RE: Best kind of child care

RE: Best kind of child care (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Life] >> Parenting

[Poll]

Best kind of child care

A center

4% (3)

An in home day care

15% (10)

Live in nanny

3% (2)

Live out nanny

12% (8)

Relative in your own home

25% (16)

Relative in their home

17% (11)

part time babysitter

3% (2)

church day care/preschool

4% (3)

other

7% (5)

trading with friends whose schedule is different

6% (4)

Total Votes : 64

(last vote on : 4/22/2008 9:06:20 PM)
(Poll will run till: -- )

Message

lexie -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/11/2008 10:17:48 PM)
When I do work (seasonal, part time) Dd stays with family members. If I had to work full time, I don't think family members would be an option for us (it's ok part time but not full). My choice would probably be an in home day care. One of the major factors in our decision would be cost. Right now, day care centres in the city are way too expensive for us. An in home day care would be cheaper. I would love to have a friend that I could leave her with, but none of my friends have children right now. I have offered to a friend when she has children that I will look after them. For me that would be the best option, if it was available to me.

2shaye -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/11/2008 10:23:39 PM)
As I've said in another post, I'm in this business. It's been my experience that parents who work full time (permanently) and leave their baby with "a friend" OFTEN, after a few months, move on to either a home daycare or a center. The reason is that the friend didn't quite understand the commitment of 5 days a week, 10 hours a day, no time off! I can't tell you how many parents have come to me in this situation. It starts out with great intentions, but in the long run, the changes the child goes through could be difficult, not to mention the stress the parents feel about tying to find a new daycare and overburdening their friend. I think the "what if" game is kinda silly since you really don't know what you'd do until you're faced with it (IMO).

29redballoons -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/11/2008 10:43:25 PM)
Also, speaking of costs...just one thing to remember...all in home daycares are not cheaper. Remember, in a smaller daycare, your child is getting more one on one attention and that in itself is worth more money. For what we do, we do not make nearly enough. I personally charge $75/wk. That is comparable in my area...but for a 45 hr week, which is what I contract for, the rate is $1.67 per hour. Not alot for taking care of someone's most prized possession. OOPS, sorry, I am off my soap box now...[:)][sm=icon_smile_blush.gif]

Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/11/2008 10:53:52 PM)
Only $75 a week??? At that price it would be worth it for me to work! Daycare around here runs $125+ per week.

2shaye -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/11/2008 11:17:33 PM)
Red. you seriously need to come to California! I can easily get $200/week! But that's 60 hours of work. Centers get up to $300/week.

OneOfHisJewels -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/11/2008 11:58:04 PM)
"Am I reading the poll question wrong? Where is the option for the SAH mom or dad?"...earthless Please note the words now bolded quote: For those that need to utilize child care, which do you think would be, or has been the best option for your child(ren)? While SAHMs are welcome to participate in this thread, this is NOT a thread for debating about staying home or working, or for one side to attack another. It is simply a poll for when care for your child is needed, for WHATEVER reason, a job or otherwise, what you think would, or has worked best for your child. ______

OneOfHisJewels -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/12/2008 12:03:37 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: 29redballoons Also, speaking of costs...just one thing to remember...all in home daycares are not cheaper. Remember, in a smaller daycare, your child is getting more one on one attention and that in itself is worth more money. For what we do, we do not make nearly enough. I personally charge $75/wk. That is comparable in my area...but for a 45 hr week, which is what I contract for, the rate is $1.67 per hour. Not alot for taking care of someone's most prized possession. OOPS, sorry, I am off my soap box now... Yeah, when I worked at an institutional day care, it always made us[:@] to hear some of the parents complain about our relatively low costs, when they were driving up in fancy cars and wearing fancy clothes..Of course, that was only a minority of the parents, but it only takes a few. I never had that problem when I worked at an in home day care. Of course, I was the only employee, and I never asked my boss how much she charged the parents..not exactly my business.[:D] At the institutional day care it was different..the rates were posted. So, I would've been pretty dumb if I didn't know how much they charged. Although, I couldn't for the life of me remember them now, it's been too long.

29redballoons -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/12/2008 8:46:18 AM)
Skipper, (you know I can not get used to the new name) I work approx. 55 hrs a week, but my contract with each parent is for 45 hrs per week. Nine hours a day. Over that there is an extra fee for overtime. $200 per week would be unheard of in Ga.

zoebob -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/12/2008 12:00:57 PM)
I have used the following: in home daycare family/close friends center The family was the best option. Second was the center. Although it was probably closer to in home daycare. It was run by a lady who had converted the first floor of her home to a daycare center. She lived upstairs. She didn't have a lot of kids and really loved and took care of DD. They rarely watched TV/videos. She actually spent the day playing with the kids, etc. She would write up a little slip of paper for each child every day listing what they did, what they ate, any milestones, highlites of the day, etc. Every couple weeks she took the kids to this indoor playground place: It had a big ball pit, a big jumpy thing (filled with air), big slide complex, plus some baby toys. My SIL picked dd up from there and said our caretaker was actually on the jumpy area with the kids and the other day care ladies were sitting around talking. This lady charged $80/week for the first child and cheaper for any other children. This was from 8 (I think) to 6 pm (or something like that). If you needed to be early or late she worked with it but it was like $1/minute...especially if you didn't tell her ahead of time. She gave you 2 weeks of free vacation a year and she took 2 weeks of vacation at no charge. She gave about a month notice on her vacations. If she was sick she had a sub she called in. Another advantage being in western NY was that if it snowed she was still open because it was in her house. Often day care centers closed when schools did and parents were stuck. She always said if you can get here I'm open.

