Home Daycare vs Traditional Daycare

I’ve worked at both and each has pros and cons. For me, it ended up coming down to how much flexibility my job would have. I loved the idea of home daycare, but your schedule is tied to the provider’s vacations and sick leave. Depending on your work, you may not be able to take sick days if it is the teacher, not your child, who is sick. I found that a relatively small independent daycare has been working well for us - still individualized attention but enough teachers to cover if one is gone.

I had my son in home daycare for about a month or so waiting for spot in real daycare center. It was fine. I prefer real daycare more. More kids and socializing for him. Yea he gets sick alot but I think it doesn't really matter if it's home or center care kids just get sick alot. He absolutely loves daycare now

I used to be a big proponent of non home daycares but my outlook completely changed with a home daycare I tried. We were having a hard time getting daycares to accept my daughter because she didn’t walk or wasn’t potty trained (she had a disability). A home daycare in my neighborhood accepted her. It’s run by the sweetest woman who treated the kids like her grandchildren. Even cooked for them. She was a former teacher and taught the kids as well. She even worked with my daughter on her walking. We loved our experience. My daughter’s prior daycare treated the walking issue more like a liability (would not practice with her) and she often was overlooked in classes of other kids (the daycare seemed more focused on maximizing profit). I would say explore each option in your area and make a decision based on what you see/how you feel. Don’t discount any option.

The one thing about a home daycare I didnt love when touring is you don’t know who’s in and out of the house - do they also have kids, are they older and have friends over? I like that at the daycare my son is at everyone is background checked and I know exactly who is there and has access to my child

My only con to home daycares is the wide variety of ages. There is one in my neighborhood and she accepts 1-5. My social work lens unfortunately makes me nervous of the ages grouped together!

Ultimately I think each setting has its pros and cons and it’s a matter of figuring out what works for you & your family and what’s safe for your little one 🖤

Good luck!

I’ve only done home daycare. Def has its pros and cons. Most providers follow the school vacation/holiday schedule. So it’s sucks when you have to figure out where to take the kiddos for the days your employer does not give you.
Also, I think kids will be sick on any daycare.
Just really do your research on both. Go in person take your baby or babies and have them interact with the provider and ask questions about schedules, who’s helping watch kids how many under one daycare, if they are certified, have CPR, etc. most home daycares have Facebook pages you can see review there.