In-home daycare... when to start looking?

Irene902

Hi everyone, I'm new to the board.  Hope you all don't mind if I just jump in. 

DH and I just found out that we are expecting our first little one in July and have started doing some research into childcare.  I've been looking into in-home daycare as an option for when I go back to work in November/December 2010.  When should I start calling around?  Is it a good idea to go ahead an get on the waitlists now? 

Thanks!
 

AnnaBananaBelle

I secured our in home daycare spot in April before I went back to work in October.

mek10976

in my experience, in-home is easier to secure closer to your work date than center-based care.  i think i secured my in-home in may for work in july.  but it just depends on your daycare provider.  i know that when i inquired, ours said she was going to have 5-6 kids leaving for preschool, so she was going to have lots of openings in the summer.

Artslvr

Generally speaking in-home folks won't know if they have any openings until a month or two or three before the opening opens.  (? - sorry I have no command of the English language this morning).  I found my in-home lady in February to start mid-April.

Maybe you've seen this spreadsheet already, sorry if its a repeat, but it's just some info about how folks found daycare around here:  https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p6LhXlNI9FdU2cVy0kCNZeQ&output=html

 

QueSrah

Artslvr:

Generally speaking in-home folks won't know if they have any openings until a month or two or three before the opening opens.  (? - sorry I have no command of the English language this morning).  I found my in-home lady in February to start mid-April.

I'm going back to work in January and we're finding that the in-home providers are just finding out or figuring out whether they will have an opening then (whether it's a current client moving or switching to another facility). 

Ana0927

I found mine in a week but I would never recommend doing that! It is easier to find home daycare though. I would say to start looking around 6 months before you plan on returning to work.

victoria1212

I found ours when I was on maternity leave. It was stressful but I am so happy with our provider!

Temp769118375005138

Most in-home places didn't even want to talk to me until DS was born, since they have no way of knowing what openings they are going to have.  I found my in-home daycare six weeks before I went back to work.

DCHappy2B

i am STILL looking:)

Irene902

Thanks for all the advice!  I think I will hold off for the next several months.  I just wanted to make sure that in home didn't have 2 year wait lists like some of the centers around here!