Decision 2008: Daycare Providers

What kind of factors go into your decision making process for picking a daycare provider? We have two options in front of us, both of which we are comfortable with, but differ in price and location.

We live in Boston and there is a provider just south of us that we are very comfortable with. The issue with this option is that we only have one car and we both work in Boston, MA (well I work close by in Cambridge). So I would commute out of the city just to come back in for work. If we want to split the drop-off and pick-up, we will need two cars. We could drop her off, leave the car at the train station and commute via train to work. And reverse that to pick her up (thus splitting the responsibility). Downside there is we can’t get to her in a hurry if we need to, nor can we pop in to say “Hi!”.

Another option is to use a great provider in Downtown Boston that is on the way to work if I rearrange my commute slightly.  More importantly my wife could walk up (or cab it) during the day to say “Hi!” or in the case that little girl is throwing a nutty and needs her momma. Issue with this option is that it is (about) $800/month more expensive than option 1.

We are comfortable with both providers in terms of comfort level. So it boils down to:

• Convenience of drop-off/pick-up.
• Closeness to get there in emergency or for a mid-day pick-me-up (baby smiles are good for you).
• Cost.