Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

This is going to be long girls....I need some advice.

DH and I do not have to do daycare or get a babysitter until Sept. I will be going back to work when DH is finished with the school year for the summer. at the point we do need a daycare or babysitter. I would drop off the baby at 6:30/7am and DH would pick-up the baby by 4pm.

Right now we are planning on having a babysitter that will watch the baby at my parents house. She is a close friend of my family and I trust her completely. However, she lives in Brooklyn and by Sept. DH & I will be living in S. Setauket and my parents will be living in Centereach. It pays for her to come out because we're paying her almost the same amount as we would for daycare and it's off the books. She'd be making much more than she does now even with the travel cost.

Ok that being said, DH is a teacher and he'll have certain days/weeks off and then the whole summer off. We rather he take care of the baby when he's off and even the few holiday's and vacation days I can take off I know I'll want to have the baby with me. This would save us in daycare\babysitting costs. However, if we go with the family friend it doesn't pay for her to come out if it isn't full-time. Also, my parents would have to watch the baby for an housr or two in the morning until she comes out and my dad would have to pick her up and drop her off at Ronkonkoma everyday since she doesn't drive. Which in my opinion my be a lot for two 70+ year old.

I'm starting to look into daycare and was wondering if any of them have options where we can pay for the time we use them and not pay for the time we don't. I called one and they only offer full-time enrollment from Sept-Sept. regrdless of whether we use them or not for a particular week or time frame.

Do you girls know of any daycare's that work that way??

Teachers...what are you doing for daycare?

Should I just have the babysitter regardless and just pay the entire year? It might be better if we have another to have a babysitter rather than a daycare??

I'm sooo confused as to what to do...I feel like I didn't think this out properly and now I am.

Thank you for reading this novel. TIA for any advice/help.

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

every daycare we looked into made you pay for school vacations/summer even though you were keeping baby home. I guess they look at it as saving the baby's spot in their facility. I think it's nuts but that's just my experience.

I had my mom watch the baby when I went back to work and now he's in school.

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

We have a similar situation and I went to Tutor Time.
They have a 2 day a week option,a 3 day a week option and full time for 5 days a week.
The price is adjusted accordingly.

i had asked if I have to committ to which 2 days I'd need (for example- Mon and Tues) and she said no- as long as I can tell them somewhat in advance which days each week I will need it does NOT have to be the same 2 days each week.

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

I am a licensed provider and I watch several teachers children. The way we work out in our contract is that they don't pay for summer or scheduled vacations. The way we can do this is because we have school aged children who are in our care when school is closed. For us it evens out, we aren't at loss for money. Many home based daycares are much more flexible, I have even heard of providers who only watch school teacher's children. Call child care council of suffolk, they can give you a list and may even be able to help you find someone who meets your criteria.

childcaresuffolk.org is their website

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

I am a teacher and use a daycare center. While during the school year when I have off I still pay for DD to go, I do have the option to pull her out for the summer (which I do). I just pay the registration fee for Sept to hold her place each year.

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

if you go with your family friend, could you give her a copy of your husbands work schedule for the year so she knows in advance what days she will have off?
you can let her decide if she is OK with having some days (unpaid) off every once in awhile.

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

I am a teacher and I will be using a daycare center next year. For the first summer, I will have to pay even though won't be there much. Once they are out of the infant room, there is the option of pulling out for the summer.

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

Thank you Girls!!

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

Posted by jerseychick

I am a teacher and I will be using a daycare center next year. For the first summer, I will have to pay even though won't be there much. Once they are out of the infant room, there is the option of pulling out for the summer.

Re: Daycare Question\Advice Needed - LONG

I am a teacher and I recently visited/researched about 7 daycare centers. I was told 1 of 3 things at every place i went: 1) they will hold my spot for the summer no charge, 2) they will require me to keep my child in daycare and pay for at least 2 days/week over the summer, 3) they will charge me a small fee to hold the spot over the summer. The place I am going with is charging me the registration fee every summer to hold the spot. It's nominal compared to the actual cost of paying for the summer. Every place I went to requires you to pay for holidays or other days off during the school year regardless of whether or not your child is there.