Frugality and childcare options: advice needed

[YesandNo]

To what extend are you frugal in your childcare choices? I'm in a situation now where I have to choose between good enough care for my child at a budget price or superb childcare at a premium price.

First let me say that in BOTH cases, I feel my child would be cared for and safe. Of course I would never consider childcare that I found inadequate to save money.

The "budget" option is an at-home place. They are very caring and nice, always several adults present, the kids play outside every day, they've been in business a long time and I am confident that they'll look after her well. But I'd describe it as a typical family-style daycare..... they're essentially babysitters.

The "premium" option is an NYAEC accredited center which is everything I ever wanted: age-appropriate curriculum, positive discipline, 2:1 adult to child ratio (for toddlers), every staff member has a child development degree.

I'm sending her 3 day per week, and the price difference is about $420/month .... $5000/year.

We can afford either. Going to the budget place would mean we can save money every month. Going to the premium place means that if we skimp, we can break even every month. We do have a little savings, well-funded retirement accounts and no debt besides the mortgage. But we've never had negative cashflow before, and I know we would sometimes with the more expensive option. I'm nervous about that.

WWYD?

[lovebeingamomma]

I would do the at home personally. I don't think my care of my kids is inferior as a SAHM just because I don't have a degree and don't have perfect toys and a perfect schedule. That sounds more like school to me. That's how I see it anyway, I would prefer my child to be in a relaxed home environment, and would actually pay more for it than the other choice. At least while they're babies/toddlers.

[Aubergine68]

How old is your child? How does she handle a busy environment like a center?

Home environments can be more comforting and nurturing for babies and toddlers (and shy preschoolers). Some, but not all, preschoolers (age 3 and up) want more of a challenge in terms of curriculum and social learning from a larger group of others the same age than they can get from a small in-home center.

Would the home childcare be able to transport your dd to a p/t preschool program when she is old enough? Could you start with the in-home program and move her when she is older?

I have had my daughter in an excellent high-quality day care program. Now I run what I hope is an excellent in-home program (while taking early childhood courses). ETA my experience leads me to agree with the pp who would pay more for the nurturing in-home environment, quite honestly.

Personally, I think I would look at using the in-home program and then using at least some of the savings to give my dd more of *me* - ie, hiring a housekeeper a couple of hours a week or purchasing healthy convenience meals so that I could spend all my days off, evening and weekend time with my child in an unstressed way.

[ABrez]

I would go with your gut. Which do you think your child would be happiest? I would never factor in cost. I don't know if it helps... but my best friend works at a 'premier' child care facility. Where all of the people working there have child education or developement related degrees. And she says the best she can do is 'manage the crying' most days. She works with 2-3 year olds. This is a location that charges $300 a week for one child, which is about $100 more than average around here. So costing more is not necessarily getting better care if you know what I mean.

[YesandNo]

Would the home childcare be able to transport your dd to a p/t preschool program when she is old enough? Could you start with the in-home program and move her when she is older?

Yes, they do that. This may be a good option. DD is just 1.5 years old so she doesn't need pre-school services just yet. And luckily she has a very easy temperament and is usually happy, so I think she'd be fine at either place.

These replies are so helpful - please, keep 'em coming.

[Aubergine68]

Ok, my biggest question would be this: At which place would she have the opportunity to form the most secure attachments to her caregivers? Because I think that where childcare is a factor in a child's life, the healthy benefits of a secure attachment to an attentive and loving caregiver are second in importance only to the attachment to parents.

An in-home daycare that has been in business for a long time would seem to be able to provide this for your daughter.

What is the staff turnover like at the center? Would she have the security of having the same 1 or 2 staff members directly responsible for her care all the time, or would it change from day-to-day, week-to-week or month-to-month?

[sunflower.mama]

Originally Posted by Aubergine68

Ok, my biggest question would be this: At which place would she have the opportunity to form the most secure attachments to her caregivers? Because I think that where childcare is a factor in a child's life, the healthy benefits of a secure attachment to an attentive and loving caregiver are second in importance only to the attachment to parents.

