Seeking Advice on Child Care: Day Care vs Sitter for 3 Days a Week

Personally, if you could find a good in home sitter, that is the route that i would go.
Daycare is expensive, you have less information about what they are doing all day long, they can't take your daughters needs into consideration, ex. if she needs a longer than usual nap, needs to skip nap, wants lunch early, needs some quiet time, stuff like that. they try but they have to consider the "group" where as a private sitter has more flexibility.
Then maybe next year look at a half day preschool that they sitter could take her too. If you were worried about socialization etc.
just my 2 cents

Hi J.,

Home is always better than outside.

Good luck. D.

Hi J.

Until I had number 3 and couldn't justify the cost of daycare vs my salary my kids were in daycare from 12 weeks old. They really liked it and learned a lot. Good daycare centers have outdoor play areas as well as go for walks and have other activities ( water play days- gym day- science day-karate day) just to name a few that they had where we went. When my son was older he was already in preschool so I didn't need to worry about finding him one. It worked because the sitter never was sick or had any issues come up that we needed to find alternate care or stay home and there was only bad wether to worry about. They did catch colds and a couple of GI bugs but nothing more serious than that. On the other hand, my newest guy had a severe bout of RSV this winter and none of them were in daycare. My oldest in preschool though. I guess you have to figure out what will work best for you, a sitter is probably more affordable than a good daycare center. Food for thought!

Hi J., our 1 year old daughter is currently in day care 3 days a week. She started going at 5 months and she loves being there. I was very torn when first having to decide about in home sitters, small home daycares, and big day cares. I am also in law enforcement so I do not trust alot of people and places to begin with :-) We settled on a bigger day care and I am very pleased with it. Like the previous post stated you do not have to worry about the provider being sick and you have to take a day off, taking a weeks vacation, etc.. She has learned so many new things and they have been a valuable source of information for me as a parent with regards to her developmental stages. When I go pick her up she is always happy and playing. She has had a few colds and tummy issues crop up from catching things but of all the things she caught myself and husband were only sick one time this winter and we were both due for colds anyway. I just felt like the bigger centers were more regulated and I can pop in anytime I want. Whenever I have had a special request or need they have always met it. It's a very hard decision and after visiting many, many places I had a good "gut" feeling about the place we went to. They send us home with progress reports every day with what she did and quarterly updates. They also take them outside on nice days and they read to them alot..which was very important to me.
Good luck with everything, A.

what are you planning to do with the baby? Think about the timing and maybe by then your home on maternity leave. Realize that is lots of changes for the little one to make all at the same time.

Either is good or bad, quality is the key.

I was considering child care options myself but my youngest is 5, I was going to go with a sitter and encourage her to join a play group or a moms club where they didn't mind if she was a caregiver. That way you have 1 on 1 care and your daughter has friends her age.

Good luck whatever you decide!