Segment Information - Income from Operations by Segment (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2014		Sep. 30, 2013
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 334,976,000	$ 308,663,000		$ 1,015,231,000		$ 899,599,000
Amortization of intangibles	6,959,000	7,699,000		22,068,000		22,049,000
Income (loss) from operations	33,046,000	27,789,000	[1]	109,592,000	[2]	78,623,000	[3]
Full Service Center-based Care [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition related costs		1,700,000		600,000
Revenue				870,546,000		775,358,000
Amortization of intangibles				21,090,000		21,279,000
Income (loss) from operations				70,587,000	[2]	49,326,000	[3]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Plan Modification, Incremental Compensation Cost						13,300,000
Back-up Dependent Care [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue				120,689,000		107,526,000
Amortization of intangibles				543,000		543,000
Income (loss) from operations				36,229,000	[2]	28,609,000	[3]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Plan Modification, Incremental Compensation Cost						1,900,000
Other Educational Advisory Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue				23,996,000		16,715,000
Amortization of intangibles				435,000		227,000
Income (loss) from operations				2,776,000	[2]	688,000	[3]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Plan Modification, Incremental Compensation Cost						800,000
Operating Segments [Member] | Full Service Center-based Care [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	282,798,000	263,198,000
Amortization of intangibles	6,634,000	7,442,000
Income (loss) from operations	19,079,000	16,392,000	[1]
Operating Segments [Member] | Back-up Dependent Care [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	43,493,000	38,648,000
Amortization of intangibles	181,000	181,000
Income (loss) from operations	12,356,000	10,215,000	[1]
Operating Segments [Member] | Other Educational Advisory Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	8,685,000	6,817,000
Amortization of intangibles	144,000	76,000
Income (loss) from operations	1,611,000	1,182,000	[1]
Affiliated Entity [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Related Party Transaction, Selling, General and Administrative Expenses from Transactions with Related Party						$ 7,500,000

[1] (1) For the three months ended September 30, 2013, income from operations includes secondary offering expenses and acquisition related costs of $1.7 million which has been allocated to full service center-based care.

[2] For the nine months ended September 30, 2014, income from operations includes secondary offering expenses of $0.6 million which has been allocated to full service center-based care.

[3] For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, income from operations includes expenses incurred in connection with the Offering, including a $7.5 million fee for the termination of the management agreement with Bain Capital Partners LLC, and $5.0 million for certain stock options that vested upon completion of the Offering, and acquisition related costs. These costs have been allocated on a proportionate basis to each segment ($13.3 million to full service center-based care, $1.9 million to back-up dependent care, and $0.8 million to other educational services).