Daycare closer too ???

kcircell

If you work farther away from home do you think it is better to have LO in a daycare near your home or your work?

I work 23 miles from home and that is about a 30 minute commute. We are looking at 2 similar programs 1 near my work and one more on the side of town where our house is.

katieh1017

Ours is closer to home which is what I preferred.

MrsWindyCity

Definitely prefer closer to home so he doesn't have to commute with me, and so that if I have the day off or am sick and still send him in, I don't have to go far.

theboki

We prefer close to home.  My husband drops her off and I pick her up.  It wouldn't make sense to have her close to my work.

Lahardy96

For a slightly different perspective, I really like having my daycare close to work, so I can pop in at least once a week for lunch and visit my kids. My daycare is actually about halfway between - 10-15 minute from home and work. It's perfect.

bearkatjen

I prefer closer to home. Sometimes DH has a weekday off, but he still takes DS to daycare. I might have a morning appointment, and it makes it easier to drop DS off near home, than to a daycare where I work, but not where I have doctor appointments. 

ajs0924

I work about 2 miles from home so this isn't an issue for me but I have had to pick up a sick baby a number of time so here are some things to consider...

• How long do you plan on staying in your home
• How long do you plan on staying at your current job
• If you pick close to home do you have to deal with traffic and will you be able to make it to daycare in time for pick up (some charge extra if you are late)
• Where is LO's doctor in association with home/work
• If you  have to pick him up if he's sick where does the person (like a parent or in-law) that could watch him live in association with work/home

Good luck in your desicion

jnealet

Closer to home.

OCNewlywed

Close to home, especially now that my older ones are in school and there is also after-school w/pick up. Plus, a lot of their daycare/pre-school friends are now in elementary school with them. This made for a much nicer transition.

EastCoastBride

MrsWindyCity:

Definitely prefer closer to home so he doesn't have to commute with me, and so that if I have the day off or am sick and still send him in, I don't have to go far.

All of this!

 

financialdiva

MrsWindyCity:

Definitely prefer closer to home so he doesn't have to commute with me, and so that if I have the day off or am sick and still send him in, I don't have to go far.

Ditto! 

cltk12

Closer to home. On Fridays I work from home so I don't want to drive far. Also, when winter comes, many people at my company work from home on snow days rather than sitting on the road for hours...we get more done so again nice to have close to home.

mrsseguin

Definitely closer to home.

rubber_chicken

I think most people will tell you closer to home.  We went with closer to work for a couple reasons.

1. state regulations say a kid can only be in daycare up to 10 hours a day. With our commutes, the only way we could swing that would be to stagger our schedules, and we couldn't make it work with our jobs.

2. my husband and i work in the same direction - his office is about halfway between home and my office.  So we can take turns taking the car (we only have one, and we each wfh 2 days a week) and doing pickup and dropoff.

3. daycares in our town are SO FREAKING EXPENSIVE.  not sure why, but the inhome daycares were more expensive than the center we have her in down the street from my husband's office.

so I know this wouldn't work for everyone, but it's working well for us.  We did have to pick her up early from daycare due to illness and it was nice to have my husband just down the road from her. 

ASmallWonder

Close to home for all the reasons people listed.  I'll add that when he was first born I had him in a place near my work (about 20 miles away). I got laid off from that job and found another and was forced to switch providers because the new job wasn't near the old one but obviously if I had had him close to home, that hadn't changed.

groovygrl

Another vote for home.

DTNZ4Ever

Close to home. DH or I can do drop off or pick up. DS is not in the car for 2 hours while I commute he is having fun and learning during those 2 hours a day.

Starbear06

I was also debating this between two daycares. We ended up going with the one closer to home and it made a lot of sense! I sent him in a week early to transition and it was nice that it was close to home. And also it just makes a lot of sense from a drop off and pick up standpoint.

jasminelorraine20

LO's babysitter is 5 minutes up the street from where we live and I like that much better. If there's ever a day when SO needs to get him because I'm running late or something like that, he can go pick him up.

laurakaz13

Closer to home.  23 miles isn't that far, but it will still be easier for you to have LO close. 

I'm horrible b/c my first thought was, "What if you have a day off and want some time to yourself!?  You can still drop LO off for a few hours!"

katie_cj

I've always preferred closer to home. That way if I have a day off or I'm sick and still need him to daycare, then I don't have to commute.

 Also, I preferred not having him in the car during traffic at supper time.

Right now, his daycare is closer to my work, but it's not a big deal since I live in a small town and there's rarely traffic and it's not that far. 

Netty_3

I am 35 miles from home.  LO is closer to home...but also extremely close to DH's work. I think closer to home is good because then they don't have to be in the car too long...

MidwestGidget

I'd say closer to home for all the other reasons pp mentioned, UNLESS your job regularly keeps you late. You don't want to be fighting traffic every day praying to make it to DC before close and keeping the staff late.

jiffy-pop

It depends on where you run your errands (dr. appts, shopping, etc). I work in town which is where DD goes to daycare so I can leave work and take her to a dr appt here in town, or pick her up and go shopping.

law&order

My commute is the same as yours. If DS's future preschool weren't on the college campus where I work, I'd have him closer to home or to grandparents (which is right in between work and home for us).  

Bella427

I've done both and prefer closer to work.  Both kids are a block away and I was able to go nurse DS during the day so that I only had to pump once.  I can also pop over for things like school parties when parents are invited.  The downside is that I do all pick ups and drop offs. 

joleine

When my first was in daycare, I chose a daycare that was in the middle.  That way I knew I wouldn't be late picking her up at night, and also if I had to leave in the middle of the day to go pick her up, I was relatively close.  Also, if there was a day that I was off of work but needed to take her to DC, it was close as well. 

Taylor44

I prefer closer to work.  I enjoy having my boys in the car for the commute.  It gives us time to talk.  Also, being closer to my work means that I don't have to worry about traffic, and getting to the daycare in time at the end of the day.  It also makes it easier on the days when they have special activities.