if you have child care and commute to your job, is your child care near your home or work? my husband and i are trying to decide between a couple of daycares, one near home and the other near work, and i'm curious about the pros and cons people have experienced with their child care locations.
i know in the end there's probably no "right" answer and we'll make it work either way, but i just want to make sure that we're considering as many aspects as possible!
pomegranate / 3275 posts
I had my DD in a daycare by my work (which was an hour commute to my house) and would have changed it, if I hadn't been going on maternity leave, which turned into a SAHM. The biggest reason why I say near your house is, what happens if your LO gets sick. My DD's first week in daycare she got a stomach bug. Luckily, I had a doc appt and I picked her up much earlier than normally, so she ended up getting sick at the doc office, which was close to my house. If it had been a normal day, she would have been barfing in my car while I was driving on the highway.
Sooooo I say close to your house!
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
@MamaBehr: This was our biggest reason for wanting close to home. Less time that she has to be stuck in a car if she's not feeling well.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
Ours is near our home. That way if you have to send LO to daycare if your'e not going to work (you have a doc appt, you're sick, etc) you don't have to make the commuting drive!
GOLD / cherry / 182 posts
Near work - this way I could stop over on breaks at first and then later easy to come to him quickly when he's sick.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Near home! I don't want to commute with a crying LO!
coconut / 8483 posts
My friend had to switch her daughter from close to work to close to home, because she started Junior Kindergarten. She wanted her to go to school close to where they lived, not close to where she worked!
pineapple / 12793 posts
Ours is close to our house, but my office is only a 20 minute walk so it's not that far from work either. I would have preferred her to be closer to the office so that we can walk together and so I can visit at lunch, but there aren't any day cares that take babies under 18 months by my office.
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6703 posts
We're torn right now between a day care near work or nanny in our home. It just depends on if we can find a day care that has late enough hours or a nanny who costs the right amount.
nectarine / 2504 posts
Ours is near home. The ones near work were an extra $900/month--case closed!
pomelo / 5331 posts
I chose near work, for a couple of different reasons.
1. I work 30 minutes from home. DH works a job where sometimes he works from home, sometimes he works 5 minutes from home, sometimes he's in the office 30 minutes from home, sometimes he's 2 hours away. He covers high school sports and it's highly unpredictable. I didn't feel comfortable with LO being somewhere where there wouldn't be somebody within 5-10 minutes of him on any given day.
2. There are absolutely zero daycares that take infants in the town where we live.
Also, when I'm nursing, if there are issues giving him the bottle, I can easily go and nurse on my lunch break. I can also easily stop in and visit LO, especially during the early days at daycare. There's no guarantee anybody would be able to do that if he was at a daycare near our home (even if there were any)
Also, our daycare gives you a certain amount of time to come and pick your child up if they throw up, have a fever, etc. or they start charging you the equivalent of their late pickup fees. That's something to keep in mind.
Of course, we'll have to reassess that once he gets older, for the same reason @Adnama mentioned.
pear / 1786 posts
We are still TTC but I am already considering this. I am thinking near work for me because: 1) I already work a lot of hours + commute time would keep me away from baby longer 2) finding a daycare open late enough for me to commute back to at end of day before they close would be hard 3) there are better day cares in the city where I work. I can see that commuting with an upset or sick baby would be hard at times. But when baby is happy & especially as s/he gets older, I think I will want to spend that extra time together.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Ours is near our home. The reason being that Hubs and I work in opposite directions. I work 30 minutes one way, he works 40 minutes the other. We wanted to pick somewhere that would be convenient for either of us so we both could handle pickup/drop-off. If it was closer to one of our works, it would be really inconvenient for the other person.
pear / 1837 posts
Home. It's really all that makes sense for DH and I... we work 75 minutes from each other, and if LO is in daycare near work it means that the same person has to do both drop off and pick up, which is really hard since we both occasionally travel or have weird schedules. Using a daycare near home means that we can split the drop off/ pick up duties. It does take us at least 30 minutes to get to LO if he is sick, but he doesn't get sick often, and its' not the end of the world.
For a while when LO first went to daycare, we used a center near DH's office, and it was really hard on DH to have to do both drop off and pick up, and it was miserable for me if DH had something going on where he couldn't do pick up and I had to drive an hour and a half to get LO.
Plus, I really like the fact that the other parents who use our daycare live near enough to us to do playdates and run into them at the grocery store and stuff like that.
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
Home. Hubs and I don't work near each other so it's much more convenient to have day care near the house so we can share pick up and drop off duties. Our ped's office is also really close to my house so we like that if we have to take baby to and from our home or to the doctor's office from day care he/she will never have to spend too long in the car.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
I'm not pregnant, but when the times comes we'll definitely choose one near home. I think it'll be nice so that our LO can have friends that live in our neighborhood.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
thanks for all the input, everyone! i hadn't thought about what it might be like to have to commute with a sick baby, or whether the baby would have "friends" in the neighborhood!
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Our is down the street from our house and also a mile from the pediatrician's. I wanted it close to home because (1) I work downtown about 25 minutes from home and did not want to risk him falling asleep en route or on the way home from daycare (2) for when he gets sick I'll be close to him and (3) though I'm going to primarily be responsible for pick up and drop off, my husband would like to do pickup when he can - and he doesn't work near where I work.
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
near work, but it doesn't really count since my commute is 10-12 minutes!
however, i will say that it's nice to scoop up cb right after work (and get to him right away if he's sick) and chat together on our way home as well as on the way to work. i know that it's different because he's older, but i think even if he were an infant, we might have stuck with a daycare closer to work.
nectarine / 2797 posts
Near home. DH and I commute in opposite directions, so with one by home he can do the drop off and I can do the pick up. This way LO doesn't have to spend 90+ minutes in the car each day either, she can be playing/napping/whatever as usual. I also can still take her to daycare when I WFH, which I do occasionally. I did think about how this meant she was technically away from us longer, but honestly the time when she's sitting in the back of the car and I'm driving isn't quality time anyway.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I think ours will be near work because the hubby and I both work far from home (30 minutes for me and 45 minutes for the hubby). It'd be easier for mid-day pick up, if necessary.
squash / 13199 posts
Ours is near work and 'm happy I made this decision because the only time I take her to daycare is when I go to work, so whenever there is a issue with her at daycare I'm close by and can get there within 10 minutes. I can also always stop by unannounced to check on her
pear / 1965 posts
Ours is not that near either. But its the best one and worth going a little out of the way.
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
Home - I have one day a week off and still send him to daycare 
coconut / 8430 posts
I was originally going to do one near home but now I'm thinking near work might be great. There are 2 daycares within walking distance to my office. I could nurse on my lunch break if she were close.
| Today | Monthly Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | 0 | 1 |
| Posts | 1 | 3 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
29 comments