child care - near work or home?

njbride0603 · October 2011

currently my DD is at daycare near my work...our commute home has gotten increasingly longer due to construction. I leave at 5pm and by the time I pick her up and we get back in the car we aren't getting home until 6:15/6:30. I feel like there is no time to do anything when we get home at 6:30. My DH got a new job and his office is no longer near her school so I'm on double duty. I may be transitioning into a new position in the spring which will have overtime each month - not crazy but may need to stay later some nights. If she was closer to our home than my DH could help out - now he would have to go out of his way to get her if I couldn't -he's also in sales and isn't always just in his office. I feel horribly about moving her to a new school...she just transitioned to preschool and is having a hard time adjusting and is with kids she's been with since she's been in infants...advice/ thoughts?? also if you'll notice come spring we'll have baby #2 to throw into the mix

thanks

ZoeyMarie · October 2011

Home: I'd rather not have to drive my kids around in snowstorms and rush hour traffic. They're much happier running around while I put in the time in the car.

megs68 · October 2011

It's hard to say, there's pros and cons to each. DS is near my work, which is great because I visit him sometimes at school (I used to visit nearly every day at lunch and BF) and is convenient for pick up if I leave work late and can get him right before close without worrying about traffic or cutting it too close. But at the same time, it's annoying on days where I need DH's help to get him or if I'm sick/taking a personal day and he's near my work vs close to home. Would you have a problem making sure you get the kids before close with the traffic situation if they were close to home? I'd be concerned about that.

expectingnothing · October 2011

Ours is also near home. It's also less than a mile from their pedi and if they were really sick my mom would be able to get them and take them over. I used to work from home 2 days a week so that was another reason it was close to home. Lastly, the point above that in bad weather I'd rather them just be at school rather than commuting with me.

ConnieRob · October 2011

Our DC is about 5 min from my work and about 25 min from home. In January we are moving 40 min away. I'm keeping DS in his DC near my work for 2 reasons:

1) His Dr is in this town. We absolutely love him and will not be changing providers when we move. They are open every day of the year, including holidays at no extra charge and until 7pm every weeknight. If DS has an appt I can make it for the afternoon and just pick him up, go to the Dr then head home.

2) If DS were to get sick or hurt at DC, I am 5 min away. Growing up my parents worked an hour away from school. I remember having to sit in the nurses office waiting for them to come get me. Once, I got sick near the end of school and by the time my Mom got there school had let out and the busses had all ready picked up the other kids (including my sister).

That's just my 2 cents, but for the record DH works longer hours than I do so even if DS was in DC by the new house, I would be the one doing pick up and drop offs.

azuremama · October 2011

My kids are near work and it's nice having the baby, in particular, so close by. I kind of like commuting with my 3 year old because he likes to chat and listen to music while we drive. But we have had some loooong drives. Especially when the baby is crying and it hurts DS's ears, so then they both cry....

I keep thinking about switching them to closer to home. The benefits there is that it'd be more convenient for DH to help out with dropoff/pickup. I could take the kids in for a while if I had a doctor's appointment instead of having to drive all the way to daycare to drop them off. I could drop them off and work from home sometimes.

A friend of mine pointed out that a commute can be very long if your kiddo is sick in the car. Also, maybe your DD would make some friends that might go to kindergarten with her? It might make that transition easier.

Also, I get to take HOV this way.

asyph107 · October 2011

I would say near home, if you are sick and need them to go, no sense in driving all that way. It could interfere with sleep routines if they have to sit in traffic and they fall asleep. Also near the home works if you need your SO to pick up the LOs.

indika236 · October 2011

DD will be at a daycare that is around the block from my office for two reasons- the HOV lane and I will BF her at lunch. We will have a 30 mile commute (45min- hour) each way.

This makes sense for us right now, but after she is older we may decide to put her in a DC closer to home. I am kind of waiting for DH to graduate and get a job before we make more permanent decisions about daycare.

