in daycare programs could share your opinions on in-home (in the home of a licensed provider) vs. center-based care.
Why do you prefer one over the other?
Any additional advice you can share?
TIA - your expertise is GREATLY appreciated.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: In-Home vs. Center-based Daycare?
Everyone has different preferences, but for me, I wanted DD to be at home while she was a baby. For the first 18 months, we had a nanny. This was such a godsend, because the nanny would show up around 7:30 and gave me time to get dressed in the morning, feed her, etc. It was nice to not have to wake DD up if she was still asleep, and she was almost never sick.
Once they get a little older, I found that they need the stimulation and structure of a center. So at 18 months, she started a center daycare. That was ok.....she was the youngest in her class by a bit, so it was a big adjustment for her.
Then, we moved cross country and I stayed at home (but started my photography business) so when she turned 2, I put her in an in-home daycare. That has been the best fit for us. She still gets the 'comfort' of a home environment, with the stimulation of friends to play with and the structure of another environment. At 3.5 she is now in preschool 2 mornings a week, but still goes to the in-home daycare 2 days a week. It's great!
Good luck! It's a TOUGH search!
I went with an in-home provider when the kids were babies because of the cost savings, flexibility, and location. I never even looked into a center because I knew I couldn't afford it as a single parent. One of the big pros was that I could still leave my kids with her if they were a little sick or had a fever. She would baby them and let them lie around the house all day. I didn't have to miss much work then, and a center won't let you do that. She also took DD to half-day preschool for me.
The cons were that she usually had to pack up my kiddos and bring them along when taking the older kids she watched to school. Also, her mom lived there and would watch the kids sometimes while she ran kids to school. And she had a pool which, while well supervised and controlled, freaked me the eff out sometimes.
We were all set up with a DC center right before I was going back to ML. We decided at the last minute to change based on a recommendation from someone in our neighborhood.
We love our in-home provider. She has 15+ years experience. She is wonderful with our little guy and he has grown and thrived under her care. She only has 2 other babies and they are all "friends" according to her. So there aren't as many germs as a DC, but he still gets the social interaction. The big plus also was the lower price. She is $80 cheaper a week than the in-home. It's been a great experience so far.
The best way to find an in-home would be to find someone who can recommend them.
There is no right answer so definitely explore all of the options. There are pros and cons to both of them.
Off to the beach
DS 7/18/2010
Handy 2.0 Due Early August
2011/2012 Races
12/17/2011 Christmas Caper 10K
2/11/2012 Have a Heart 5K
3/17/2012 DC RNR Half Marathon
4/22/2012 10M Parkway Classic
10/28/2012 Marine Corps Marathon
I've done both, and while in-home was fine, I much prefer a center. Why?
- All of the teachers at our center are certified childcare instructors with many, many years of experience watching children. Most in-home providers are mothers, wonderful mothers, but not always with the educational background I prefer.
- There is no tv at the center. There is no juice. There are healthy homemade snacks, and healthy homemade lunches. I felt the in-home daycare provider was a little lacking in the nutrition, even though I packed healthy snacks, and I know she let the kids watch tv.
- I like that there are so many adults in the center, and everyone is very responsible. I like that they take them to the park, and on walks. With the in-home provider, she only took them in her little yard, because she couldn't transport all 5 kids that she watched.
- The center we go to has a K4 program and an afterschool program. If we choose to use those programs, it's nice to know our daugther will have been in the Center for 3 years leading up to those programs.
- It's more expensive at the Center, but I feel my child's days are more structured. Plus, she is much happier at the center, the most important thing!
We looked at both and went with the in-home because we were still on the waiting list at the center when I needed to return to work. We love our in-home and have kept DD there because she is happy and gets great care (even when we finally got off the waiting list at the center).
There are pros and cons to each and it really is a personal decision.
I preferred a center for a variety of reasons:
* hours -- longer and more flexible
* accountability -- background checks, routine certification for training including safety, and normally more than one teacher in a room and always people around in the halls so it would be hard to get away with anything
* security -- stuff mentioned above and coded access; not just anyone can walk in
* built-in preschool -- I didn't have switch my kids around to accommodate preschool and even kindergarten if I want to
It's not the cheapest route but it really works for us.
DD -- 5YO
DS -- 3YO
This - I don't like in-home care because I don't know who is hanging around the house - the neighbors, daughter's slimy BF, etc....there is no accountability and I question safety issues. Plus I like kids separated developmentally - one person taking care of a bunch of infants and older kids is chaos and potentially unsafe.
