Two Questions about child care...

[VillainV]

We're in the process of moving to a new state for my job.  My husband has been a SAHD up to this point, but when I start work in my new location we'd like to put C in child care so my husband can start looking for a job.   We're on the waiting list for the daycare center at my base, but I think we're pretty far down on the list, so we're looking for either another day care center or an in-home day care (we might move him to base day care if he ever gets a slot, and we might not).  C is 4.5 months old and mostly BF, though we do some formula (I will try pumping at work and see if I get enough, otherwise we're happy to supplement with formula).   

Question #1:  What kinds of questions should we ask an in-home day care provider?   We found one woman (who is on both care.com and a local FB site) who does child care out of her home, and we will probably meet with her in a few days.  She has glowing reviews on her care.com profile, and we will obviously ask for references.   What kinds of things should we be looking for when we visit and what kind of questions should we ask?  Should we visit in the middle of a work day when she has kids there, or some other time (obviously I'd like to at least observe the environment with kids there, but don't know if that's the best time for an initial meeting)?  

Question #2:  Which do you like better:  child care close to mom's job, dad's job, home, or in the middle?  Both this in-home care woman and the base daycare center are really close to my workplace, but is probably 20-30 minutes from where we will be living, and may or may not be near where my husband ends up working.  Close to MY workplace sounds awesome for a lot of reasons (like I might be able to visit to BF on my lunch break), but could also be not-so-great if my husband needs to do pick up or drop off if I'm not available for whatever reason.  The obvious alternative would be to look for child care closer to where we will be living, or somewhere in the middle. I'd love to hear some opinions on which is better -- child care closer to mom's job or dad's job, closer to home, or in the middle.  

[Deleted]

Not sure in questions for in home because I think it has its own unique circumstances but I would definitely visit when kids are there to get an idea of what a typical day is like.

As for loacation, we went with one close to my office. I was able to nurse at lunch and if he got sick I was the one with the flexible job to pick him up. But, it is also only about 10 minutes from our home so it was convenient for days I wfh or was sick etc.

[jeaniebueller]

If the in-home provider is worth anything, she will encourage you to visit during the day when she has kids. Perhaps you could visit once during the day when she has kids, and if you like what you see, schedule another appointment to talk to her directly.


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[curbsideprophet]

How long is your commute? Our daycare is basically in the middle between my job and home. It is slightly closer to my work which I find nice. However my commute is only 20-25 minutes, so it is not a big deal. When DD first started I did go and nurse at lunch the first week.

I don't have any experience with in home daycare.

[VillainV]

Aug 22, 2014 5:42:46 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

How long is your commute? Our daycare is basically in the middle between my job and home. It is slightly closer to my work which I find nice. However my commute is only 20-25 minutes, so it is not a big deal. When DD first started I did go and nurse at lunch the first week.

I don't have any experience with in home daycare.

It's not long...maybe 25-35 minutes depending on traffic (not including a drop-off).  Base day-care or an in-home care center would be maybe 5 minutes from work.

[UnderProtest]

I guess it depends on the city (I don't know that you posted where you are going to). I would think closer to the house would be ideal.

[lillioness]

We met with our in home after the kids left so that she had time to talk to us. We were able to go back a visit during the day as well, but our initial meeting was 1:1 with just her.

[VillainV]

Aug 22, 2014 6:11:43 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

I guess it depends on the city (I don't know that you posted where you are going to). I would think closer to the house would be ideal.

Florida panhandle, medium-sized military town.

[UnderProtest]

Aug 22, 2014 6:19:48 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Aug 22, 2014 6:11:43 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

I guess it depends on the city (I don't know that you posted where you are going to). I would think closer to the house would be ideal.

Florida panhandle, medium-sized military town.

So probably not a TON of traffic.  I would still try to do close to your house, but if that fails, close to your work since your husband doesn't know where his might be.

Oh, and where did you end up going to dinner with your friends?

[VillainV]

Aug 22, 2014 6:38:16 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

Aug 22, 2014 6:19:48 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Florida panhandle, medium-sized military town.

So probably not a TON of traffic.  I would still try to do close to your house, but if that fails, close to your work since your husband doesn't know where his might be.

Oh, and where did you end up going to dinner with your friends?

Hopefully not a lot of traffic, but we'll see.  

We ended up canceling dinner out because the baby was SUPER cranky and I wasn't feeling well, so we ended up ordering room service and going to bed early.  Probably the right call.

[vmars]

Close to home - we had a diaper blow out last week as we dropped him off and had to go home and get changed. Also if you need a sick day it's easy to drop off the baby then go back home to rest.

[AmyRI]

No advice on 1.

But we were told to go close to home, and I am SO glad we did. The first time your kid gives you a stomach bug and you and DH are throwing up everywhere at the same time but the kid has been symptom free for days, you will love being able to drive 5 minutes and drop them off and go home to sleep. On a daily basis, it's nice to share drop off and pick up responsibilities, too, and if you ever need a kid-free weekday to get stuff done it's really easy.

[cayl]

We use an in-home daycare. I went armed with this really long list of questions - everything from feeding schedules to if they have any guns in the house - but in the end I really just felt immediately at ease with this woman and loved how she interacted with the kids. However, we only looked at ones that were licensed, so there was a minimum level we knew we would be getting. Some things that after my time at an in-home I think are good to ask - what time do they close? Is there any option for paying for extended time? (Mine closes at 5, and that's tough at times) Is there a plan in place for back-up if she's sick? How many days last year did she miss? If there isn't a plan in place for back-up then it might be good to ask about her family and her kids. What does she do if one of her own is sick? Do her kids have any extra-curricular activities that could interfere with the daycare schedule? My DCP has a 10 year old who does competitive cheer and that schedule is insane. Luckily her mom is certified and does the daycare with her so it's generally not an issue but it has been at times and she's had to close for a few days for trips with just a couple of weeks notice. Not a big deal for me since we have a ton of family in the area but I know it's been an issue for some of the other parents. This doesn't happen often, though.

The other things I would ask about are policies on payment if she is closed for vacation or if you go on vacation. We pay all of the time no matter what, which I think is reasonable but good to know in advance. I would also ask who else is going to be in the house on a regular basis, and especially who else will be interacting with the kids.

I would definitely choose close to home. There have been random days that I've taken off to run errands and it's nice to have them in daycare still. Also, on Tuesday DD1 woke up with a swollen eye that looked like just allergies to me but when I brought them to daycare she asked me to have her checked out just in case it was pink eye. I brought her around the corner to the pediatrician, had her cleared, and brought her back. It's convenient to have them close to home and their doctor. I also like them being close to home because if god forbid something happens while they're at daycare that requires an ER trip I know they'll be going to the one that their pediatrician is affiliated with.

[bazinga]

1. I had a big list of questions, but also found that she was prepared to tell us pretty much anything we needed to know. We went after hours so we could talk without interruption. It was always offered to us to come during the day and observe when the kids were there though. Here are some questions. How long has she been in business? State licensed? Current # of children? Maximum # of children? Do you have emergency training? Do you have anyone else who helps you out during the day? Hours? Flexibility with hours (late fees)? Holiday and vacation schedules? Fees? Billing? Who supplies what for the child - diapers, wipes, food, formula, etc? Activities/schedule during the day? Sick policy? Smoker? And just a general, tell us about yourself.

2. We initially looked for someone close to my work mainly because there weren't a lot of options close to home. However, a spot ended up opening up for us close to home and we jumped on it. It has worked out really well for us. It is nice to have both parents with the option to do pick up or drop off if one of our schedules changes.