Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

There is a child care center, with a good reputation, right down the street from where I work. Ideally, I would love to have the baby there if there's room (and if I like the program). However, then I wonder what about a day when I'm off and might want to have the baby in day care so that I can get things done (no judgment please...I don't see anything wrong with this), or what if I want to run some quick errands after work before picking the baby up? In that case, it would be more convenient to have the baby near home. Then again, I guess I can always find alternatives and run errands at stores near work instead of near home...

Any thoughts?

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

I think it depends on your situation. We have the same dilemma. We decided to go with near home because DH will probably drop off and I'll do the pick up. We are both teachers but between his coaching and my tutoring, this seems to work the best for us.

On the other hand, a lot of the women I work with use a place near work because they do all the pick up and drop off.

HTH!!

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

Home for me. Even though I will ebf when my little guy arrives, I wont have time to go to dc during work. I work 4 hr shifts so I try to do with out pumping even until I get home. Its easier if either DH or I can do pu and do rather than me having to do them all.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

I like having daycare close to home. In my case, I drop off and DH picks up. Even if you usually will pick up, DH can do it if necessary if daycare is close to home. Also, if you are sick you might want to put baby in daycare so you can get some rest. I also make any doctor appointments for myself when he is in daycare-much easier to go to gyno/dentist/etc. without a baby/toddler.
PS-Once in a while I put DS in daycare on a non working day just to get errands done, so no judgement here!

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

We have ours close to work, this way we get to spend more time w/ DD in the car on the way to work and if she gets sick we are closer to pick her up.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

It all depends on your situation.

For me it works out better to keep him closer to home. It was easier for both DH and I to do it that way so we could both do pickups. Plus I didn't want to commute with them every day.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

Thanks Ladies. I would be the one doing the drop-offs and pick-ups. DH works in the city and takes the train, so even though we leave at the same time, he gets home much later. He could technically drop off, but it will be easier for me.

There are definite pros and cons to each, so I'll have to weigh them, and see what places we like.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

Sorry to crash but when I went back to work, I had ds in a center next to my office- I went there everyday at lunch for the first 2 months- I loved having that time with him!

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

DH works in LI and I am in the city. Our preference is near home.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

For me it was easier near home. I work in NYC and DH works in the Bronx and we both do pick ups and drop offs depending on DH's schedule.

Also - I couldn't fathom commuting to NYC with DS - and the price of daycare here is a lot more than close to home!

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

I've had my son with me at the daycare provided by my company because I wanted him close. However, it's an hour from my house. He is now 3 and although it was easy when he was a baby, he now gets very anncy being in the car that long. Also, there are days I can work from home but I get nothing done when he is home. Although the comfort and convienence is nice to have him with you, if I were to do it again, I would have put him near my house. Like you said - having the ability to run errands, clean your house, whatever is something you would never have with your child at your work (depending on how far your commute is). It's a personal decision but if the drive is far, I would recommend having the baby near the house - it will be a benefit down the road as they grow. Just my opinion. Good luck!

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

Sorry, I'm crashing, but I posted about this when I was looking at daycares as well. Here is the thread if you're interested:

daycare thread

Ultimately, I chose near work bc neither of us work very close to home, so at least she is close to one of us if she is sick and we need to get there quickly, plus I like having the extra time with her while I am driving. The fact that I can't take her on days I am off if definitely the biggest down side.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

DH and I talked about this at great length and we decided that for us, a day care by the house would be more ideal. We both work an hour from home (in opposite directions), and have different schedules. My work schedule is pretty steady but DH's schedule changes week to week. So, a day care by the house would be best for us so that if DH gets home before me..he can pick up the baby...if not, I can. Also, in the begining, I don't want the baby on long car trips (especially when its bad weather), so the shorter the better. Also, I did take in account days when I am off from work, have appts or sick and need to drop her off anyway...I'd hate to drive an hour to drop her off.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

Drop the baby at my house and then go wherever you want!! The best part (besides the fact that I'm an AWESOME babysitter) is that it's free!!!


... and you thought nothing in this process would be free!!

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

Posted by PennyCat

Drop the baby at my house and then go wherever you want!! The best part (besides the fact that I'm an AWESOME babysitter) is that it's free!!!


... and you thought nothing in this process would be free!!

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

we chose by work...but right now we both work about 20 minutes from home. i like being close to work just in case the baby is sick or there is an emergency, plus it was easier for the pickup times. daycare closes at 6, and at least if we get stuck at work we are close enough to daycare where it wont be an issue running a little late.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

I think it depends on so many factors ...

- cost difference
- how far work is from home
- do you have family/friends to pick up DC if you both can't
- how would you need to commute to take DC to daycare (mass transit during rush hour isn't a good option with a child)

We initially chose near DH's work, but switched to near home after DH changed jobs. It's easier now 'cus there was no way for me to pick DC up when we did near work with me working far from DH's old job.

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

We did Daycare around the corner from us. I wanted it near us so DH could do some pick-ups. I also wanted it close because we had just moved to the area and I wanted us and DC to meet people in the area. Really worked out great for us because DC friends are all in the area and we have made a lot of friends. Good luck!

Re: Would you rather have your child in daycare near home or near your job?

I chose to have a daycare that was close to my house. That way, DH was able to help out with the pick up/drop off. We have sent DD to daycare on days when a)I wasn't feeling well or b)had a day off and needed to get things done. I also felt like I wanted a daycare close to my house in the event that I had ever changed jobs.