Any Parents care to share Child care experiences?

[Sylvanfan]

Well it's time to make the wife go back to work and now we'll require some type of care for our son. Right now he's only 10 months old, so that instantly eliminates a lot of potential care givers. I also remind you that I DO NOT LIVE in Calgary, so although I'm sure your suggestions are wonderful...they don't do me much use. If you know people in St.Albert, then by all means let me know. Unfortunately my wife doesn't have a job yet so I'm in the dark in terms of what my care requirement will be too.

I've looked at both day cares and day homes although not many have openings for a child this young. It appears day cares cost more, but they are regulated, and there are staff minimums, not to mention that they don't rely on one person always being able to make it to work. Dayhomes may be willing to work with you depending on schedule, but if they can't hire staff, than it becomes highly reliant on one person. Unfortunately I don't have family that I can use, so it's going to be hired help of some type.

Anyone care to share their experiences? Thanks

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

I'd try to find a home that will teach your child the proper use of "then" and "than" so that he doesn't learn from you.

[Sylvanfan]

That can wait till Kindergarten. You're welcome to explain it to me though, I never had a teacher who could.

[Ashartus]

From my experience, a good day home has more personal care and individual attention than a large daycare, but there's a lot of variability, and not all day homes are good ones. Day homes are more likely to result in days where one of you has to stay home due to the provider being sick, on vacation, etc.

Really the most important thing is to interview the providers, at the place where they will be providing care. Get a good feel for how they operate and what type of people they are, as well as how experienced they are. Get a copy of their rules and policies, including policies for sick children, discipline, etc., their typical menu, and schedule for the day, and make sure it all fits with your requirements and preferences.

[T@T]

From my experience a small dayhome is the way to go for a young child, put an ad up on your mailbox or something and try and find someone in your neighborhood. we got lucky with a 50-ish grandmother who looked after her two grandkids already, My 11 year son still goes there after school to this day (9 years later)

[Rathji]

I would go with a registered day home, especially for a kid that young. They are as regulated as Daycares as far as staff per kid and training / facilities.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

That can wait till Kindergarten. You're welcome to explain it to me though, I never had a teacher who could.

Use than for a comparison. I like eating ice cream more than eating vegetables.

Use then when indicating time. I will eat my vegetables then I will eat my ice cream.

[black rubber disc bunny]

any chance of your wife staying home?

i can't say i know your situation entirely but when we were faced with that decision it made more sense to have my wife stay home and take care of the kids then it did for her to go back to work. this is with 2 kids though so the finances might make more sense in our case.

if your wife has to go back to work hopefully she can land a job that has it's own daycare.

good luck in any event!

[Slava]

I will chime in and say the daycare is the way to go here as opposed to the dayhome. We've tried both. With the dayhome I found that I was taking off time at the same time as the dayhome operator...which I found thoroughly annoying! We had a great provider, and she never "called in sick". That was great. Holiday-wise though I didn't like being bound by their schedule.

I also like the socialization aspect with the daycare. There are enough kids there so that the kids learn with the other kids. My wife stayed home for a couple of years, but it just hit a point where the kids needed to be around other kids.

[yads]

I've liked our day care. The reason we went with one was the licensing and regulation requirements compared to day homes and the fact that you're not dependent on the care giver's holiday/sickness schedule.

[puffnstuff]

We had a nanny for awhile when the kids were 1-2 years old, it worked out great for us, is that a consideration?

[Sylvanfan]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Ideally I'd like to have my wife work part time, but Alberta isn't what it used to be where people could dictate when they wanted to work to employers. We're hoping she can find something thats more weekends and evenings but we'll see.

On one hand we want our guy to be out with other children around his age so he gets well socialized, but we'd also like to keep it that we're still the ones raising him

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

We had a nanny for awhile when the kids were 1-2 years old, it worked out great for us, is that a consideration?

It wouldn't be out of the question, especially if the wife ended up with a full time job. Depends on cost, and being able to find a qualified one that you can trust. Although...there is the will this be the person raising my kids thing and not my wife and I.

[Finny61]

We went with a dayhome for our kids. Don't have any issue with daycares except that other parents I know always have colds and flus going through the house because with more kids you get more bugs going around. In a dayhome you shouldn't see more then 6 kids max to one provider unless there is staff but in a dayhome I'd be surprised to see it in great numbers. Sign up with someone who is registered with an agency, they do random checks and act as a watchdog for you to ensure the place is safe and clean. Also a bonus is finding out if the dayhome provider has any early childhood education courses/credits (I think they go by Levels) and you would be surprised it is a popular option for providers to enroll in to be competitive.

[ah123]

We went with a dayhome as well - we found that more daycare are very structured, and that was not something we wanted for our one year old daughter. The lady running the dayhome is very "motherly" and is willing to work with when it comes to discipline issues. All in all, it has been a very positive experience for our little one and for us. I would echo Finny61's comments, that you should look for a dayhome that is registered with an agency and has the basics of childcare (first aid training, etc). In a year or two, we will probably move our daughter to something that is more structured.

Another option you might want to consider is a nanny - friends of ours have gone that route and have been very happy.

Good luck!!

[Russic]

I will preface this by saying that i believe there are pros and cons to all set-ups and the decision ultimately boils down to what you feel is important.

My wife and I have seen our friends and family put their kids through dayhomes and we decided it just wasn't for us. We didn't like the fact that our holidays would essentially be dictated by the dayhome operator.

We went with a daycare and while I'm very happy with it it isn't all positive. The cost is noticeably higher, so that's the biggest factor. Our little guy has been sick a few times since he started but it feels like everybody has been getting sick lately and the kids we know that went through dayhomes were constantly sick as well. That's pretty tough to avoid i think when they are in the 1-3 age range (not to mention at that point there are positives to getting a few bugs).

[Ashartus]

A lot of our neighbours have nannies, but I'm not sure I'd want to go that route. For one, most of them don't seem to have very good spoken English, which in turn affects the kids they're raising. Secondly, if you get a live-in nanny that's a big impact on your privacy, while if you get a nanny that just comes in during working hours the agencies are apparently pretty strict about keeping it to an 8-hour working day. There also tends to be less socialization for the kids unless the nanny is taking them to the park to meet with other nannies and their kids. On the other hand, there certainly is a convenience factor for not having to drive your kids somewhere else, and most of the people I know with nannies like it. Cost-wise it's more expensive for 1 kid, but with multiple kids it can be the cheapest option.

[Finny61]

Forgot to mention since it is an issue with some, if a dayhome is registered with an agency and your provider decides to go on vacation then the agency they are with will provide you with another dayhome in the interim. Perhaps not ideal but you are not left burning your vacation days because your provider wants to randomly take time off on you.

My 2 cents.

We have tried both a dayhome and a daycare. Both have their merits most of which have already been discussed. However from my perspective, a daycare was much better for us and we noticed an immediate difference in how our children developed both intellectually (if that's possible at such a young age) and socially.

For the record, I never imagined I would have my kids in a daycare and always felt that they were somehow second rate. But I have been not only pleasantly surprised, but completely blown away by how much my children have changed.

The biggest benefit of a daycare is that your child is constantly engaged with professional programs and facilitators. I personally feel that a dayhome can not offer such programs due to their size and age composition. For example, if your child is 3-4 he/she will be in a similar age grouped 'classroom' with activities specifically designed for that age group.

Send me a PM and i'll forward the info regarding the daycare we attend... it is fantastic.

[Rathji]

Just something to add to my previous comment. If you do go with a dayhome, I would choose a registered dayhome over a non-registered since they have to meet requirements and are regularly inspected etc.