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                                                                 EXHIBIT 31.1



                      CERTIFICATION OF THE CEO PURSUANT TO
              SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a)
                       AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302
                        OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, David H. Lissy, certify that:

     1.  I have reviewed this Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2006 of
         Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc.;

     2.  Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
         such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
         covered by this report;

     3.  Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this report, fairly present in all material
         respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
         of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

     4.  The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
         control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
         13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

            a.   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                 such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                 our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                 to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                 made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                 during the period in which this report is being prepared;

            b.   Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                 caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                 designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
                 assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and
                 the preparation of financial statements for external purposes
                 in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

            c.   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                 controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                 conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                 and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                 report based on such evaluation; and

            d.   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                 internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                 the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's
                 fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that
                 has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                 affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
                 reporting; and


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     5.  The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
         based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
         reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
         registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
         functions):

            a.   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                 design or operation of internal control over financial
                 reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                 registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                 financial information; and

            b.   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                 or other employees who have a significant role in the
                 registrant's internal control over financial reporting.


Date: May 10, 2006


                                               /s/ David H. Lissy
                                               -------------------------------
                                               David H. Lissy
                                               Chief Executive Officer