Those who use in home daycare, please come in

[nonsenseabound]

We adore our in home daycare. We found her by an ad in the paper, but she has great word of mouth recs. we met and toured her house. She is amazing and is sadly retiring at the end of the year.

Our parents live only 30 mon away s they are great for backup care.

Rate was very cheap. She is cheaper thn most other in homes, she charges us $3.50 for two kids. We live in a moderate to low income area. Average hhi is $50k in my area.

She let the kids come when they were mildly sick, like sniffles but not vomiting, etc. she was willing to work with us on many issues and helped potty train very quickly. She is amazing and I am so sad that we have to go to someone else.

[luvmagoldn]

The twins were at an in-home from 15 months to about 2.5 years. DS#3 was there from nine weeks until about 12 weeks when we switched to a nanny.

How did you find your provider? I toured a couple of places I found on our state's social services register. I was looking for licensed providers only.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? I can't remember the exact numbers but the in-home was significantly less expensive and I really liked the food they served (nothing processed, all fresh fruits/veg) and they followed the USDA's food program.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? They were open seven to six I think. But they did make special arrangements if need be.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? The owner had two assistants that worked with her so there was always someone there which was a big plus for me.

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home. We left because hauling a newborn and twin toddlers in to DC every day was too much for me to take. I think if you can find the right one, they are great.

[mishap]

DS1 went to a home provider from 2006-2009, so I'm basing my answers off that.

How did you find your provider? Our county has a list of certified providers.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? I interviewed a few other home daycares, and her rates were on target with theirs.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? She was kind of weird with this. She was technically open from 7-5:30, but she didn't like you bringing outside of the hours you set with her. This caused some problems with us because we had to sometimes bring DS early because of work schedules, and while it always after 7, she preferred for us to stay in our 8-5 window. Picking up late was a huge no-no and you were charged by 10-minute increments.

The centers in our area are open from 5:30 to 7:30, although I believe you're not supposed to leave your child there for more than 10 hours ...? Can't remember.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? She had backup care available, but I worked from home, so I just kept DS home with me when that came up.

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home. I liked that it had a family, intimate atmosphere for the infant and young toddler stage. She did lots of "learning" activities, but when he was a baby, I just wanted to make sure that he was cuddled a lot. He was the only baby, which was a big plus for me when he was tiny. We switched him to a center when he was 2.75 because we moved and I felt he was ready for a more structured environment.

[dcrunnergirl]

How did you find your provider? I found her on a listing of in-home DCPs in my area and then a friend happened to suggest her as well as few days later.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? Her rates are much cheaper. My kids only go part-time but if they went full-time, it would cost $1,800/month for both of them. At a daycare center, I think the cost would be closer to $2,400+ for two full time spots. Her rates include breakfast, lunch, and 2 snacks/day after the kids turn 1 year old.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? She's open 7am-5:30pm. I think her hours are similar to local centers, although some stay open a bit later. Our DCP will make arrangements for alternative hours if necessary--she's even had kids stay overnight if their parents need to go out of town or have an emergency.

If I'm running late, she doesn't charge me but that has only happened twice, both during serious, serious snowstorms that stranded people for hours on the highway. If you are late a lot, there is a charge, but she's pretty flexible.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? She's never called in sick in the past 18 months my kids have been there. During her vacations, we split the time between sending the kids to MIL's house and DH and I taking a day off from work.

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home. I like the small, home-y environment of our DCP. I went to a large in-home DCP as a child, and I loved it. I also went to a regular center for a bit of time as a kid, and despised it. I think that played into our decision a lot.

[Deleted]

We found her on kijiji (like CL)
She is ~$200/month cheaper than a center. We pay $550; centers are around $750.
We usually drop off at 8:15 and pick up around 3:30, but she will take him earlier if need be. She closes at 5. I don't know how this compares as all the mattered was that her hours worked for us.
Her sick back up is her husband, who we have met. Vacation she plans several months in advance and lets us know. Summers DH is off, so not a big deal. The rest of the year we'll have to patch together between me and MIL and maybe my mom. It's only likely to be a week that she wants off that DH isn't already home.

I like the variety of ages - her kids are older (about 6 and 8) and really like playing with my kid, who adores the attention. My kid is "the baby" of the house. She takes in 4 other kids, but they're all at least a year older and 3 of them attend preschool several mornings a week during the school year.

Some people seem to like the more structured style of a center, but I like that he's in a more "homey" environment. I don't feel like at his age he's missing out on learning anything.

[Deleted]

Very, very few dayhomes are licensed in my city. There appears to be no incentive to being licensed, as they are all governed by the same rules anyway. The main difference is that to get subsidized spots (for low-income or welfare parents) a place has to be licensed.