An in-home daycare that has been in business for a long time would seem to be able to provide this for your daughter.

What is the staff turnover like at the center? Would she have the security of having the same 1 or 2 staff members directly responsible for her care all the time, or would it change from day-to-day, week-to-week or month-to-month?

This is my thought. I remember visiting some state of the art looking daycares, only to learn that the teacher turnover was quite high. The place we chose was run down (relative to the brand new places, but safe and cheerful enough), but they passed annual tuition increases right along to the teachers as raises, instead of remodeling. As a result, several of the head teachers had been there 15-20 yrs. That approach sealed the deal for me. I remember one place wanted a deposit from me even though they had yet to open the classroom ds would be in, and hadn't hired the teachers. LIKE I'D SIGN UP WITHOUT MEETING THE TEACHER. It still freaks me out 4 years later that they actually thought I'd do that. Anyhow - we've always taken an cost-blind approach to childcare, with the resulting lack of regret/second thought. I'd try to forget the cost diff in your case and look at which care approach you prefer.

[Alyantavid]

At which place would she have the opportunity to form the most secure attachments to her caregivers? Because I think that where childcare is a factor in a child's life, the healthy benefits of a secure attachment to an attentive and loving caregiver are second in importance only to the attachment to parents.

I totally agree with that. Our kids go/went to a small in home daycare with a wonderful preschool. They are both very attached to the daycare provider and her kids and its a wonderful place.

Having said that, all the daycares in my area are the same price, within a dollar or two a day.

[MeepyCat]

I agree on trying to be finance-blind in this decision where possible. However, I'm not sold on the spiffy accredited center, and I don't love the potential for negative cash flow (there are limits to my budget blindness).

My DCP is working on NYAEC accreditation, which is great for them and all, but I have found that I generally don't care about the changes they're making. For all I care, the curriculum could consist entirely of snack time and walks to the park. I don't think there's any harm in the developmental activities they choose, but nor do I care very much if my son can sing the alphabet, or recognize a number on a flashcard.

It's great that the caregivers at the center all have child development degrees, but it makes me worry rather a lot about turnover. Degrees come with loans which result in a need for a higher income than can generally be made as a DCP, which results in high turnover as those employees realize that they can freelance as nannies or learn some basic secretarial skills, or otherwise get jobs that pay more.

If the in-home daycare has been in business a long time, I'd call other parents as references and seriously consider going with the home option. I do like finances to be in the black, and I think your "good enough" is gracious plenty - loving caregivers are the important thing.

[tinuviel_k]

Personally I would go with the in-home childcare option over the accredited school option.
For such a young age I would have preferred that my daughter be in a more "homelike' and less "school-like" environment. Starting age four or so I would be more open to something more like a preschool with a set schedule and curriculum, but not before.

[aprons_and_acorns]

I agree with the PPs who said to consider which option would offer the best potential for secure attachments to the caregiver. The potential for staff turnover is probably greater at the child care center, although the 1:2 ratio sounds very attractive.

You are lucky to have two good options to choose between! Good luck to you

[YesandNo]

Thanks - this has really helped. Both places have staff with long tenure. But at the childcare center, she will go to a new room every 6-8 months or so ("young toddler", "older toddler", "young three" etc.) In the family daycare she will be with a mixed group of ages and will stay with the same caretakers as long as I keep her there.

You've given me good food for thought. I'll think on it so more but right now I am leaning towards the family option.

[Aubergine68]

Originally Posted by YesandNo

Thanks - this has really helped. Both places have staff with long tenure. But at the childcare center, she will go to a new room every 6-8 months or so ("young toddler", "older toddler", "young three" etc.) In the family daycare she will be with a mixed group of ages and will stay with the same caretakers as long as I keep her there.
.

YMMV, but my daughter used to grieve for a week or two - literally, grieving, - when she moved from one room to another I remember being surprised -- same center, some of the kids she already knew, but she missed the teachers who stayed in the room which she had outgrown.

