Pennsylvania Babies

Daycares in Mechanicsburg area??

So Sophia is almost 2 years old and my husband thinks we need to start sending her to daycare. 

What we do now is this:

I work 3-11, usually have 1-2 days off during the weekend and I work two 12-hour days every 3rd weekend.

On the days I work 3-11, my husband has to get into work around 5 am so he can be home by 2:15 for me to leave for work.  He said it's really wearing on him.  

I have NO CLUE where to even begin looking for daycare.  Right now, I have a lady who will watch her occasionally, but I'm afraid to ask her to watch her more often, because I'm afraid of the unpredictability with her.  Like today, I asked her if she could watch her and she was at her limit of 5 kids.

Can anyone please help me with where to even start investigating daycares and are there daycares that will take kids only in the afternoon?

Thanks!

Re: Daycares in Mechanicsburg area??

  • Sara if I remember correctly, your husband works on base.  Have you guys checked into the daycare on the base.  Gunnar is moving to the 2 year old room in the middle of July and LOVES his daycare.  My husband drops him off around 8-8:30 and I pick him up at 3:30 so it works really good.  I know they do not have a part time program, but I don't take Gunnar in on Fridays because I"m off Fridays and they have no problems with it. 

    We pay $262 on the 1st and 15th of each month.  The daycare provides everything but diapers/wipes.  Their phone is 605-5683

    A friend of mine takes her son to the Goddard School at Rossmoyne and she says he loves it there.

    Good luck to you.

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  • I agree that if you can get in on base, I would check that out.  Both of my nephews went there from infant to school age and my SIL and BIL seemed pretty happy with the care the kids received.  The CDC's full time rate is comparable to what we're paying for 3 days a week.  I'm not sure about going only in the afternoon.  Some places (like Dickinson) require the child be there by 11am or not at all that day.  Ours is more flexible, depending in the room's schedule.  When Ethan was an infant I took him to daycare for the afternoons only, but now that he naps sometime between 11:45 and 2:30, I take him in the mornings so that his nap and other children's naps aren't disturbed.

    Places that I've recently heard recommended in the Mechanicsburg area are The Goddard School, The Children's Family Center at Messiah Village, The Children's Garden, Chesterbrook, and the place where Sunriz took her daughter before she moved.  It was CAC? in Camp Hill.

    Good luck!

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  • My husband does work on the base.  I would rather have a place that would allow me to take her in the afternoons - maybe a 1:45 pm drop-off. When I work 3-11, I want to be able to spend the morning with her.

    I'd like to find a local in-home daycare that would be willing to let her come just in the afternoon a few days a week.

     

     

  • Have you met any of your neighbors yet? I bet there's a few SAHMs who would love to earn a little extra there. 
  • I'm in MD, so I'm not much help to you, but I will be working PT afternoons only next year and faced the same dilemma with daycare. Although our former daycare provider had said she would do part-time care in the afternoons only (although we were still going to have to pay full time for infant), she ended up changing her mind. The places that we did find only did morning half days vs. afternoon.

    Thankfully, everything kind of fell into place with a SAHM. She used to be a teacher, but now stays home with her young boys (I had her daughter this year in my class) and she volunteered to watch Ella (and at a fraction of the cost for us!). She is the perfect candidate - still CPR/infant certified, I know she has her background checks since she recently taught, is right by school and doesn't have a rigid schedule.

    Maybe you'll have better luck finding afternoons only. But I agree about checking in to some SAHMs! 

  • Are you thinking you want more of a pre-school environment or a childcare environment? Because your statement about her being almost two and needing to go makes me think that you want the structure/education of daycare. But you also want a lot of flexibility that most daycares don't offer. For the flexibility you're looking for, I really think you need to focus on in-home daycares. But if it's more the structure and education of a center that you want, you'll probably have to pay to send her for full days. Some centers offer part time, but it's usually by the day of the week, not the time of day.
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