So mine isn't. She's still awesome. If you talk to some dayhomes, ask why they aren't licensed.

[beachdweller]

I have a 16 month old DD who has been at an in-home daycare since she was 3 months old.

How did you find your provider? Word of mouth. I started asking around for ideas while I was pregnant and found 3 other woman had used the same in-home provider I ultimately did. My in-home provider only keeps kids until they turn 2 (or until the next preschool cycle after that), so there were plenty of people I could contact that had used her before.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? About the same. $175 a week for in-home; $775 a month for centers. I am in a MCOL area and a smallish town.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? 7:30 until 5:30. I think centers are open 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. There have been a few times that a I have needed to stay late and neither DH nor I could pick DD up by 5:30 and it hasn't been a big deal to leave her another half hour or so.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? In the 13 months provider has taken care of DD, she has never closed without notice. She also has an assistant that helps her out sometimes and will fill in for doctor's appointments/etc. For vacation, she closes the week between Christmas and New Years, then takes a couple of random days off throughout the year. We also have lots of notice, so either my husband or I take off those days, we get a back up babysitter ($10 per hour for that) or we have grandparents watch DD. We are lucky that one set of grandparents are close by, but they travel a lot. The closings were not nearly as big an issue as I initially thought. I think it would be harder if the provider had young, school age kids that could get sick a lot, but my provider is in her 50s with grown kids, so there is not a lot of sick time so far.

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home.

I was initially very wary of in-home because of the accountability factor and I would not have gone with it if I had not gotten very comfortable with recommendations from close coworkers and friends. So, if I were you, I'd go in to your search with the idea that you will use a center unless an in-home provider blows you away. That being said, I love my in-home and am happier than I think I would be a center. There are typically 4 kids enrolled, so there are not as many germs as a center and my DD rarely gets sick (although I am sure she will start getting sick when we move her to a preschool). The atmosphere is relaxed and homey and the provider is like part of our family. She came to DD's 1st b-day party and she occasionally cooks us dinner. It has been a fantastic arrangement. I am leaving my DD there until next summer when she will be a littler over 2, then I will move her to a center. I think a center will be better for development at that age, but for infant care I have loved the in-home. We are TTC and I will send next kiddo to the in-home as well.

[jaylea]

Jul 17, 2012 9:29:31 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

How did you find your provider? Craigslist, initially

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? Comparable, if not higher. The center we use for DD is cheaper. DS is in the in-home, and DD was for 4 years.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? 7:30-5. Shorter, not ideal.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? There are other employees in terms of sick coverage. They are closed 3 weeks/year for vacation. This is my main complaint with the provider. 3 weeks is too many, IMO, to close completely when there is enough staff to cover vacations for all employees

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home. This place is amazing. The food is all organic, homemade. Menus are made with a nutritionist. For example, last Friday they had lobster rolls, with lettuce the kids planted, tended and harvested from raised beds in the yard. The kids got to see the live lobsters, and then the cooked. They made it a whole learning exercise. It's just a high quality place. I like the mix of ages. I like the clear policies so it does have that "center" benefit. I also love the small group/less sickness.

I should add our 5 year old is in a center. So we are able to really compare/contrast the benefits. Both are good.

[beachdweller]

ETA, my in-home isn't licensed either and most aren't in my area. Did not matter to me.

[jaylea]

Ours is licensed and has a Quality certificate from the state, which allows us to get a double tax credit and has more strict requirements.

She's also fully accredited.

[jamlsull]

DD is almost 14 months & has been at her in home dc since she was 10 weeks.

My cousin sends her son there & loves them, so I met with them, we hit it off & are very happy! We actually didn't even look into any other places.

The rates are definitely lower than nearby centers & probably similar to other in home dc's.

They are open 7-5:30 but flexible too. Not sure how that compares to other places.

She has never been sick, but just this past week she was gone for her husband's medical reasons. But the other lady who is with her everyday just took over so there was no difference. She takes 1 week long vaca per year so we just make other arrangements-she lets us know way ahead of time.

I love the homey environment & that she genuinely loves my dd! And she is there everyday, same routine, & there are not a ton of kids. I think it's all just a matter of finding someone you really feel comfortable with!

[badtzmaru22]

We found ours on the list of people registered with the state. We don't really know enough people to get a personal referral (new in the area) so this was important. One of the places we called was ending her business, but recommended the one we went with. They also provided references.

Home daycares here are much cheaper than centers. For infant full time care, we pay $165/wk. Centers are around 250.

Her hours are 7-5:30. I think centers are usually 6-6. They don't care if we have varying drop off times, and they know I'm usually a few minutes past 5:30 because of where I work, and they're fine with it. They do have an official policy of paying extra once you're past 10 minutes late, but the centers here have that as well.

