Need Daycare advice

buckyfan30 · July 2013

Hi all,

I'm fighting with convenience vs. what we know and love.

Just found out last week that our in home day care is going to be moving to a different city..all in all about 10 minutes north of where we live. Everything is still pretty up in the air with a timeline for her. They are waiting for a home to be built and may possibly keep daycare at their current house until it sells.

We absolutely love our current daycare, but it would mean I would to drive to a different city and then back here to work. This would only add about 10-15 minutes on to my day..but I am worried about winter time. She said we would gie discounts to families who "moved" with her, so that would pay for the extra gas I am thinking.

I feel like I want to try and keep DS with what he knows and what we love, but would you be willing to drive the extra to keep daycare the same? There is a daycare center very close to my work...only 2-3 mins away that we could take DS to. I feel like we need to make a decision, so we can make a plan.

Sorry for the rambling..! Just hoping for some other perspectives..

eatmorecupcakes · July 2013

I am used to commuting, so 15 to 20 minutes is under the norm for drive times here. I would absolutely stay with what you know. Quality daycare is hard enough to find as it is. Worst case scenario is that you stay with her, it doesn't work out and then you change daycares.

NativeFloridian · July 2013

What Cups said. From the perspective of someone who lives in a town where everything is at LEAST a 10 to 20 minute drive out of the way, I definitely think the extra driving is worth it if you and DS like it!

StefandTodd · July 2013

For only 10-15 mins, yes I would keep him with what he knows. My child is intense and transition/change is super hard for him (he starts transition to the 2's room next week, sob!!!!!). I'd do a lot to keep his routine the same.

Monsieur_et_Madame_Ha · July 2013

Tough decision.

We switched DC when DD1 was just a little under two. We really liked her old DC, but it was 15 minutes in the wrong direction. That meant it added 30 minutes to our commute, so really an hour a day.

I am very happy we made the switch. For one thing, I like her current DC much better. It also makes our lives that much less stressful: there's a law here that you can't leave your child at DC for more than 10 hours a day - most people work 8 hour-days + 1 hour unpaid lunch for a total of 9 hours, meaning you only have one hour left for commuting between work and daycare, which is not a lot at all. So cutting down on commute time, even if by a few minutes, can have quite the impact.

Oh and I know each kid is different, but DD1 adjusted way more quickly than I anticipated. The first day or two were fine. Then the novelty wore off and we had maybe 3 or 4 days of crying at drop off, and then that was it.

If you are seriously considering switching, get references from that other center. Is there any way you could go hang out at pick up/drop off to ask the parents how they feel about the place?

buckyfan30 · July 2013

Thank you for the input everyone. Getting feedback about the driving time made me realize it's not that big of a deal. I can always try it out and if it is too much I can look other places. I need some input from other moms because DH will probably leave the final decision on this one up to me.

As for the other day care that is close to my work.. I have at least 4 or 5 friends or coworkers that go there and do like it. I just don't want to make the change if I don't have to.

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