how soon to begin looking at daycares?

ifeelgoodifeelgreatifeelwonderful

Hi Ladies,

This will be my first baby and I was wondering how far in advance you started to look for daycare?
How many did you look at before you felt comfortable to pick one?

rspalding001

We started looking when DD was 2 months old... We needed the day care when she would be 5 months old so three months in advance. We had to put down a deposit to hold her spot. I'm probably weird because I liked the first one I visited enough to put the deposit down. But I had done a lot of research online so felt comfortable. We chose a pretty nice center... It's pretty pricy, but worth it in my opinion. We LOVE our day care and have been going there for a year now.

ifeelgoodifeelgreatifeelwonderful

thanks for the advice!

katelinmillikin

I work at a daycare and I suggest looking right away.. We don't have any spots available till February.. Some places where I live their waiting list is over a year long..

ifeelgoodifeelgreatifeelwonderful

ah!! ok thanks, I didn't want to look crazy looking too early, I'm not due until December.

SLGILL1978

I would start looking at least 3-5 months before daycare is needed. I waited until the last minute and ended up sending my daughter to an expensive center. I love it, but it was so expensive (including my husband's military discount). She attended there for six weeks, then I was off for the summer. During that time, I actively looked for an in home. 

TheBorg7of9

In our area wait lists are a year long, so I got on the wait list when I was 12 weeks pg.

bublesmiled

I would look right away.  The one my dd was in up until kindergarten didn't start until 15 months, but was great! - they have a long waiting list, so when I have #2, I'll call them to get on their list, so when I can go, I won't have to wait.  I've learned the great ones, financially and service wise always have a waiting list.  Better to be on it too early, then be in a bind and have to wait.

kimberly95

I am due the end of December and already have daycare lined up. I talked to our provider at 6 weeks. I didn't care if I looked crazy bc it was important to me to get a spot at the place we were comfortable at.

SharonB222

Both times I have found in-home care 1 month before I returned to work. Perhaps I was lucky or my standards are different (high on attention and care, low on "schooling"). The pg books say to look early. Congrats on pg!

maelily15

It really depends on your needs. I had a lot of trouble lining up care because I work in the evenings. I eventually went to the local childcare assistance office and got a list of providers and started calling. The place we were going to use was too expensive and had a huge wait list and was not open in the evenings. It'll take some time but finding somebody you're comfortable with can save a lot of trouble in the future.

Margotsha

I was looking for daycare to start when DD was 12 weeks old. I had to put a deposit down when I was 6mo pregnant because good day cares are competitive here. My recomendation would be the sooner the better

SmrBrd2012

Due date was May 2015, we were looking for daycare to start in Sept 2015...We started looking in December of 2014 so...about 9 months. And most daycares already had waitlists at that point. It's so bizarre looking for daycares before you've even met your LO but that's how it is in a lot of places now!