Sick- hasn't happened yet, but I think we don't have to pay. I would just take a sick day from my job, or maybe split a half day w/DH.

Other pros/cons: I like the variety of ages. They do have some structure, but it's not as rigid as a center, but I like that. They are outside a LOT which I love. There are limits on how many infants they can have, so that's nice also. I like her neon in a home environment. Maybe when she's older I'll want a more school-like structure, but I love this for now.

We also pay 1/2 rate on major holidays when they are closed, and they have 15 paid vacation days per year. This is kind of a hassle this year bc we don't have much time off due to taking maternity leave, but our parents have really helped with this. They live out of state, but plan their visits around the daycare vacations. My mom thinks it's weird that we pay when we are not there as well, but all the places here are like that, and the daycare paid vacation doesn't bother me either. We are paying so much less than a center, so it's not a big deal.

[dnabaker]

How did you find your provider? We started with a center, and after it went to hell in a handbasket and closed, the infant teacher and her mother opened their in-home daycare (and got a license). We joined up with them because I love love love them both.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? They are the same as the centers, but it's still pretty cheap... 195/week for infants.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? 630 to 6, same as centers

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? Hasn't come up yet... but I'd either take the time off or split it with my mom (my mom has summers off, so in that case she'd come watch them everyday).

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home.
Love the family atmosphere and that there are only a few kids. We absolutely adore the family, so even though the location is not as convenient for my commute as the center was, it's so worth it to have this level of care. They truly adore my kids.

[mrshandy]

How did you find your provider? It was through a referral on my MOMS club list serve.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? We too were booked with a center, but decided at the last minute to change to an in-home. The center was $300/week (which is actually really cheap for our area). The DCP was $220/week.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? She's open from 7AM - 6PM. This is pretty similar to centers. We use her from 8AM to 5PM.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? Amazingly in the 21 months we've used her, she has NEVER had a sick day. She has had a few random vacation days since she is Muslim so celebrates different holidays. Either DH or I took off or worked partly from home. Also, she went on a 8 week vacation to her home country and gave us plenty of notice. She had not been home in over 20 years. She had some personal friends that she recommended to watch DS and he just went to a different DCP for that time. It worked out fine.

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home.
I really liked the small number of kids that she takes care of (only 3 at a time). So it is almost like a nanny share. Less kids means less illness. I like that she knows all of DS quirks. I like that she is flexible and lets us use cloth diapers. I think in homes are great for the first couple of years.

DS is turning 2 tomorrow and he's going to full time pre-school/daycare in a few weeks. I think he'll benefit greatly from more structure now that he is older.

[ECB]

How did you find your provider? State website that lists inhome and centers.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? Yes. She's a lot less expensive

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? She's technically available 6 am - 11 pm but her "regular" hours are 7 (when I drop DS off) until about 5:30

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? Hope DH is off. If not, ask the grandparents. If not, have to take the day off from work.

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home. Biggest pro is that she's literally 5 houses away! SUPER convienent. Biggest con is that when she has to close, I have to find back-up or take off.

[jenny1223]

Our daycare provider is the mom of a good friend of ours. I've known her for years and DH for even longer.

Her rates are comparable to the one daycare center in town. (I live in the middle of nowhere - not many options.)

Hours are somewhat flexible. I just know that she's available when I need her; 8-4 and her house is less than 5 minutes from my work.

I can work from home if she's out sick/vacation. Or MIL can watch him sometimes.

The biggest pros for us were that we know and trust her. Also we just pay hourly each week based on when we need her. MIL will watch him sometimes and we don't have to pay for those days.

ETA: DS will start at a Montessori preschool/daycare at 18 months for half days.

[pescalita]

A is 7 mos and has been in home for 4.

This provider we found by searching nearby on yelp (although her reviews were very few and not great). We also looked a lot on CL. I had researched earlier while pregnant and found a lot of openings, so I put it off until ML. I then freaked out and worried about leaving my baby with a stranger from CL. We decided to keep our options open and met with several off CL including a center.

Rates are low compared to centers, and about the same as other in homes. We also do 4 days/week, with my mom taking him every other Tuesday and Thursday, which was something we could get a rate cut for in home, but not at a center. That made the rates about half of some centers.

Her hours are 7:30 to 5, which works for us. Our schedules are pretty regular and opposite (I drop off and stay later, he goes in early and picks up) so timing wasn't a big deal for us. Hours varied, but there were plenty of options.

Our second choice provider does drop in care, so we've kept their number when needed. Our gal also has an asst or two, so absences are limited. She was sick for a couple of days once so far, and she's given us advanced notice of one day she'll be out for a wedding. She's going on vacation later this summer and her assts will cover.

