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Do you do family daycare?

C-LoC-Lo
in Parenting

What questions did you ask the person?

We are looking into daycare but the centers are so expensive and I'm freaking out about that. Family daycare is much less expensive but I worry about leaving my child with just one woman and not knowing what goes on.

 

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Re: Do you do family daycare?

  • bytheseabythesea

    I did not do family daycare but a friend of mine did.  Make sure when you are comparing costs, you are including all the vacation time the home daycare provider takes.  For example, my friends at home takes 2 weeks a year (random weeks) and for those 2 weeks she either has to take vacation or use a back-up care center.  She has also found that as her daughter became a toddler, she didn't get nearly the interaction she wanted with other children.  At home day care providers can take less kids and because of that this means your child could be the only one of similar age.  When her day care provider came down with a cold, the center was closed for the day.  Also, in comparison, my daughter is at a center and has never watched a second of TV while there.  My friends daughter watches TV everyday at the at home provider (this may be because as I said she is the only 2 1/2 year old so the provider is more focused on the infants - I don't think she always watched lots of TV).

    There is also of course the safety in numbers point that you made.  I totally understand that at home day care is much more affordable but I would really look at what you are saving by going that route and try to break it down by day.  When my friend finally did this, she found it was actually cheaper to use center based care and just made the move 2 weeks ago.  (Because she was paying for 2 weeks at a premium to use back-up care and needed to pay for parking those 2 weeks too.  Plus her at home day care provider took every possible holiday - including all the Monday holidays, Good Friday, day after Christmas, etc... which most centers don't take all of).

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  • katie277skatie277s

    I send DS to an in-home preschool.  We went and observed her home and how she was with the children.  She gave us a detailed list of their daily schedule (everything is very structured). 

    Some questions we asked about were hours, snack and food policy, price, holiday and vacations, etc.  She was by far the least expensive option for us, but she has been wonderful!  She provides 2 snacks and lunch (we feed DS breakfast at home), they have designated outdoor time, they walk to the library on Wednesday's for story time, and play outside in the sprinklers in the summer.  It is wonderful.  

    Also, a big one to ask is if she is licensed.  She is in a Master's Program in Childhood Development, is CPR certified and is licensed.  

    Good luck!

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  • elm1032004elm1032004
    We have used an in home provider since DD was a baby and we have been very happy with our DCP.  She has 6 - 8 kids, and they are in a range of ages.  It's not as structured as a center, but I prefered the in home care.  We looked at a few centers and I hated them.......but that will vary depending on what you are looking from in a daycare.  I would ask for references, ask what a typical day is, what ages the other children are, ask about what holidays they are closed on and about vacation.  My DCP always gives us a lot of notice for vacation and we have a few backups in place.  She is also open most Monday holidays and only took the major ones off.  I have a lot of vacation time at work, so we usually just coordinate with DCP and plan our vacation around the same time.  For us it has worked out really well.  You do need to look at the cost of both and what you are getting for the money and then chose the place that is right for you. 
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  • mikeandmonicamikeandmonica
    We go to a home daycare, and I love it. I think that you have to find one that is a good fit for you. Personally, when we started looking for our infant, I was really not comfortable with 8-12 infants in one room. Now that the oldest is a bit older, we are considering bringing him to a center for "preschool" type activities a day or two a week, but for the majority of the time we want him to be at the home daycare. I would interview a lot of people - some you will get bad vibes off immediately. Others will be great, but when you call references they won't be so stellar. You really will just "know" when you find a good one.   I agree about the vacation - our provider takes 2 weeks paid year, in 1 week time blocks - that she tells us WAY in advance. I like it because that means that we can plan our family vacations for that time as well. Also, when she is sick (which hasn't happened yet), she isn't paid for those days. We pay her for all holidays or days that we are not there.
    A big question we asked when interviewing is how often are you unable to care for kids. Because our provider has been doing it for 20+ years and has no small kids of her own at home, she hasn't had a day unexpectedly for 10+ years.
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