on the daycare waitlist?

trinny

I'm looking to go back to work in June, but it seems unlikely that our 1st choice in daycare is going to be available until Sept/Oct or later.  Did any of you have this situation?  What did you do in the mean time?  I'm thinking home daycare or a nanny, but I don't really know how long I would need them for?

shouldbeworkin

Home daycare or nanny sounds like a good solution.  I had a nanny for my DS for 3 mos and it was great.  He really wasn't ready for daycare until he was 6 mos old, he was colicky and high maintenance.  My DD started at 3 mos and did fine, though.  There's lots of ways to do it and lots of good options out there.

skittles_123

My dd's daycare was originally supposed to open/start 3 wks after I returned to work. But, that got delayed for 2 months beyond that. My mil mainly watched her with a little help from my mom and my brothers girlfriend. It ended up working out really well.

Maybe in your case, a nanny, maybe a student needing some summer work, may be interested in something like that.

sara1104

as odd as it sounds, you might search your local craigslist under child care for something temporary.  we were on a wait list with DD and for baby #2, we were on the list 3 months before i was PG and still can just get in when the baby is 4 months

mrshutch

I've posted before about home daycares- big fan. There are some great ones out there if you do your research. One suggestion- check about how much notice the provider requires. We were #55 on our center's waitlist and told they wouldn't have a spot until fall 2009. They ended up filling only a handful of spots and many of the families had moved on to other centers and nannies, so we got in. They were very flexible since our previous provider req'd 2 weeks notice- I would assume most centers are. I would just make sure that if you put a deposit down w/ a home daycare that you have in writing what notice is req'd so you're covered.

trinny

Thanks everyone!  And Thanks MrsHutch-- that was a big concern, how much notice I'd have to give. 

I've definitely found some good home options already, but most of them don't reserve spots so I'll just have to see what's available when we're ready.