The pros to me for in home were: a more home-like, less structured environment (for infants), less exposure to infections, more laid back structure (in regards to illness, but also swapping days, food and other policies, etc - I've received exactly 0 calls during the day in 4 mos), cloth diapers allowed, variety of ages. While the accountability of a center was appealing, I felt that a small business owner vs a lower paid employee also offered increased accountability. Also, while the ratios were lower at centers, I felt better with a 1:6 ratio where 4 or 5 of the six were toddlers vs a 1:4 ratio of just infants.

I fully admit there is a bit of a leap of faith involved with in home. We were (and still are) prepared to switch and start over on short notice if need be. I'm just not convinced all of that doesn't exist with centers as well.

[brit1017]

How did you find your provider? sittercity.com

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? For us, they are not really comparable. We needed someone that we could pay hourly, b/c of DH's work schedule. We only need 3 hours of care per day, but the number of days per week varies. We also sometimes need care on very short notice when DH's schedule changes unexpectedly. We pay her $15/hour for both kids.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? She is open whenever we need her. DH has had to drop the kids off as early as 6:30am, and she has stayed with them as late as 8pm. Most days she watches them from 2pm to 5pm. The flexibility is a big reason that we went with an in home.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? DH has to make all of his vacation picks for the following year in December, so she schedules her big vacations to coincide with ours. In 18 months, I think that she has only called us twice and said that she couldn't watch them (both times due to one of her kids being really sick and needing to go to the dr.) There have been a handful of times that my kids were really sick and DH or I stayed home with them. Mostly though, if they just have a cold or a low grade fever, she still takes them. Our reasoning is that her kids and my kids have already been exposed to each other, so at that point it won't make much of a difference.

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home. My favorite thing is that I feel like my kids are part of a family. They do pre-school separately in the morning, so I wasn't looking for an in home that was structured like a center. I like that my kids have other playmates around their age and that they are getting outside to play. I love that DD will help her start making dinner (she loves to shuck corn now!). I love that our sitter completely follows our lead on discipline and PTing. Most of all, I love that our sitter tells them that she loves them, and gives them hugs and kisses all of the time. We don't have any family nearby, so they have become our extended family.

[keh2oblue]

How did you find your provider? Our county provides a service that will give you a list of licensed in-home DCs in your area.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area? MUCH less expensive.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area? Ours is very flexible. In the 3 years we've been going, she has never mentioned hours. I just tell her when I will do drop off and pick up, and call if I'll be late (no late charges). We've dropped off as early as 6:30am and picked up as late as 6:30 pm.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation? Not as issue. DC lady has 3 adult/college aged daughters that work for her, so if one is sick there are plenty to pick up the slack. She has never had a "sick day."

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home. We've loved the in-home DC, but will be pulling DD out to go to PS next month. As much as I love that she provides breakfast, lunch, & snack and is flexible, she is just a DC and DD doesn't really "learn" there (though you can find combo DC/PS). Also, I find that DD isn't really as engaged there as much as she used to be.

On the plus side, I loved it when DD was an infant. She got total 1 on 1 time and attention which she wouldn't have gotten at a center. Also, I like that DD gets to interact with the different aged children throughout the day. She has picked up some good (and bad habits from the older kids, and she's learning about babies now which is good prep for us.

[LauraMoser]

When DD1 went to an in home provider, we found her through CL. She also came with high recommendation from a few people on a local Yahoo Group. We loved her. She is now a very good friend of mine, and the person I go to with questions about babysitting my nephew and cousin's kids. Her prices were great. We took DD1 for about 6 hours a day, three days a week and only paid $40 I think.

I now babysit family kids, and am not really looking for any more at this point. After doing this for nine months or so, I've only come to appreciate our old babysitter even more. She had more kids at a time than I do, and she was really great at taking care of them and still having the patience to do activities. I have 3 besides my own on a busier day, and it gets crazy hectic in here.

[rootbeerfloat]

How did you find your provider?
We found DD's current DCP through our neighbor. We found previous ones through a local referral service.

Do you know how the rates compare to centers in your area?
Yes, she is cheaper, but that's true of almost all in-home daycares around here. There is only one center in my city, and it is expensive.

What hours are they open? How does this compare with centers in your area?
6a-5p. It's probably comparable to the center, but better than other in-home daycares. 7a-5p seems to be more common.

What do you do in case the provider is sick / vacation?
One of us takes off. I get a decent amount of vacation time, and H can work from home if needed. We also ask my parents to cover a few days.

Any other major pros / cons you have about doing in home.
I love our DCP and will be sad when DD transitions to preschool. I like that there are fewer kids and the environment.