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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Day Care questions...
....we originally planned to have DD go to my grandma but she is having some health issues which might prevent her from taking care of DD. So we are looking for daycare right now who can take care of her.
1. Which is better? in home day care or big day care centers?
2. In home daycare, where is the list or website where i can find them?
3.is there a website where can i found ratings of big day care centers in my area.
TIA!
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Re: Day Care questions...
1. I don't think in-home vs. a center that one is better than another. You have to go with your gut on where you feel is the best fit for your child and where you feel most comfortable going each day. For me, at the infant stage, I felt more comfortable with in-home. Now that she is 2 and I am looking again I'm leaning more towards a center for more structure and learning.
2/3. Here is the state website where you can check out their licenses and such. It will show you what daycares - inhome and centers - are near you and if they have any violations and such. Also ask on here. I have gotten good recommendations from the ladies on this chat board.
http://www.colorado.gov/apps/cdhs/childcare/lookup/index.jsf
Growing Up Olson
1. Which is better? in home day care or big day care centers? This is personal preference. Because I didnt have a personal recommendation for an in-home center I was worried that they would just plop DS in front of the TV so I liked centers better. That said, there are some terrible centers out there. It seems like in-home tends to be cheaper too.
2. In home daycare, where is the list or website where i can find them? 3.is there a website where can i found ratings of big day care centers in my area. I think Qualistar or one of those allows you to search by neighborhood and includes both centers and in-home.
1. I don't think one or the other is better or worse. We chose a center because I didn't want to deal with my in-home person being sick and taking vacation, etc. The trade off is that a center is typically more expensive.
2. care.com is where I found the ones I interviewed.
3. There are several places: qualistar.org, http://www.colorado.gov/apps/cdhs/childcare/lookup/help.jsp
You can get info about incident reports, etc, at this website:
http://www.colorado.gov/apps/cdhs/childcare/lookup/index.jsf
Center vs in-home is all about personal choice - if you can, go to both and see for yourself which you like "the feel of".
That being said - infant care is a bit more tricky to find, so don't hesitate, get on it and let them know your time-frame.
You also might want to think about a "back up" kind of plan in case you find some place you love, but they don't have an opening right when you need it. Long term you will want to go with a place you love, not just a place that has an opening right away - maybe you can find a balence of both.
Happy hunting!
Spirit of Power
Eat, Drink, and be Keri
Like everyone else said, it is really personal preference on in-home versus a center. I preferred the ratios at a center. DD had a 1:3 (caregiver to infant) ratio as an infant in a center, or a lot of centers are 1:4. In-home care can go up to 1:6 (for all ages of children). I was nervous about one adult having responsibility for that many kids at once.
Also I wanted the reliability of knowing if my daycare provider got sick or took vacation, they had back-up.
You will usually pay more for that reliability of care and also for the lower ratio in a center.
Well, we've spoken about this before, but I'll answer, too:
1. I think this depends on your needs and the personality of your child. A lot of in-home places have hours of operation that don't mesh well with long hours at work.... For instance, my coworker can't drop her kids before 8am and she has to pick up before 5pm. So she works through her lunch every day and is inaccessible for core hours during the work day. My Center is open 7-6, so if I have to get to work earlier or stay later, I'm covered. The Center has also been open every day since 2006, even during blizzards....my company stinks at cancelling work, so this has been fantastic for me. Also, the Center had a pretty good infant room ratio and the teachers were amazing.....I learned so much from them myself. So I knew DS was well taken care of and thriving. NOW....if I had a #2, I might look into an in-home again because it is cheaper than a center....and there are less kids that can make baby sick. (Seriously, I had over 20 illnesses in 2011 thanks to daycare. Stomach bugs, flu, pink eye, rashes...oh my gosh, it was horrific)
But for my almost-2 year old?? Center all the way.....he is pretty much in a pre-school environment, has a very structured day, and is very engaged and happy. He likes things to change all the time, so it works well with his personality.
2. Can't help you there -- never got that far.
3. I just drove around and wrote down the places that were on my way to and from work.
Wrangling babies since 2010