I'll leave DS with a babysitter or Grandma for a few hours here and there, but I wanted something more for my child on a regular daily basis.
I think you should look at both as options. Ask people you know for home daycare recommendations ( make sure they are licensed by your state ) & then tour a few centers. We did this when we first started searching & we settled on a home daycare for DD. She came highly referred & had 20+ years of experience in childcare. She had early education degrees & was far more experienced than any "teachers" in the centers we looked at. DD was there until she was 20 months and our provider retired & referred us to a friend of hers, also licensed with years of experience and we are equally happy there now. Home daycare are great alternatives to center care, IF you can find quality ones. My state has very strict standards for care to stay licensed as a home provider, moreso than centers do & I love the one on one attention and homey atmoshphere of home daycares. I love that my DD is building a strong bond with her caregivers & that she has kids of different ages to learn from. It's ok for infants to be around older kids & vice versa if you have an experienced caregiver there. How is it any different from siblings being together ? that arguement related to being only with kids their ages , makes no sense to me?! No, you dont get the accountablity with home daycares like you get in centers, but if you find one you really get a good vibe off of, you dont need it. You will grow to trust this person with your child more than you do your own parents. They will know your child almost as well as you do. For an infant especially , its important to have consistency in a caregiver & you can't get that in a lot of centers, with high turnover rates, etc.
This is one area where everyone has their preferences & usually they are biased to what that person chose for themselves. ( You can tell the way my opinion sways , lol ) It doesnt mean either choice is wrong or bad. There are good & bad centers & home daycares. You just have to keep an open mind. Someone saying they dont like home daycares but has no real experience with a good one, is not an opinion you want to listen to & vice versa for someone saying the same thing about centers. Look at all of your options in depth, ask questions when you tour these places, ask for the numbers of other parents for references, check your states licensing website to see how long the person or facility has been in business, how many complaints or violations they have had, etc...Most importantly, trust your gut. Only YOU know where the best place for your child is. Good luck.
I've never limited myself to centers or in-homes when looking for care. I look at all my options and figure out what works best.
For example, pp's have said that there is no TV at centers, with the implication that there IS TV at in-homes. Well, DD's center has TV, and DS's in-home care has no TV. It really depends on the individual situation.
What we've done... DD was in a nanny share from 4-11 months, an in-home care situation (a SAHM where she was the only baby) from 12-23 months, and now has been in a center since her 2nd birthday. DS is in in-home care right now and we're planning to switch him into DD's center when he turns 2. (It is a preschool that starts at age 2, hence why he doesn't go there now.) There were different pluses and minuses to each provider, but overall, they were great and I would recommend each of them -- not because they were centers, or in-homes, but because they were great child care providers.
If you want a more complete answer, you can check out the child care posts on my blog, where I go into lots of details about how we chose each, what other options we considered, what I liked and what I didn't like, etc. https://worklifeunbalanced.blogspot.com/search/label/child%20care
Mommy to DD1 (June 2007), DS (January 2010), DD2 (July 2012), and The Next One (EDD 3/31/2015)
Everything people have mentioned here as benefits of centers, we have in our in home.
There are 4 teachers, all of whom have early childhood education backgrounds.
There is no tv anywhere in the daycare space (I think they have a family room in the basement - the child care kids don't go down there). They do field trips. My DD takes gymnastics with the other older kids. They have kinderdance come in to do a weekly class. They have storytellers and foreign language teachers come in too. The home is secure, with a touchpad security entry system. All employees have background checks.
Other benefits though? Smaller group, less illnesses. More accountability - this is the owner's home and livelihood and she takes it *very* seriously. Also, DD has experience with all ages - when she was little, she learned a lot from the older kids, and now learns a lot about being around babies - which has helped with our new baby.
They also make all meals from scratch, organic foods, and meet with a nutritionist to review menus. Many of the veggies are grown in raised beds in the yard that the kids planted from seeds, and that they tend and help to pick. DD eats better there than at home. And they are in the process of becoming green certified.
Lastly, they follow all the state early learning guidelines for preschool programs - and she is ahead of where she should be academically, in preparation for kindergarten.
People tend to think of inhomes as being one mom watching a dozen kids, who she just parks in front of the TV. There are some like that, but many are not.