[Norasmomma]

I would go for the home based care scenario, both sound very nice, but for myself if I was to make the decision to put my DD in a daycare environment I would like something with a homey feel. Where I live the only preschool is essentially just a glorified babysitting service. I mean it is a school, but it is expensive and just not that great IMO.

I went to a home based baby sitter and I can tell you from a kids perspective it was better for me. I felt at home, I know you child is young, but I honestly don't think that kids really need to be getting bumped from class to class at toddler ages. If she was more like 3-4 it might be different. I think though being in a mixed group with other children is a great space for a young child to be in. I would also not want to have to scrape by for childcare just because it maybe has a few more bells and whistles so to say. Try and save the money since the home based option is very nice, then when she's ready for preschool maybe you'll have the money saved to just pay for it at the other school.

[sanguine_speed]

My preference overall is for a child care centre over a home care setting, but this particular home care setting you're considering sounds like it would allay my regular concerns about home care. You said there are several adults present? This means that if one care provider suffers a serious illness or injury you're not left without child care?
It sounds great!
Now, I should also say that around here, child care is very hard to find and very expensive. I can't personally afford to rely on one single caregiver when I have three kids that would be without a care provider, and so we use a child care centre instead. We waited a year and a half to get into one of them.

[Logan's Mom]

Originally Posted by YesandNo

Yes, they do that. This may be a good option. DD is just 1.5 years old so she doesn't need pre-school services just yet. And luckily she has a very easy temperament and is usually happy, so I think she'd be fine at either place.

These replies are so helpful - please, keep 'em coming.

well, then if it were me, I'd keep her in the in-home and when she is ready to move on to something more challenging, I would do that. let her guide you. You would then have the best of both worlds.

[BathrobeGoddess]

I would see if you can have your dd spend quite a bit of the morning with them and observe. See who has the environment your dd plugs into the best. 1.5 is a really special age, one of my favs as a EC teacher actually! You really want a caregiver(s) that understand developmentally appropriate practices as well an environment that works well for her specifically! I mean, I am certainly in the camp that believes that the increased professionalism of EC teachers is a good thing and I like that NAEYC has a code of ethics and a written Rights of the Child, etc...but that doesn't mean a home setting wouldn't be okay. As long as there is more than one adult with the children all the time and they aren't doing anything punitive, then both sound like they would work by your description! Good luck deciding!

[Selesai]

I agree with a PP- I would actually pay more for the in-home care, particularly at your daughter's age. I think 1.5 is way too young to get into curriculum, etc. I actively try and avoid it-- I think kids just need time to be kids.
My DS goes to an in-home daycare 2x a week. The woman lives 2 blocks away and has been doing this for 10 years. My son loves having children of different ages around him and he has really made friends-- so much so that even though I would like to save the money, I keep sending him there because he likes it so much.
His provider is technically certified to teach preschool, and she does do 1-2 hours of "school-stuff" per day during the school year, but I don't really care about that.
So, i say go in-home.

[Climbergirl]

We ended up taking my son out of a similar sounding home based care and putting him in a Montessori program and I am really glad we did. Our home based care was a wonderful woman, but it was basically baby sitting and my son started getting some very undesirable behaviors from the older kids. And he cried every single morning.

Now, he walks in to daycare with no crying and will sometimes wave bye to me (we switched 2 months ago). He hugs his caregiver and she says he likes to cuddle up to her when he goes to sleep. He has turned around and given her hugs before we leave and the undesirable behaviors are going way under a very watchful eye of several of the teachers (my child was turning into one mean little biter and hitter).

We are paying so much more now, but we found a way to do it and with my son so much happier, I am glad we did. I would say to go with what feels better and then be prepared to leave if you sense anything wrong. That is what we have done and I think we are finally in a good spot on this daycare thing.....

[Aeress]

NAEYC accredited centers can (stress can) be excellent places for children, however, you need to observe them to really see how they operate. Are babies in arms? Are toddlers rocking and sitting with adults? Is the emphasis on play?

In home can be excellent. I have used two and the first turned out to not be very good. The second, didn't have all the healthy food that I wanted, but the women was so good and caring with my dd.