Babysitter or day care?

**green1706** · 09-19-2009, 02:12 AM

What do you think is better? Have a babysitter or your child go to a day care? I have a babysitter but I start to worry about the education that my children receive. Older child, about 7 years, already goes to school starting this month, but the smaller, 3 years and a half, sitting all day with the babysitter. I think that I take my child to day care even if it will be very hard for him. However, I do not know what to choose: babysitter or day care? Please help me!

**Cycofan1** · 09-19-2009, 05:44 AM

I went to both when I was a little kid (I'm a teenager now). And at a Day Care they didn't care it was basically a kid farm. A babysitter actually cares about the kids they are watching.

**cycloner29** · 09-19-2009, 07:00 AM

My wife has been doing in home daycare for the past 12 years and watches 4 kids. God Bless her!! She takes the kids to the library, park, gym etc. She has gotten a lot of referrals over the years as she does a lot of structured activities with the kids. Like someone else said you have a kid farm at a daycare with a bunch of kids.

**cyclones1** · 09-19-2009, 07:58 AM

Does anybody have any good references for good in home daycares on the North side of Ankeny?

**twojman** · 09-19-2009, 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by green1706

What do you think is better? Have a babysitter or your child go to a day care? I have a babysitter but I start to worry about the education that my children receive. Older child, about 7 years, already goes to school starting this month, but the smaller, 3 years and a half, sitting all day with the babysitter. I think that I take my child to day care even if it will be very hard for him. However, I do not know what to choose: babysitter or day care? Please help me!

Our son is now three and has been in an in home daycare since he was an infant, our 17 month old daughter is also there. Our provider has been awesome and helped to teach them both so much. I think we are getting to the point though with our son where he needs a bit more structure. I think we are going to try and get him into preschool in the spring but his daycare will continue to be in home.

**AmesCloneFan** · 09-19-2009, 08:28 AM

They're hard to find, but there are some in-home daycares that teach as well. The one we found is a registered in-home provider, but she has a teaching background. Her basement looks like a pre-school - and they are taught English and Spanish from an early age. It's got the benefits of a big day care, but she only has 6 kids at a time.

**CyTom** · 09-19-2009, 08:53 AM

Speaking of in home daycares, anyone have a recommendation for someone in the Beaverdale area? Wife is due in February so we'd be looking around the May time frame to start as she is taking the full 12 weeks offered to her.

**TarHeelHawk** · 09-19-2009, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by cycloner29

My wife has been doing in home daycare for the past 12 years and watches 4 kids. God Bless her!! She takes the kids to the library, park, gym etc. She has gotten a lot of referrals over the years as she does a lot of structured activities with the kids. Like someone else said you have a kid farm at a daycare with a bunch of kids.

Thats the same kind of day care our kids go to - just one ran out the house, and I think the lady we go to watches 6 kids (or whatever the max allowed is). It's really convenient because her house is literally 2 blocks from ours.

I don't like paying 280 a week for daycare, but I suppose that's one of those "you can't put a price on your kids" deals.

**HOTDON** · 09-19-2009, 09:13 AM

We had our son at an in-home daycare in Ames, and a larger daycare center in Fort Dodge. He still has a very strong bond with our former provider and her family. He obviously got a great deal more care and attention there, but aside from a lot of craft activities there wasn't much educational value. At the time it was fine since he wasn't in preschool yet.

I'll second the kid farm feel of the larger centers. Our center included a great preschool program, but the younger and older kids just play all day. The one benefit we've seen there is the transition to a large group. 30 kids to 1 supervisor got our son more accustomed to a school setting.

**MoreCowbell** · 09-19-2009, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by Cycofan1

I went to both when I was a little kid (I'm a teenager now). And at a Day Care they didn't care it was basically a kid farm. A babysitter actually cares about the kids they are watching.

Uh, no. Our in-home provider experience was much worse than our current daycare center experience. We absolutely love the center where our kids attend and would recommend it to anyone. As with all things, there are good and bad of both. It's the parents responsibility to check out all their options and insure their children are receiving the best care.

**Angie** · 09-19-2009, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by MoreCowbell

Uh, no. Our in-home provider experience was much worse than our current daycare center experience. We absolutely love the center where our kids attend and would recommend it to anyone. As with all things, there are good and bad of both. It's the parents responsibility to check out all their options and insure their children are receiving the best care.

We had also made the decision to go to a daycare center. All of the providers were certified in infant CPR and first aid, there was a webcam that could be viewed offsite, and there was an on-site pre-school. If one kid or caretaker gets sick, you're not stuck home from work - and you don't have to rotate your vacation around theirs. At the Ames daycare we had chosen, the child-to-caretaker ratio was only about 4-to-1, which is the same (or better) as most in-home caretakers.

**cybsball20** · 09-19-2009, 09:38 AM

My parents just dropped me off at the Country Club before work and picked me up on the way home... 18 holes, some swimming and tennis later I was pooped!

**Tre4ISU** · 09-19-2009, 09:58 AM

In my opinion ( have no kids so take this for what its worth) a babysitter is a better alternative than a large scale daycare. On the other hand, if you could find a smaller daycare (4-6 kids) that may not be all that bad. I guess it comes down to what you want out of the daycare. If you are looking for some sort of educational value, a daycare probably provides that better. If you are looking at only the well being of the child, then I would say get a babysitter. I know when I was a kid, when I had a chance get a babysitter it was an event. I also grew up on a farm where I was put to work pretty early in life so maybe that has something to do with it.

**TarHeelHawk** · 09-19-2009, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by MoreCowbell

Uh, no. Our in-home provider experience was much worse than our current daycare center experience. We absolutely love the center where our kids attend and would recommend it to anyone. As with all things, there are good and bad of both. It's the parents responsibility to check out all their options and insure their children are receiving the best care.

Interesting...our experience has been the exact opposite. Kindercare was a nightmare for us - not to mention their outrageous prices. The final straw was when our youngest came home with an outfit that was polka-dotted. The girl who was responsible for wiping the changing tables didn't bother to, and left bleach all over it.

**TarHeelHawk** · 09-19-2009, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Angie

We had also made the decision to go to a daycare center. All of the providers were certified in infant CPR and first aid, there was a webcam that could be viewed offsite, and there was an on-site pre-school. If one kid or caretaker gets sick, you're not stuck home from work - and you don't have to rotate your vacation around theirs. At the Ames daycare we had chosen, the child-to-caretaker ratio was only about 4-to-1, which is the same (or better) as most in-home caretakers.

I believe that even the at-home providers have to certified in CPR if they want to get state certification. I know ours is.