While it's not strictly speaking in and around Davis, we've sent both kids (now 6, and nearly 2) to the same home-based daycare all the way through. (Candyland Adventures, up near the VNA/Armory area.) And it's been a good experience. The small size is really often a very nice aspect in terms of attention and so on. (Plus, fewer other kids to share germs with!)
I'd definitely recommend visiting before enrolling, getting a sense of the provider's experience and making sure you feel like you have a good rapport with them, etc - it's a more personal relationship than I've gotten the impression that a larger center provides, which can have both pro's and con's.
Make sure to ask about vacation policies - unlike a center, a sole provider will almost certainly have more "closed" days over the course of the year (they do, after all, deserve time off and need personal days now and then, plus they're required to have "professional development" classes for certification, which also means occasional half-days or closed-days). In our case, it's been announced long in advance so we could plan around them, and it's been reasonable numbers of days.
Also check on anything in specific that matters to you, to be sure they're up for handling it - cloth diapers if you go that route, vegetarian diet if you happen to be vegetarian, whatever. Often they're quite able to accommodate things like that, where a center might balk at the idea of cloth diapers, for instance.
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I'd definitely recommend visiting before enrolling, getting a sense of the provider's experience and making sure you feel like you have a good rapport with them, etc - it's a more personal relationship than I've gotten the impression that a larger center provides, which can have both pro's and con's.
Make sure to ask about vacation policies - unlike a center, a sole provider will almost certainly have more "closed" days over the course of the year (they do, after all, deserve time off and need personal days now and then, plus they're required to have "professional development" classes for certification, which also means occasional half-days or closed-days). In our case, it's been announced long in advance so we could plan around them, and it's been reasonable numbers of days.
Also check on anything in specific that matters to you, to be sure they're up for handling it - cloth diapers if you go that route, vegetarian diet if you happen to be vegetarian, whatever. Often they're quite able to accommodate things like that, where a center might balk at the idea of cloth diapers, for instance.
Good luck, and congrats on the new arrival!