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Detroit Babies
tanyael
member
Strollers/gear store, timeline for finding childcare
tanyael
member
Hi everyone, I am new here.
I am 20 weeks along and live in West Bloomfield. I have been looking at strollers, cribs, slings, etc, etc so long, I'm going cross-eyed and my husband is ready to kill me. We have people our my family who have offered to buy us certain nicer things (like, for one, a stroller), and I only need to tell them what I want. I am tempted to leave everything to the last month or two before the babe comes, but I know that work is bound to get crazy just before I disappear for three months. But before I plop down a bunch of money or ask someone else to do that for me, I would like to touch-feel-roll-test these things. Can someone recommend an actual brick-and-mortar baby store somewhere around the D'? Preferably somewhere in Oakland County, but not necessary. I am in particular interested in testing out a bunch of strollers and trying on a couple of slings and carriers, so a place with a good assortment of either would be great.
Question number two. How long before I actually go back to work do I need to start looking/hiring/making deposits for childcare? I am going back to work in late September/October. Most of my family is outside of Michigan, so I'll have to hire someone. I am interested in either a nanny (preferable) or a smaller daycare (in-home?). It seems kind of silly to start looking 9 months in advance, though. Am I wrong about that, and should I start looking? How much did you give yourself to do this, and was this enough?
Thank you.
Tanya.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Strollers/gear store, timeline for finding childcare
Take a day trip out to Utica and visit the BRU and BBB that are both located on Hall Road. You'll find the best selections there.
There is also a smaller TRU/BRU in Madison Heights on 14 and John R, but they don't have as many floor models. I believe there is a BRU in Auburn Hills near Great Lakes Crossing as well.
The BRU at great lakes has a good selection. I like BuyBuyBaby a lot. we drove to canton to BBB.
We looked for a daycare early. We looked in feb and went back to work in august. I had friends who were on long wait list (that was before the economy hit). they all told me to look early but they all had kids prior to 08. so i was worried but the economy hit and there were lots of spots open when we started in august.
There is a Baby's R Us in Northville on 8 Mile and Haggerty. I prefer the Buy Buy Baby in Canton on Ford Road though. At Buy Buy Baby, you can use 20% off coupons from Bed Bath and Beyond as long as they are not expired. They have a ton of strollers, car seats, etc.
We do not need day care until April and we just put a deposit down on day care on Friday. We found that all of the centers we looked at all had openings no problem. In home day cares that we looked at did not necessarily have openings. So, I would probably start looking sooner rather than later since you want a smaller place.
Ditto all the PP on BRU & BBB.
In terms of daycares, I found it depended on when your child was born & when they were starting. My son was born in June and started daycare at the end of July. We found that most places were filled up and we would be put on waiting lists. I'm not exactly sure if that was because it was close to the start of school or what, but regardless, we started looking when I was around 28 weeks pregnant.
BFP#2: 8/14/11 M/C 8/30/11 6w1d
BFP #3: 10/26/11
Beta #1 @11dpo: 22 Beta #2 @13dpo: 90 Beta #3 @17dpo: 480
Missed m/c 12w3d 12/28/11, d&c 12/30/11
dx Homozygous C677T MTHFR
Check out Buy Buy Baby for sure as PP have suggested if you want to touch/feel - they have a much bigger selection than BRU did.
As for child care - my DH & I finally started interviewing places last week and have picked which one we'll use. I'm only going to take four weeks off though so we had to make sure that was in line ASAP. (For those wondering my MIL will watch the LO until s/he is 6 weeks old). They currently only have two spots open for infants so I wanted to make sure we had one of those spots.
The stroller we ultimately ended up with was a Chico brand that was available at BBB and BRU, but I felt that the staff at BBB was waaaaay more knowledgeable about the different strollers, carseats, etc. and their safety features, bang for the buck factor, etc. I would do my research at BBB and unless you pick a really higher end stroller or car seat, check to see if BRU carries it since I found BRU prices to be lower AND their 20% off coupons more readily available.
As far as for child care, I would start now. I started looking 3 last October for a Feb start date for my son (he actually started today at a wonderful in-home center). However, we got SUPER lucky that our current provider had an opening. usually she has a long waiting list. Also, I called several places to inquire about information and I put my name on the waiting list just in case I liked them after an interview and I have yet to receive a call about any openings from calls I made over 3 mos. ago. I would give myself 4-6 months if I had to do it over.
I agree w/ppl & would say Buy Buy Baby over BRU.
I think the Canton store is closer to you, it's on Ford Road, west of I-275.