Family day care vs long day care in Canberra

Family day care is usually delivered in an educator's home with a smaller group. Long day care is usually centre-based with multiple rooms, teams and longer operating structures.

Neither model is automatically better. The right fit depends on your child's temperament, age, routine, location, availability and how confident you feel with the educator or centre team.

Ask about backup care, educator absence, excursions, emergency procedures, communication, food, sleep, supervision, ratios, fees and how concerns are handled.

For long day care, ask about room transitions and staff stability. For family day care, ask about relief arrangements and how the service monitors quality.