Daycares: harder than Harvard to get into?

ptreebride2006

So....waitlists...can someone please explain why they are so long?  And please note, I am only 7wks.  I don't even know if we are going to hire in-home help or do daycare, but is this something we need to jump on ASAP to get into a good school? 

PS--we live in Westside, so it would be either Westside/Atlantic Station/Midtown daycares we are looking at.

Any other tips on daycares vs. in-home would be so greatly appreciated as well. 

doctryan

First of all, congratulations.  I think there are many daycares you could get into, but everyone wants to get into the best daycare, so that is some of the reason for the waitlist.  But this also occurs because of the limited number of infants they take in.  The ratio for infants is much smaller than other ages and so the number they take is limited by the number of teachers they are willing to put in that room.

That being said, you have a good amount of time.  I can't speak for that area of town, but I got on waitlists around 5 months, took 4 months maternity and got into 2 of the places I liked best.  After DS was born we visited another center and fell in love with that one.  We got in there in about 6 months, but it was mainly when he was old enough for the room following infants.  With the lower ratio, they accepted more kids in the next class.

 Good luck.

mingaling2

Congrats!

Get on wait lists ASAP.  We barely got into our daycare (Virginia Highland) by the time I was ready to go back to work (DD was 3 months).  It's all supply and demand here - there just aren't enough daycares in this area of town.

Temp655608750006792

Several of my downtown daycares took over 2 years to get into.  Hopefully it won't be this hard when it comes to elementary school!

NozzeFS

I really wanted to go to a daycare by my house (Brookhaven United Methodist). There aren't many daycares close by and I really didnt want to commute to a day care...so 5-10 minutes away for pretty key for me. I went at 5 weeks pregnant and .... still on the wait list. And for a while I even called regularlly to see how things were going. It is just hard becasue of the ratio of adults to infants. They have more spaces when the kids are older and they can more in a room with 2 teachers. Siblings get priority. The in-town locations are few and far between...causing a lot of demand.

 We ended up going with a nanny and I adore her. She is amazing and makes our lives so much easier so we get to spend more time with James. It works well for us and I think I'm going to stick with her even if we do get into daycare. We'll do a preschool/mother's morning out type program so he gets to play with other kids next year.

GTLawGirl

Yeah, it's crazy but waitlists for in-town child care are a very real thing!!  Not only do you have in-towners vying for the spots, but you also have those that live OTP but work ITP.  The other thing is that several of the programs don't necessarily do rolling enrollment, because they move the children to new levels only one or two times a year.  For example, Rowan's school takes applications all year, but only enrolls new children in May and August.  If you don't make the cut-off then you're put on a wait-list in case a spot opens. 

 In town programs are expensive too, so crying when you see the tuition rate is totally acceptable.  It may be best that you don't discuss tuition rates with your OTP friends, because it may send you into hysterics... or maybe that was just me

 In all seriousness, there are some really great in-town programs.  I recommend going ahead and scheduling some tours.

Also, be prepared to pay non-refundable application fees at a lot of places (this was a total shock for me).  It really is just like college.

trinandgabe

I don't want to scare you but I put my name down on the list for my preferred intown daycare about 3 months before I even got pregnant because I had heard of the waiting lists. And even then, DS didn't get a spot until he was 4 months!

I think the decision between in-home vs. daycare is really personal and one of those things that you'll know when you see it. For us, our daycare is across the street from my office so I could go and visit/breastfeed often. Accreditation, curriculum, security were also things that we considered.

Good luck!

Daisy22

Yes it's crazy!!! One daycare we heard that they had a spot for us when Bailey was 8 months old!!!!! We got on the waitlist when I was 14wks pg.

Like the above poster said some only do enrollment twice a year. I know the one we started Bailey at is like this (The Suzuki School). They do enrollment in June and August if you don't get in then you are put on a waitlist. If someone leaves or moves up early then you might get a spot. Good luck! Oh and I did cry after seeing the rates!

care99

This is why we have a nanny.  Intown was crazy - there are so few locations, and even fewer if you aren't affiliated with a university or business that has a daycare onsite.  Our nanny is more expensive than intown daycare, which makes me want to throw up if I really start thinking about it , but it's worth it to us.  I don't have to get 2 kids out the door in the morning, she takes my older one to preschool, and my younger one to gymboree or music class and they do tons of outings and playdates.  Plus, I work from home a lot, so I see them whenever I want.  If we ever sell our house and move to the burbs, we'll consider daycare options.

lindzed

Congrats!  Your right it is insane.  It actually makes me think we should all quite our jobs and open a daycare we could make a fortune.  Not only are they impossible to get into, but they are crazy expensive.  I also was on the waitlist for Brookhaven Methodist (I loved, loved, loved them) and still am not in yet.  My son is 20 months and I got on the wait list when I was about 3 months pregnant.  I think the key is to get on lots of them.  The people I know that did get in were on lots of waitlist.  I decided to just go the nanny route.  I have found that now that Adam is older its not as hard to start a MMO program so I'm doing that with a nanny.  It works out well for me becuase work part time so its significantly cheaper for me to hire someone.  The good thing about being in town is there are lots of schools with college students looking for work. 

snansley

Ha, I guess I should hang up my hopes of getting into Brookhaven Methodist.  We have been on the waitlist there since last spring.   OP, you may have to get on several waitlists.   The intown demand is pretty high.

ptreebride2006

Sorry it took me awhile to respond....I was busy crying into my pillow for living ITP  

Thanks SO much for the valuable information.  I was an in-home nanny and loved it so much.  I guess we'll go ahead and start touring daycares now just in case we go that route!  Man--I thought I had time to just sit with the fact that I'm finally pregnant, but I guess I'm behind the gate already!  hahaha