saraimay75 -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/12/2008 2:22:57 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LaurainAL We periodically make surprise visits and we know what goes on at our daycare. DH's office is close by so he can easily pop in. Also, some of the teachers go to our church and we trust them. I am sure there are some really awful daycares out there, but I think we have a pretty good one. As a parent you should be able to visit your daycare (or preschool) at ANYTIME without calling first. If I had children I would probably put them in preschool. But I am studying Early Childhood Education so that probably has something to do with it.[;)] Also requirements for who works in a daycare and or preschool vary from State to State. Here in Hawaii we are quite strict. Ant person who want to teach in a prescool has to have a degree in Early Childhood Education or be studying to get a degree in Early Childhood Education. Any person who want to work with children, (group leader or aide that won't be teaching in preschoo) of any age needs to have a backgound check. Not all States have all of these requirements.

OneOfHisJewels -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/12/2008 2:52:19 PM)
California has ALL those rules. That didn't stop my former employer from cutting legal corners, and not running a very good day care.

peculiar_lady2 -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/12/2008 4:53:19 PM)
quote: As a parent you should be able to visit your daycare (or preschool) at ANYTIME without calling first. yup...and a lot of them are putting in web cams so you can see your child's room from your work computer....even a lot of churches are putting in tv cameras in the rooms for day care or sunday school classes so you can see your child's classroom activities without being in the room or disturbing their class. If I had to choose a child care facility because I was working, I would probably choose one with cameras that I could access from work before I would choose one without them. I would also opt for one close by so I could pop by often or without notice.

LaurainAL -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/17/2008 12:57:11 PM)
This is another reason why we should closely monitor our child care situations

peculiar_lady2 -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/17/2008 6:42:47 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LaurainAL This is another reason why we should closely monitor our child care situations **SICKENING!!!![:'(][:'(]

lexie -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/18/2008 1:46:42 PM)
quote: California has ALL those rules. That didn't stop my former employer from cutting legal corners, and not running a very good day care. What OneofHisJewels posted, and the link that Laura posted, are great reminders of how choosy we need to be when finding child care. Day care is a tough thing to get here in Toronto, and many mothers put themselves on the waiting lists of every day care in their area, and then take the first one that chooses them. But there was a story of a woman in Quebec who was sexually abused by her stepfather as a young girl/young teen. She reported him and he went to jail. 13 years later when she took her own child to day care for the first time, she found that her stepfather was out of jail and working at the day care! This day care was a reputable one, but the manager never bothered to ask for a criminal record check on this man.

Karaboo2 -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/18/2008 4:09:08 PM)
I picked Other. We have to be very picky when it comes to child care. I have a couple of close friends whom I essentially trust more than I would trust family. Our kids have various health needs, and family isn't always willing to accept that, and a lot of daycares (in home or otherwise) just can't handle it (just my experience). We have a 7 year old with bipolar and seasonal allergies, a 5 year old who is allergic to chocolate, soy, artificial dyes and is exceptionally hypersensitive. Our 2 year old is also allergic to chocolate, soy and dyes, but isn't hypersensitive. Our 1 year old is allergic to chocolate, soy, milk, and dyes. (And when I say allergic, I'm talking severe hives to anaphylaxic reactions). Most places can't accommodate those varied needs, even when we provide our own food (a lot of places specify that food cannot be brought onto the premises due to ministry of health regulations ... so if we aren't allowed to provide what our child needs .....) Family doesn't always accept that things are the way they are ("Oh, no child can be allergic to chocolate ... one piece won't hurt, etc") Like Sarah said, you evaluate the situation and your particular needs, and make your decisions based on that. I have two friends and a cousin who are very allergy-conscious, and they are also well acquainted with the needs of 'special' kids due to their lines of work (they work with bipolar and other kids along that line) We're blessed that we have friends who ARE that accommodating and able. (One of them even worked as a nanny for almost 20 years!)

ladyingrace1979 -> RE: Best kind of child care (4/21/2008 6:13:17 PM)
I marked other because it really depends on the child and the circumstances. Home daycare tends to be small and more nurturing but there is little oversite, few regulations and the regulations they have are poorly enforced. Large day care centers maybe less nurturing and have larger numbers of children but they are more carefully regulated, also many offer academic enrichment. In many school districts there is after school activities right on campus, which can be helpful if you only need a few hours. So you have to look at your family's needs and what is available. My children have been in a variety of settings and my husband taught preschool so I've seen a lot of different arrangements. Kim Q

Page: << < prev 1 [2]