What should I be expected to bring to day care?

[caseykn]

DD1, 3 yrs, has been going to an in home child care for a couple of years now and very soon we'll start having the baby, 3 months, go part time as well.  We'll probably start with half-days a few times a week.  Our child care provider has 4 kids of her own but the youngest is 4 so no babies, and she watches 2 other 3 year olds.  My LO will be the only baby so she's not all set up (gear-wise) for baby-watching.  We have a great relationship with her and she loves babies and always holds and snuggles with the baby when I drop off or pick up my bigger girl so I feel good about leaving her there.  Other than the obvious, though (diapers, milk, bottles, change of clothes) should I be expected to bring?  She told DH today that she'd like it if we brought a bassinet or something that DD2 is used to napping in, but she naps either in our baby swing or kanoe baby hammock, neither of which we'll be toting to her house.  We have a pack-n-play we don't use that I wouldn't mind leaving there but DD2 isn't used to sleeping in it.

Other stuff?  Baby monitor, swaddlers, teething toys, baby bouncer?  I want her to have what she needs to take care of my baby, but I don't have the money to buy duplicates of everything if she doesn't have it and I am paying her to so this service for me.  I know I just need to ask her, and I will, but what do you all think is reasonable for me to bring/buy for her?  What should she be responsible for getting herself?  I'm kinda worried that I'll leave the baby there and she'll realize that the happy-go-lucky, smiling baby she sees several times a week is really a no napping unless she's in a swing, no drinking from a bottle kind of baby and she won't like her anymore.

[P.J.]

I actually would buy duplicates of some things, like where she is used to sleeping. You can find it second hand from EBay, Craigs List, or a second hand shop.

[just_lily]

Unless there is something really specific you want her to use, like a very specific brand of swing or something, I don't think you should have to provide any of that stuff.  That is just one of the costs of doing business for a daycare.  And I say this as a former home daycare provider.  She should be providing, at the very least, a safe place for sleeping, and a high chair for when your baby is ready for solids.  I have never heard of parents being asked to bring baby gear! 

[caseykn]

This is just such a different experience than when DD1 was a baby.  DD1 started going to child care part time at 6 months and the woman who watched her then had a baby almost exactly the same age so her house was baby central.  Our current provider isn't taking any new kids and is phasing out of the child care business as the kids she has now, mine included, are probably going in different directions at the end of this summer so she's not highly motivated to invest in a bunch of stuff she will only use for a few months.  Not that she doesn't have a responsibility to get some totally necessary things and she does have a few key things, like a high chair and changing table, from when her kids were little. 

I just remembered about travel swings and that's something I wouldn't mind buying used to bring over there for DD2 to nap in and it wouldn't take up a ton of space in her house when my baby isn't there. 

It's good to hear your perspectives so DH and I can figure out what feels right to us before we have a big convo with our provider about baby logistics. 

[Momsteader]

I also think it's different with a 'home daycare' versus a center. If she normally doesn't take infants, but is taking your infant as she watches the older sibling, that's different to me. I'd be more accomodating. Yes, she is doing business and you are paying her, but she's also not making all that much either. And, from the sounds of it, she won't be using it again. She could have just declined to take an infant and you might have been looking at two different daycares for kids or trying to find two slots elsewhere. Personally, if you are happy with the provider, I would take what you think will make your dd comfortable there, and then you can resell when you're done. 

I used to run a home daycare and I had some basics, but if there was something special the parents wanted, they'd bring it along. I had a pack-n-play for sleeping and high chairs, floor blankets, and some toys. I personally didn't use swings with my kids, so didn't have them. But, if your dd is used to sleeping in one and she doesn't have one already, I don't think she should have to provide one just for your dd. The travel swing sounds like it might be a good solution and not too much money.