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when did you look into daycare?

sugaboogasugabooga member
in New Jersey Babies
when  did you sign  up  for  daycare? i'll be  going back to work after the  6 weeks of  leave. should I  be  choosing a  daycare  now  or after the  baby is  here.  anyone  use  the goddard  school  or  rainbow academy?
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Re: when did you look into daycare?

  • lcimeralcimera

    my suggestion would to start looking now. If not going to look at some, you can always call to see if they are in your price range then make an appt. to go look at the center. I'm glad I started early b/c I could not find one that I liked. I wound up finding one after I gave birth....when he was 2 months. Also you may have a wait list depending on your location. Hope that helps..

    Oh my child doesn't go to either school and i don't have any input. sorry.

    **the new version of the nest ate my pictures and I can't get them back again***
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  • lcimeralcimera
    my suggestion would to start looking now. If not going to look at some, you can always call to see if they are in your price range then make an appt. to go look at the center. I'm glad I started early b/c I could not find one that I liked. I wound up finding one after I gave birth....when he was 2 months. Also you may have a wait list depending on your location. Hope that helps.. Oh my child doesn't go to either school and i don't have any input. sorry.
    **the new version of the nest ate my pictures and I can't get them back again***
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  • collrob2101collrob2101 member
    We have already went to 2 schools already.  RA was one of them, and is our top choice.  It's $$$ (not sure what location your looking at) but after seeing the other one you couldn't even compare. In fact, the second school we saw made me very upset with what I saw. There is one more school I want to check out before we make our decision.
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  • duchess0727duchess0727
    It depends where you live.  Where I live, you can look the week before you want the baby to start because there are a lot of daycare centers in a small radius (Goddard, Kiddie Academy, Kinder Castle, Rainbow Academy, etc).  My kids go to Rainbow Academy and I can't say enough good things about it.
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  • carrielou2carrielou2
    @duchess: I live in North Brunswick also and have been looking at all of those day care centers online for now, and will be scheduling visits shortly. I'm expecting my first child next month and don't know any working moms in my area, so wondering what made you choose Rainbow over the others? Also - do you have a pediatrician recommendation in No Bruns? Thanks!
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  • duchess0727duchess0727

    imagecarrielou2:
    @duchess: I live in North Brunswick also and have been looking at all of those day care centers online for now, and will be scheduling visits shortly. I'm expecting my first child next month and don't know any working moms in my area, so wondering what made you choose Rainbow over the others? Also - do you have a pediatrician recommendation in No Bruns? Thanks!

    We initially ruled out Goddard because it closed at 6 and I was working in NYC so I needed it to be open at least until 6:30.  It is also $200 more per month than Rainbow and I have two neighbors who have kids who go there and like it but think there is too much teacher turnover.  We looked at Kiddie Academy on Rte 1 and I liked that it had only 8 babies but Rainbow had a 1:3 ratio and Kiddie had a 1:4 ratio plus they asked the teacher to give me a tour and that bugged me because the teacher should be watching the kids!  We looked at a Bright Beginning in New Brunswick and the space was way too small.  We also looked at some in home daycares through mondayam.com.  We just got a great vibe from Rainbow - the director showed us around and was very thorough and let us see the older classes too.  We liked the ratio for the infant room and we've been really happy with it.  My son is almost three and my daughter is 9 months and she has the same infant teachers my son had so there is definitely consistency and not that much turnover.  We love the toddler classes my son has been in too.

    As for a pediatrician, we go to North Brunswick pediatrics.  Dr. Segarra came recommended from some of my MIL's friends kids. He is great but we like the other drs too.  We started at Mid Jersey pediatrics but it was too big of an office.  They kept getting my son confused with another kid with the same name and it was impossible to get an appointment with the doctor we liked.  So we have been very happy with the switch.

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  • JerseyjessieJerseyjessie
    I started looking at ~25 weeks. I look at centers (big and small), contemplated changing work shifts so either MH or myself would be home and then we found an in-home woman who cares for both of our children.
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  • carrielou2carrielou2

    Thank you so much! I work in the city also - and typically don't get home until 7...though I think I'm going to have to scale back my hours once I return to work after maternity leave. I didn't know that Goddard closed so early, so that is definitely a concern. Thanks also for the pediatrician recommendation. You are a font of knowledge, which is very welcome since I just moved to NB from NYC a couple of months ago and don't know anyone in the area. I also don't know many moms, so have found these boards very helpful.

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  • duchess0727duchess0727
    imagecarrielou2:

    Thank you so much! I work in the city also - and typically don't get home until 7...though I think I'm going to have to scale back my hours once I return to work after maternity leave. I didn't know that Goddard closed so early, so that is definitely a concern. Thanks also for the pediatrician recommendation. You are a font of knowledge, which is very welcome since I just moved to NB from NYC a couple of months ago and don't know anyone in the area. I also don't know many moms, so have found these boards very helpful.

    We also thought about Robbin's Nest which is on 27 also, but it closed at 6 as well.  I commuted for 4 years from the Jersey Ave train station and then after my son was born, I commuted for a year from the New Brunswick station so I could get the 5:08 home to get to daycare by 6:30.  But after a year I'd had it, so I took a job closer to home.  I work in Princeton which is a nice commute but I miss the city a lot!  I'm not on this board a lot so if you have any questions feel free to contact me offline -sarah.r.rubenstein@gmail.com. 

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