Hi!

I'm thinking about starting a daycare this fall, and was wondering what attracted you to taking your child to an in-home daycare. What do you think are the benefits versus a day care center??

Also, if you feel comfortable answering, can I ask what you pay weekly, and if that is a fixed rate for all ages, or if your provider charges differently according to age??

If you have any other comments or suggestions, please feel free to share them. This is something I've thought about doing for a long time, and now that we have this big house and all this room, I'm really seriously considering it more.

Well, I had this all typed out yesterday and then lost it. I do not have my son in an in-home daycare, but lots of my friends do. I'll answer from their perspective.

Reasons they sent their kids to in-home:

1) Smaller number of kids
2) More personal
3) Home-like environment
4) Less expensive
5) Fewer illnesses (less kids)
6) More flexibility/less rigid rules
7) Mixed-age setting (some like this, some don't)

Things they don't like

7) Less structure -- concerned about tv, etc. . .
8) Sometimes not very clean
9) Sometimes other people besides hired-caregiver watch kids without parents knowledge
10) No back-up in case of caregiver illness/vacation

I did have one friend who used to be an in-home provider. She quit because parents didn't pay on time and didn't pick-up on time. She said if she had to do it all over again, she would be more rigid in some of those rules. Just something for you to think about.

Another friend of mine just switched from one in-home provider to another, not by choice. Now, she vastly prefers the new provider because the kids are on more of a schedule (which is like my center).

Other things to think about are: Meals --will you provide, or will the parents provide? Cubbies for kids stuff? Field trips and transportation issues or just at home all day? Will you allow cloth diapers? How to report on the child's day (journals, daily sheets, oral)? With this be a legitimate "business" or cash transactions -- this may be important for some parents (tax/dependent care issues).

Hope this helps!

I used to pay $125 for a week for a newborn to age 1. I think it is a little less after age 1, but she doesn't go there full-time anymore. I had to provide EBM/formula, bottles, nipples, diapers, wipes and an outfit change. She has little cubby holes that she put all of the kids personal things in. Brooke goes there once a week now, so she can get interaction with other kids and I pay her $125 a month now. I only provide a bottle, diapers and wipes now at 14 months old. She provides all of the lunch, snacks and milk to Brooke.

I visited a daycare that was close to my work, but I found them to be not as clean, and so indifferent to the kids. I chose an in-home daycare because there were less children per worker, the safe environment (IMO), and the flexibility with my work/traffic schedule. My provider actually asks us to birthday parties and I feel that she is a friend also (not that you can't get that with a daycare worker, but there are too many kids to get close to every parent). I also can ask my daycare provider (who has four kids of her own) her opinions on my parenting style or if this is normal or not (sort of like what we do on here).

Good luck!!!

Jack goes to an in home daycare and I am very happy with it. The reasons I chose in home vs. a center are:

- I was home with Jack for almost 2 years before I decided to go back to work. So I felt an in home would be a better fit for him and he would adjust better.
- Closer to home. It was right across the street from our house and we knew Patti (the woman who runs the daycare) for years and also had many postive recomendations from other neighbors.
- Patti runs the daycare like a preschool, which it really is. She only takes kids from 18 months to 5 years and has an early childhood education background and curriculum. Plus they go out for walks almost every day and to the park in the spring and summer, and also take a few mini field trips.
- I like the mixed age setting. Her philosophy is that the younger kids learn from the older ones and the older kids gain confidence in seeing how far they've come.
- I liked the small class, there are only 6 kids in total, and they are not all full-time.
- She has a steady helper/backup person. Jack loves Mrs. Myers more than Patti I think!
- Patti potty trains the kids as well.
- Since I have Jack there full-time, Patti is very flexible with our hours. I drop him off at 7:45 and he gets picked up at 5pm every day. If I needed to drop him off earlier or pick him up later, she would not have a problem with that and does not charge extra.
- Patti is trained in CPR, her house is immaculate, & she has frequent fire drills and an escape plan. I also like most of her rules and find them easy to adopt at home.
- Patti is NY State certified.

I pay $225 a week for full-time care, plus a $25 supplies fee every year. Patti bases her prices on how many days and hours, not the age of the child. I provide lunch and snacks, though if Jack wants extra milk or doesn't like what I made for lunch, she provides extra milk and cheerios.

If you have any other questions, just let me know. Good luck!

I originally thought I'd want an in-home daycare for Rebekah. But then I discovered that the ones around here are not as flexible with their schedules as the centers are. One woman's hours were 6am to 4pm, absolutely no later than 4:30pm. Since I work an 8:30am-5pm job, we couldn't even consider her.

In home centers are allowed to have 8 kids per one adult (plus the adult's own children) and I didn't like that. Centers here are 1 adult for every 6 kids.

Also, one woman we checked out had a pool and let the kids use it when state law said she couldn't do that. She also had a TV and VCR in the playroom.

One good thing was that one woman was state-subsidized, meaning that she was given money to feed the kids as long as she stuck to a state meal and snack plan. So we wouldn't have had to supply any food.

There are pros and cons to both in-homes and centers. The problems that Stella had with centers (not as clean, less workers per child, impersonal, less safe), were all thing that I encountered at in-home places that made me choose a center.

Chantal runs a center out of her home in Canada. Maybe she can give you some ideas.

In home centers are allowed to have 8 kids per one adult (plus the adult's own children) and I didn't like that. Centers here are 1 adult for every 6 kids.


I think that depends on the state. I know Patti told me she can't have more than 6 kids.

Its the same here (8 kids plus your own) which is ENTIRELY too many IMO. I'd like to have 2, 3 at the most, depending on age

I'm not really sure what to do right now, we're planning on TTC this fall (september), and I had a horrible PG last time (hyperemesis, early contractions, etc.), I worry about that, and then in 9 months they are going to have to find someone else for a while when I have a newborn. So I think we'll hold off on it. I'd love to start now, but I don't want those parents to have to search for another place down the road so soon...

It might be a good idea to hold off, spend the extra time with Trey and then adjust to having a new baby. THEN start the daycare. Use the time in between, though, to collect things you need, get your house ready, take CPR and first aid training, get all your paperwork/contracts in order, and that kind of stuff. Then you'll be totally prepared, probably to start a year from this fall.

Good luck!

Thanks Brooke :) Thats what Robb and I both think too. This way we can get our yard fenced in, I can start getting things slowly instead of having to buy them all at once, take my CPR class and take a few early childhood education classes.

Its the same here (8 kids plus your own) which is ENTIRELY too many IMO. I'd like to have 2, 3 at the most, depending on age

I'm not really sure what to do right now, we're planning on TTC this fall (september), and I had a horrible PG last time (hyperemesis, early contractions, etc.), I worry about that, and then in 9 months they are going to have to find someone else for a while when I have a newborn. So I think we'll hold off on it. I'd love to start now, but I don't want those parents to have to search for another place down the road so soon...
Here in AZ, I think licensed caregivers can have 6 plus their own children.

Chris, the lady I was considering for Jackson had her youngest son about 8 weeks prior and since he was in the NICU for a little longer than planned, she lost all her daycare children so she was looking to basically start from scratch again. With a pregancy, anything can happen. You could be put on bedrest too, so I think waiting until after would be a great idea.