Homebased carer or Daycare?

I have been in your position... my DD was in homebased from 8 months - 13 months but we moved from town to the country and home based carers were few and far between so put her into daycare, she loved being at both, homebased she got the one on one care she needed but then the daycare offered children her own age and more stimulation.

This is only MHO, but for #2 we will put it into homebased until about 12 months and then daycare.

If you are having issues with your homebased carer can you talk to the provider? I would move him asap if you are not happy, either to homebased or daycare... i.e if daycare has a waiting list, put him on it and put him with another home based carer until the spot is available.

Kids change, their needs change and therefore we need to adapt sometimes...

To risk talking in circles: Homebased IMO gave Arna the best start for the first wee while while she got over not having me around, once she got to a more independant stage she needed to be with other kids so this is where daycare was good...

Ok ramble over: all the best and if I made absolutley no sense i apologise! Typical monday for me

we had Ella in homebased from when we was 6 months- 13 months and then moved to daycare (I loved her homebased carer but she was getting more and more unreliable and it was getting to be a bit of PITA). Ella loves going to daycare and settled in there very quickly (mainly i think because she was used to homebased care).

I like homebased care for young babies, as is less stimuluating than daycare and they can keep more to their routine...but daycare for toddlers as it gives them more social interaction and a wider range of experiences.

2nd time around I think I would probably do exactly the same thing.

To me it would depend on the carer. Im personally not a fan of homebased care, but that more because of the horror stories of when something goes wrong (you know the ones that end up on the news) .. obv not an everyday occurance, but it is just something that would make me really think about it.

It the homebased carer had other adults on premises as a back up and had an ECE degree then I think I would be more comfortable with the arrangement.

Otherwise I like the "safety" of a daycare facility. The staff are required to be qualified or in training to become qualified ... although Ive only considered putting Isabelle at her current age and only part time, more for social interaction and as such we chose a daycare facility (although she is in the one where DH works, so its a little easier for us as she still has a parent around)

Carer should definitely not have more than 4 kids! Even if they have 4 though and the ratio at a centre is 1:4 it is still a lot busier and noisier at a centre. Also remember teachers can come and go at a centre and babies really need one person to build a relationship with rather than a whole raft of people.

Flissty (just on a side note) - is yours a private arrangement? Because I'm pretty sure they're not really allowed to have two caregivers and more than 4 children on the same premises...home based care order only allows you to have one caregiver with 4 children in one home. Although my sleep-deprived baby brain could have that wrong

Ah it's probably the fact that it's two houses that makes it ok Sounds like a great set up! You are lucky.

I put my 8 month old into part time daycare, and if I could have my time again I never would have done it. Apparently around that 8-9 month age is the first time that alot of babies get separation anxiety, so that, combined with the fact that my Daughter is a sensitive wee girl, made for a nightmare at daycare and a very very unhappy child. I perservered for six months but I ended up taking her out of daycare and have never put her back into any type of care at all, besides from her Nana having her for a day and a half a week. She is now 21 months old, and I think her sense of security and confidence has only really returned in the past 3 months. I have just started her in playcentre, where I attend with her, to get her use to intergrating with other children.
Its different for every child as they all have their own personalities, but if I was to have my time again, I probably would have tried home based care at least until she was 18 months old. Not so much hustle and bustle, and only one primary caregiver.

double post!


Edited by Febgirl

Can I just respond to this - I was a programme tutor for PORSE (before I went on mat. leave) and had around 25 educators I visited each month. Out of these there were only 3 I can think of who had their own preschooler at home with them. I think we can all agree that having 4 preschoolers in your home is NOT an easy job, and I think anyone who does it thinking it's an easy way to stay home doesn't last long.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that of course you want someone looking after your child who is doing it because they love children. Just saying, I think the number of people doing it because it's an easy solution is probably less than you think.

One more thing (sorry) - I have known a lot of untrained educators and a lot of degree/diploma qualified teachers. And while training is obviously a good thing, a diploma does NOT make a good teacher. If someone is untrained but is passionate about children, willing to do some training and I felt I got on with and trusted I would rather have them looking after my baby than someone with a diploma who isn't as committed. I know some wonderful home educators who are warm and love children, and have just started level three training. On the other hand I know teachers with diplomas who have either been doing it too long and are over it, or who knows why they did it in the first place because they don't seem to like children all that much!

Sorry, don't mean to rant.

I take my hat off to any one who is a home based carer - there is no way I could do it!

wow this kinda sheds some light for me. i was always thinking i wanted my boy to be at home with someone as opposed to daycare yet worried about having one of those horror story nannies caught on the nanny cams! I think I might try and get my mom to take care of him (course I'll have to pay her! figures...) but at least I'll know that he's getting one on one and will be ABSOLUTELY safe. The day care will become an option once he's old enough to take on all that stimulation.