DayCare in Lakewood

amother

Wed, Jun 26 2013, 4:25 pm

I'm looking to send my one year old to a daycare this coming year. I will need full time and most non-yom tov days, so I'm guessing that I'll need a regular daycare center and not someone babysitting in their home.
What can you tell me about daycares in lakewood?
1 - level of care
2 - level of involvement with the children and their development
3 - willingness to be flexible for individual children's needs
4 - interested in working with parents as a team

and then other things like hours, pricing, how the age groups are divided, etc.

Thanks so much for getting me started with info before I make my calls.

21young

Thu, Jun 27 2013, 2:14 pm

In my experience the best babysitters are often women in houses rather than daycare centers where there are a lot more kids and a lot less individual attention. It's hard, but you can find good babysitters who work full time, and you will have to send your child to a drop-off center on the days when she doesn't work.
The level of involvement, flexibility, etc. all depends on the specific babysitter. Everyone has pros and cons. The only way you can find out is to ask everyone you know for references of their favorite babysitters, and visit the place and speak to the morah before you commit.
Which area are you looking into? Lakewood is huge.
On a whole pricing is $4/hour. Some babysitters charge extra for overtime. The ages of the kids, hours, etc. will all vary by specific babysitter.

studying_torah

Thu, Jun 27 2013, 2:23 pm

There is a place called ready set grow that is open most of the year, and is a full daycare.
However, I found them very expensive, and if you're even a few mins late, they charge you money. Also, I personally didn't find that they worked with me as a team.
Having said that, I don't know if there is a place in lakewood like what you are looking for. Most babysitters are tied to bein hazimanim, and have their own kids home on erev yom tov and chol hamoed. Also, realistically, someone looking after 4-5 kids cannot give every child personal attention, the way someone watching one child can.
Good luck!

amother

Thu, Jun 27 2013, 2:24 pm

21young wrote:

Thanks so much for replying.
What about the fact that a daycare will have limits on the number of children in a group (as set by licensing regulations), as well as facility requirements, that a home based caretaker won't have?

shouldn't a lower ratio give you more individual attention than a place in a home where there is one babysitter for 8-10 kids?

I didn't give specifics because I thought there were only a few daycare centers...

amother

Thu, Jun 27 2013, 2:28 pm

studying_torah wrote:

thanks

Do you mind telling me what you mean by not working with you? (would you rather I pm you?)
Are you saying that they charged extra if you came late?

I understand that it won't be personal attention, but I assume there is a range in the level of care in different places.

21young

Fri, Jun 28 2013, 12:31 pm

amother wrote:

21young wrote:

As I said, every babysitter is different and you have to meet with her and ask her how many children she has, etc. I would never send to a babysitter who has 8-10 kids! I would only send to a group of 4 or 5 kids, and there are plenty of those around.
The ratio in daycare centers is often a lot higher than at a private babysitter who tells you she takes a max of 4 or 6 kids, and the atmosphere is a lot more warm and individual. I've heard good things about Special Children's Center, but I've never been there. On a whole I feel that commercial centers are in it for the money and are often less willing to work with you.

Chayalle

Fri, Jun 28 2013, 1:23 pm

I too have had very good experiences with private babysitters. I want to add that your babysitters will treat you and your kids the way you treat them (like most human beings).

Since I wanted the best for my kids, I tried to be really fair to the babysitters. I always paid them at least an agreed-upon minimum per week (so for example, when I went on vacation my babysitter still got the minimum so that her monthly salary was still within her normal range that month) and I gave bonuses at Chanuka and Purim.

I found that since my kids were important to the babysitter's success (because I work full time and paid well on a dependable basis), they really went all out for me. My kids were well-taken-care-of and they worked with me regarding feeding and napping schedules, even when the going was tough (baby who gave a hard time with the bottle, and when I wanted to adjust my DD's sleep schedule, etc...)

I agree about the individual attention of a private babysitter. I always found sitters who had 5-6 kids of varying ages. I felt there was less germ exposure than at a large daycare, and I didn't walk into a room of screaming kids with too little attention....but rather a calm, happy-family type of group. The varying ages provided good stimulation for my child as well (my 6 month old interacting with 15 month old, for example) and my babysitter had a child my DD's age, and they are still close friends at age 5 and get together for playdates.

It's also important that your babysitter share your philosophy regarding vaccinations, medicines, etc....because she will partner with you in caring for your child.

amother

Sat, Jun 29 2013, 10:28 pm

I want to mention that there is a place here in town that is supposed to be more 'private' not a real day care center, as it's in her house. However she has loads of kids there and a lot of 'helpers- many of whom do not really know what they are doing with the babies and kids. Alot of them are unfortunately not even fully functional. My mother was watching my kids, as I had a medical emergency, and not realizing how bad the situation was, sent my kids there for 3 hours. A short time later, my baby came down with the measles.
So please, please, check everyone very carefully! Make sure the place is clean, the kids don't come in sick, and the assistants are qualified!

amother

Sat, Jun 29 2013, 11:54 pm

sigh .... that's why I stopped working 7 years ago. It's really hard to find someone who can watch your kids after 2pm in lakewood! I was lucky. I found someone who was willing until 4pm. Even that wasn't long enough since I was working in NY and should have been there till 5pm most days. I see ads for Ready Set Grow and it says they are open til 5:15 so maybe that would work for you. I think that at this point if I were to return to work (with more than 1 baby that would need to be looked after) I would need to hire someone to come to my house the whole day. That would NOT be $4 an hour. I doubt it would be worthwhile for me at the end. Good luck to you. I hope something works out soon.

amother

Sun, Jun 30 2013, 12:32 pm

Be careful! Even if the hours are great, do not send to a place in the Villas run by someone with initials EK. I'm not printing her name for L"H reasons but it may actually be pikuach nefesh for your child. I have a feeling the amother with the measles above was talking about this place and it is only one of the many stories to come out of there. I have been there a lot of times for different reasons (and my own kids went there for a short time) and it is a dangerous place for kids.

amother

Sun, Jun 30 2013, 12:41 pm

Posted: Today at 12:32 pm Post subject: re: DayCare in Lakewood

Be careful! Even if the hours are great, do not send to a place in the Villas run by someone with initials EK. I'm not printing her name for L"H reasons but it may actually be pikuach nefesh for your child. I have a feeling the amother with the measles above was talking about this place and it is only one of the many stories to come out of there. I have been there a lot of times for different reasons (and my own kids went there for a short time) and it is a dangerous place for kids.

I sent my baby there - yrs ago and at first I was SO impressed. The main baby sitter was great. Then she left and it really was pikuach nefesh for my child. B"H I found another babysitter very fast. I guess it matters who the hired help is at that time.

amother

Sun, Jun 30 2013, 3:14 pm

I send to Ready Set Grow, and am thrilled. They are open almost every day of the year, including most erev y"t and every isru chag. The teacher was in touch with me on a regular basis, just so we could work together as a team, even though my child had no real issues. The place is spotlessly clean, there is a safe staff to child ratio, and the atmosphere is so positive!! They have fire drills, safety rules, and teach the children a tremendous amount! The secretary, bookeeper, and all the other staff know my child by name, and b"h she has thrived there. I've never had the experience I have now with a babysitter in the house. When they're alone in the house they tend to also do housework and there is no supervision. Here, the director Mrs. Rappaport is always around peeking in to make sure things are OK, and the staff all participate in mandatory classes regarding childcare, discipline, etc. I would highly recommend!