What is family day care like?

[del79]

I m exploring options to send my bb to some sort of care at about 6 months and I wad told that family day care is prob better for bb this young as compared to Childcare...

Need some advices on the pros n cons.. Thanks..

Also how to choose a family day care? N what r the fees like?

[EmPowering]

my aunty runs one- smaller numbers think it's a total of 5 allowed at once depending on ages.

very home like feel clearly haha :)

fees are cheaper than child care centers

my aunty takes them to playgrop etc and they have fdc meet ups regularly.

I dont have much pros and cons as i don't have kids in one.
con would be that if your fd carer is sick on short notice it would be harder to find care than if someone was sick at a big childcare centre

good luck :)

[EmPowering]

as how to choose I would honestly say on the feel when you walk in

[MsMummy]

I agree with ep, except my fees are about the same, but don't include food or nappies. My fdcer has a great set up, and a diploma though.

My main motivation for fdc is that I thunk young children should have continuity of care, so they can form an attachment with the carer. Also, I think big centres are a impersonal and overwhelming for young children.

The flip side is that's it less reliable. Make sure you ask about holiday plans. Mine went away for a month last year.

[MsMummy]

When I say young, I mean under 3. Maybe younger for some kids.

[2girls&1boy]

my son goes to family day care after sending my two daughters to local child care centres. I have to say that I am so happy with it. DS started when he was 18mths and he is just so happy. THere are 5 kids in total with his day care nana (that is what he calls her). My son is so happy and misses it when he isn't there. I am sure that most of them are the same but he is never bored and they are always doing really great activites to keep them engaged.

In respect to picking on , interview them all and ask many many questions. Check out their house to your satisfaction and also I asked questions about other people that may be coming and going to her house. I love our FDC carer and will be so sad when DS has to start school.

[zombiekitty]

It's a home environment, smaller number of children and it's often cheaper. These are the main pros for me :)

[share a book]

Unreliable

If the worker cannot work you are often left with no care like I am at the moment

[zombiekitty]

Personally I find a smaller number of children means my child is not suck as often as when she attended a centre.
At the centre she was ALWAYS sick!

[68mevy]

I am a family day carer on the Gold Coast. In QLD we are only allowed 4 under school age children including our own plus 3 school age children. Hourly rate with my scheme is between $6.40 and $8.00 per hour, depends totally on who you go with, we all set our own fees.
Don't worry about family day care being unreliable - again it depends who you register with. The scheme I'm with (C&K) have relief carers and I have NEVER had to close for holidays or sickness. I even had a baby 20 months ago and got a relief carer in for 9 weeks. Continuity of care with one carer is definately a huge benefit, but atleast when I'm off your child stays in familiar surroundings. All parents have met the relief carer and I have only ever used the one. If you opt for FDC, when you interview make sure you ask what the plan is if ever they're away, some may leave you in the lurch, others may try to help you find alternate care, others will be lucky like myself and have access to relief carers.
Marie