Question About Best Day Care Option

I put my girls in a daycare center, for some of the same reasons you stated. If someone gets sick, they can still be cared for. Also, I just felt better knowing that there were many people around, to hopefully prevent any inappropriate behavior ( by the caregivers).

I have not regretted my decision. Once the kids get older they need the interaction with other children.

Since your daughter is only 7 months,and she may need that one on one more now, you could leave her with the nanny, until you feel she is ready for some more interaction with other children.

Hi D.! I too was in your situation. We decided to take our son out of home day care and put him in a center. The home day care was fine, but I did not feel that he was getting enough interaction with kids his age. We are very happy with the center he goes to now. In fact, he knows Spanish, sign language and Greek (from my husband). If you have any specific questions about the center, e-mail me: ____@____.com Care

S.

Dear D.,

I do think that this is a personal choice. But I would weigh the pros and cons. I am a in homedaycare provider. I went to our local daycare center and was not happy with them. For me I didn't like the fact that the kids at different ages went to a new teacher. My daughter has a hard time with new people and for her that wouldn't work. So that is why I decided to stay home and do daycare. I know that there are some really great daycare centers out there. I wish you luck in making your decision.
B.

I believe the advice given already really sums up the main solution - it is a very individual question that depends on the family, the child(ren) and the timing.

For us, it was an easy decision. We went with a fulltime nanny for several reasons: one on one attention, ease of not interrupting baby's schedule, routine, etc., convenience in that baby can sleep later in the am, not have to go out in bad weather, if we are running late, we coordinate that with the sitter and so on. As for socialization, as the kids get older we select classes with the sitter so we can pick a music, art, gymnastics, storytime, etc that best suit our child at that time. The less chances of constant colds, etc also helped us decide. We did have to find a back-up plan for when the nanny gets sick, but if your child is sick, they would/should not be in school anyway so you'd still need a plan for those days.

We also planned on having 2 kids close in age so there were a lot more reasons for us in the long run. Good luck!

Make a list of pros and cons. I worked in a center for 5 years and then started a home daycare. I run my home daycare like a home away from home. I was unhappy with how structured a center is and did not want that kind of structure for my child. I do activities everyday with the children but it is their choice if they would like to do it with me, usually everyone does. I look at it as one big extended family. Sometimes we have to go pick up my children from school or the train(both are in high school)or we go on a field trip for the older kids one week and the younger kids the next weeek. Just like we would if they had younger or older sisters or brothers. This is one reason parents like home daycare. They also get more one on one. I do not believe one is better than the other, but is a personnel choice. And remember the home daycare or the center is only as good as the teacher. So alot depends on the teacher. You have to find something you are comfortable with.

Cheryl

We have our son in a daycare center, I like how safe it is and he doesn't get hurt very often, minor scratches etc. we like all of the teachers in the infant room, he has had the same teachers since day 1 which is great that there isn't a big turn around. He gets along with all of the other kids which is nice that he is interacting well and should do good once he is preschool or kindergarden. The downside is the illnesses he has gotten but it is very normal, they need to build some kind of immune. I have thought about moving him to an in-home when we move but are still trying to decide first where we are going to move to. Best of luck to you. Whatever you decided will be the best for your child.