Next Best Thing To Mom

My daughter has been attending Next Best Thing to Mom since 2020 and I feel compelled to share our experience because it has been nothing but positive. Over the years, staff has always been caring, attentive and invested in my child’s wellbeing and development. I have never once had an issue or concern that’s wasn’t handled professionally and respectfully. No place is perfect, but NBTTM has shown up for my child and our family. Knowing my daughter is safe, cared for and happy means everything and that peace of mind is priceless. I’m grateful for the years of care they’ve provided and are continuing to provide for our family. I wanted to share a positive voice for families who may be considering NBTTM!

There was no communication about not being able to tour the daycare. I set up the appointment the week prior. A lady came out after a few minutes of us waiting, said it would be a few minutes still because they had to figure something out with the rooms. We waited 40 minutes. No one ever called me earlier in the day to let me know, and they have yet to call and apologize or reschedule. This was for a school age spot. I took it as a sign that this place is not meant for my son and there’s a reason the universe didn’t let it happen. Please read reviews on this and care .com and take your kids elsewhere. Also when looking into daycares, please see if there is violations on mn dhs website. They have many. Reply to the comment made: that was my fiancé and we were not arguing. We were waiting, we met there after work so we could both see the place, we were all in high hopes. I was told someone would get us when you were ready for us by a worker that was leaving the building, so we stayed outside and waited and waited and waited. We came to the door to begin with and that’s how the worker informed us of an issue and to wait a few minutes for someone to get us. Again why let people sit outside in the parking lot for over 40 minutes. We weren’t just hanging out. They knew it was a tour, as the lady walking out acknowledged that.

When my kids first started here I thought it was a great daycare. A little time passed before I found out the Manager Joy was yelling at kids for absolutely no reason, resulting in my kids not wanting to go to daycare. Toddler room had bitting incidents almost daily. The rules at this daycare regarding breakfast is uncalled for as the Manager joy told me they have to eat before 750am (not after due to it being unfair that the kids that just ate see a child that hasn't ate breakfast yet)or the kids wont be able to eat till lunch at 12pm as theres no snack between the times. The daycare uses an app that tracks everything like feedings and diaper changes, which I used daily to check in. I began to notice that my 3 month old would go hours without being fed, I'm talking about 5 hours between feeding which was not normal for her because she would want to eat 5oz-6oz every 2 hours at home. When she did get fed at the daycare it was 1oz or 3oz being tracked because the daycare staff didn't give her the time to eat. I finally had enough with this daycare and found a new daycare that is absolutely wonderful with my kids and since being at the new daycare my kids behavior has improved tremendously. What gets me is on the very last day of being at this daycare my kids went at a little before 750am I told them in the truck to eat there breakfast when we get inside or go play with there class and explained to them that when they get in the building and if the chose not to eat they won't be able to eat till 12pm. The 2 older kids didn't want to want to eat so they went outside to play with friends. A short time after I was putting there stuff in there cubbies and the manger Joy runs pass me to go into the back where the older kids are playing and the door slams. I then hear Joy yelling so I go outside to say bye to my kids and see what she's yelling about. Not to my surprise she's yelling at my kids about eating breakfast and I interupt her yelling and say to her "I've already explained to them what was expected, your yelling is not necessary" then said bye to my kids and left. I feel so bad for the kids that continue to go here as cambridge don't have many daycares so it's kinda there last resort. I would recommend staying away from this daycare as it's also related to the daycare in North branch next best thing to grandma.

The staff here have been so supportive to my toddler. The director is personable and great at communicating. I love the user friendly app provided to check in on what your child has eaten, diaper changes, nap, etc. I am very pleased with all of the craft projects brought home.

I toured this place in Cambridge in September of 2019 and was horrified. The center director forgot our appointment, and during the tour she pushed a child off the linoleum with her foot!! She then went on to tell me about how the toddlers aren’t very nice to each other. The facility itself was pretty basic, kinda shabby and sparse. The caregivers didn’t look to be engaged with the kids or happy to be there. A few of the toddlers were crying consistently while I was there, with no intervention from the caregivers.