I send mine (both) to child care centres. My sister sends her three to a FDC. She likes it because its a small environment, they love the carer and know her well, she is close to the house - and well, she's cheaper than child care.
My problems with FDC? Well, her carer doesn't work on Tuesdays - so whenever my sister works on a Tuesday - mum has to go down to Brisbane and look after the kids. Whereas my child care can take them whenever I want them to (well the one with vacancies, the other one is full and I can only get one day a week for DS - he goes to Montessori the other two days).
Another problem I have with FDC? The one carer. What happens if she has a heart attack/stroke - whatever - who looks after the kids? Who will call the ambulance? What happens to the kids if the ambulance is called and the carer is taken away? Who looks after the kids until you get there? Do you trust a stranger??
My biggest gripe would be the above. And the fact that yes, the carer may seem like a nice person, but you aren't there during the day to watch them and make sure they aren't doing controlled crying (if you don't want them to) or smacking your children, feeding them crap food, not abusing during nappy changes... etc... etc..
Ok, so I sorta sound like a untrusting freak who is over protective - but seriously - I would rather put my kids in an environment where there are several people watching over them, and looking out for the other carers to make sure they are doing the right thing. Plus I don't have to worry about them chucking a sickie and not being able to take the kids!!!!!
DD is still a little young for having feelings for her carers - but DS loves his carers - and he has the same ones every day that he goes there.
Mel hunni you can't trust that that stuff wont happen in a centre When I worked in this one a couple of years ago, there were the twin boys, one of them was a little hyper. This carer hated him, you could tell by the way she treated him. One day he wouldn't sit down for story time so she yanked him over and forced him down quite hard and when he started crying she told him to "shut up and stop whining". I reported her. This had been going on a bit and the other carers turned a blind eye! They were also very nasty with food issues, forcing the kids to sit and eat even when they weren't hungry, and if they accidentally dropped it they weren't allowed anything else
For this reason I would never send my kids to a CC centre, it might happen in FDC but I have worked in 1 and the lady my boys go to is lovely
Missy Mel - true - but you can't promise that that stuff won't happen with FDC - no matter how nice they seem, everyone has a breaking point and has bad days - and who is there to report them?
More children at CC: DS is a lot more social than I am.
More activities at CC: I know some FDC ladies and tbh I'm not keen on DS going to coffee mornings and left in a creche while I'm paying someone to have coffee away from him. I know I did it occasionally but I'm not paying me to do it!
CC is a VERY "gentle" centre with loads of hugs and kisses. Most of the workers have no children so a full night's sleep and just LOVE it when DS hasn't slept so they can cuddle him all day! I've seen breaking point once: the kids were all playing up and the main carer said in a loud (not shouty) naughty voice to all sit down, there would be no TV late afternoon (the only time it's on, you don't know that about a FDC place!)... that's the punishment! No shouting or screaming. The naughty chair is used too, that's the worst punishment.
CC has a webcam you need a password to view, so you can watch your child all day.
CC has a bigger range of things to do: indoor climbing frame, balance bars, chalkboard, water bath, train set, duplo, sticklebricks... I don't have all of that! I don't know any FDC with a climbing frame in the front room.
My sister has worked in a CC where the care was poor. She was told off by other workers for spending time with babies and not letting them cry! Which is why I was picky choosing the second centre for DS: the first one I sent him to was awful (I saw it while I was pg, it was the work nursery). I think the other children there are a good indication of what the centre is like. Also if you can stay for a half-hour at drop off/pick up and just see what the carers normally do. If you're in and out and not allowed to stay with your child, it's probably to hide bad practice.
Also, I'm ill and paranoid about "what if I am suddenly paralysed for two hours..." I just need more than one carer around DS because you never know when someone's going to get ill. School holidays (I have off, the centre doesn't, nor does it have compulsary time off for holidays because there's more than one member of staff) I will now spend at my parents' so if I am ill then there's my mum there to look after DS.
This is slightly an odd one. I want DS to have my accent. Some of his carers are South African. And lovely, nothing wrong with them, before anyone gets bad ideas! But a balloon burst the other day, DH and I said "the balloon went bang!" and DS nodded, then said "Pop! Beng!" He says "bang!" with a South African accent! Just imagine if that was his full-time carer. I want DS with a Yorkshire accent, so will have to work harder on that one LOL. So you have to consider the accent, enunciation and things like that of the carer too. More carers means less chance of errant pronounciation slipping in. PMSL, I sound like a snob here! I'm really not! I'd be just the same if it were a English, Australian, French, Scottish... whatever accent. I just want him to have a "nice voice" and to me that means a Yorkshire accent.
I agree but I trust my boys would tell me. I am very much trusting in that fact and I ask lots of questions when they get picked up. The issue for me with THAT CC is there were 5 other carers in the centre, 3 of who worked in the 3-5 room and noone had reported her before me
I can't worry about the 'what if I pass out or die" thing because then I would worry about my own kids being in my care. Instead I have taught them about calling 000 and asking for the ambluance and stuff.
Missy - yup I get where you are coming from, really I do. My problem being that my kids are far too young to be able to tell me if anything happens - so I have to have faith in the people that are looking after him. I just find it easier to have faith in more than one person.. .LOL
I know that feeling. I used to be so scared sending my boys to Launceston to see their dad knowing they were so little and couldn't tell me what was going on (this was when they were 1 and 2). There is a big age gap (5 and almost 4) compared to your bubbas
1 hour from Melbourne, in a tiny-tiny town once described as 'abandoned'
8
My son went to FDC and my daughter is now at a CC centre. My thoughts are that the difference between FDC and CC (apart from the cost) is that with FDC you are choosing one specific person to look after your child. With CC, you choose the centre have to trust that all the carers follow the ethos of that centre. You also have to get used to (and check out) the multiple carers in your child's room and then accept changes in carers (when the carers leave the centre or the room, or when the child moves to the next age group). This is my little bug-bear at the moment because the main carer in my daughter's room last year was The Best, and with the new year everyone's been shuffled around and it feels like we're starting over getting used to the new carers.
Although, we actually had the experience of the FDC carer passing out! When my son was about 18 months, he had been at this FDC for only a few weeks, she was sick and passed out. The problem was that she had left the front door unlocked and the 3 kids got outside - and she lived on a main road!! The next-door neighbours saw the kids and brought them back, so they were safe. But the council had to remove her from their service.
The council organised a different FDC and the new lady was fantastic (and her house was set up for day care, with a large playroom safely separated from the rest of the house and a gated yard so no chance of escaping children). She was also studying child-care by distance education so knew a lot about child development and did lots of age-appropriate activities with the children. She even provided healthy, kid-friendly, food.
So, we've really experienced the good and the not so good with FDC.
The main reason my daughter's in a centre and not FDC is the length of the FDC waiting lists, and the fact that even when there's an opening it may not be with the 'right' carer so getting to the top of the waiting list doesn't necessarily mean getting a place in care.
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When I worked in this one a couple of years ago, there were the twin boys, one of them was a little hyper. This carer hated him, you could tell by the way she treated him. One day he wouldn't sit down for story time so she yanked him over and forced him down quite hard and when he started crying she told him to "shut up and stop whining". I reported her. This had been going on a bit and the other carers turned a blind eye! They were also very nasty with food issues, forcing the kids to sit and eat even when they weren't hungry, and if they accidentally dropped it they weren't allowed anything else 
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