Pesky · October 2011

Home: don't want to drive far in bad weather and don't want to have to go far with a sick kid (our pedi is also very close there).

kmh2201 · October 2011

ZoeyMarie:
Home: I'd rather not have to drive my kids around in snowstorms and rush hour traffic. They're much happier running around while I put in the time in the car.

This exactly. Daycare is only a few minutes from home..

UsedToBeGoldie · October 2011

I'd always choose home - as long as it allowed time to get to pick up before daycare closed.

having it near home = being able to drop kids off easily when one of us is sick and taking a day off- or just taking the day off to get things done at work - so either of us can do drop off/pick up without an additional commute.

it's also great when DH and I take a day off together - we can bring the kids easily

i also don't want my kids in the car longer than they need to be - safety, etc- but also they have more fun and learn more at school than they do in the car with a commute.

amos2006 · October 2011

my daycare is half a mile from home. I also have long term construction extending my commute, and I would prefer to do it alone (sometimes I get mouthy with the annoying rude people).

How close is DD to kindergarden? you are going to have to switch her then anyway, cuz it's probably now or then, either is a transition. I would chose now, so she will know some of the kids she goes to school with if you get a dc in town, and then you won't ever have to swich the baby.

Irishsapphire · October 2011

I like child care closer to work. Our daycare is 10 minutes from work versus our home is a 30 minute commute with bus and walking to work. It is easier to drop off baby at daycare close to my work and then I have more time to do errands before I pick up my son at daycare. We did have a part-time nanny for two months before my son started daycare. A nanny is on the clock, so I felt like I was always running to get home so that we did not have to pay extra money. With daycare being close, I do not have to worry about it because it is a set monthly rate, and I just need to be there before the daycare closes at 6:00pm or earlier if the daycare is closing earlier on certain days--so much easier.

mrambo3 · October 2011

I would say home. Our DC is literally 2 minutes away from our house. When I was looking for a new job, I got excited bc they had on-site daycare. But then I got to thinking, that job location was nowhere near our home or my DH's work so that would mean I would have double duty, which is not what we wanted since I drop DS off and DH picks him up.

Tikat · October 2011

Their is no right answer and I've been battling this one...I have a 50 mile commute and on those days I do drop-off my commuting time has steadily increased as the economy is picking up...(I also work in a family friendly business with flextime so as long as I get there by 9am I'm good)

My boss recently suggested I put my girls in daycare near my work - and relented when I said that I'd rather not try to get everybody ready for a 6am commute and then risk them getting hurt by a crazy Mass Driver. He accepted and understood. But it would also rob the girls of time with their Dad - who picks them up early on days I drop off. So honestly I'd rather they're close to home and their Pedi where DH can pick up and drop off - as well as his parents who live within 5 minutes from our house...

livinitup · October 2011

By home was great b/c DH and I could easily drop-off in the morning. The only downside was that if I had to be really strict about not staying too late to miss closing or I had to contact DH if I knew I wouldn't make it. Not often but a stress.

Now, it all has to do with the program. It is so good and I trust them so much that I would easily go out of my way to keep her there.

Topi-Jan · October 2011

I know I'm late to reply, but here's another vote for home. My situation is a little different because as a teacher I'm usually not pushing the closing time at our center. Other than all the benefits previous posters mentioned, we've run into some unexpected ones as well. Most of the teachers at our school live in the area too, so we run into parents, teachers, admin and friends all over the place just running errands. It's kind of nice because they become a part of your life (not to mention the fact that we have NO family here so when we needed babysitters, we have people nearby to turn to who already spent all day with our boys). If your kids make good friends, odds are good they live nearby for playdates. Birthday parties for close classmates have also been nearby.

As for #2 coming in spring, if you are keeping #1 in school to maintain her routine, I would say a center near home is much, much easier. Think about doing drop offs/pick ups around a newborn's routine...it helped us out a lot to have the school so close by.

ITGurl0626 · October 2011

My DC is 2 miles from my house, but then again my job is 6 miles from my house. However, given your situation I would much rather have DC closer to home. That way once you pick up the kids, within a few minutes you are home...no traffic, no rush hour, no hungry kids in the back.

child care - near work or home?

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