- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Illinois Babies
New Mom to Be wondering about child care
Hi Everyone!! I'm just 10 weeks pregnant but I'm already worried about childcare. We live in the city on the northside and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or experiences with childcare they could share? Good or bad. Ideally, I'd love to stay home for a year but I'm not sure if I'll be able to swing that. I know many working Moms go back to work after the 12 weeks and I was hoping to hear from those Moms and the Moms who stayed at home for awhile. My ideal plan is to stay home fully for 6 months and then find a part time job (if just for my sanity alone) after. But I'm clueless as to what places have part time day care or where to even begin to look! Unfortunately, we don't have family in the city so that isn't an option.
I look forward to hearing from anyone! 
Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: New Mom to Be wondering about child care
I started thinking about childcare my first week of being pregnant and who would I find to care for my child? I started networking at the gym, care.com, craigslist (this can be tiring but I did meet some qualified people!). I will say that a lot of people didn't want to talk to me until very recently about daycare. Most centers (Kindercare, Bright Start) have PT, home daycare centers you would have to ask although they will usually tell you.
If you want a daycare center, then call and get on waitlists now (even if you might only take 12 weeks off). They fill up fast.
If you want a nanny/babysitter/etc., then wait until at least 1 month prior to when you want them to start. If you find one too soon, then may find another job because they won't want to wait for weeks without getting paid.
I was able to go back to work part time for a few months, before going back full time again. That was a really nice transition. Although I will say that part-time was perfect and I would have loved to continue that.
We do a nanny share with another family. If you can find someone that will also be looking for daycare and lives around you, it is a great set-up. We do this with a family that my husband works with. We happen to always take our daughter over to the other family's house ... but you could also switch off houses. It's a great way for your baby to have someone else to interact with... and also helps with the cost of a nanny since your splitting it.
Thanks, I've heard a lot of good things about nanny share. I guess my main question is where to find this info on nanny shares, local day cares with rating etc., I am literally starting from ground zero as my friends don't have kids. I'll definitely try care.com and perhaps that will help. I would love to get on a waitlist for daycare but again, I don't even know where to begin to find one.
Thanks everyone!
There are really no websites with "ratings".
Many people find information on daycare centers and nanny shares on npnparents.org. There is a fee for membership.
Thanks. I've actually signed up for NPN.org and it's proved to be helpful. I guess I'm just surprised that this day in age, in a city this large with so many children being born there wouldn't be a centralized site or guide for people to go for day care, nanny etc., I literally can find more info on dog daycare and dog walkers than on childcare!
Thanks to everyone who responded!