When should I start looking for child care?

Re: When should I start looking for child care?

• ldcoffel member

  June 2011

  I am due the end of September, and already have baby's spot at daycare. It is the same place as DD, but the director already has a list for the class. I would start looking now, especially since you have two. Where I live, spots fill up fast.

  

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• angelame1979

  June 2011

  Start right now!  It's never to early but it can always be to late.  I think I had my daycare spot picked when I was only 3 months or so.

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• trackchik6 member

  June 2011

  I started when I was 12 weeks pregnant with DS and I am about 9.5 weeks along with #2 now.  I will start looking for #2 in a few weeks.

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• Maybride2 member

  June 2011

  We've already put down the deposit to hold a spot for this baby for January; we got the last opening until March.

  How would a "college girl" work? Wouldn't a college student likely have classes during the day? Do you and your husband work nights or something?

  

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• celiabwatson

  June 2011

  Wow, you must be stressing out with those answers. It's only if you intend to use a center that you need to plan ahead that much. In home providers don't know what spaces they'll have that far ahead of time and therefore it doesn't do you a lot of good to look for those now. You can check them out to get a sense of price range etc but you won't be able to secure a spot until much closer to the time. I usually try to give myself a month or so to find a new in home provider and things have always worked out fine. 

  If you want a nanny the same sort of thing applies because once the nanny has the job they'll want to start, no college girl is going to wait until november or whatever to start working, she'll need work right away when the semester starts, so better to just wait and hope for the best. Unless you want a live in nanny and want them to start living with you in September, which seems weird to me. 

  

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• KathrynMD member

  June 2011

  I would ask around on the multiples board about hiring a college student to be a nanny for your newborn twins.  I don't have any personal experience, but that sounds like a lot of work for someone if that isn't their "real" job, kwim?

  If you do need a nanny/in home person though, you probably don't need to get serious about looking until after your kids are here - or at least not until you are after 36ish weeks.  People are either available or not, so you don't have to plan ahead that much.

  

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• Emilia0101

  June 2011

  I would look more at consistency of care. Newborn twins and a college student, you may end up finding that people will burn out easy. I would look at several options. A center you usually go on the list sooner than later, but it is a safe option that you know you will have a spot. Home daycares are great as well, and if you check around early you may find an option of someone who has a baby that will be turning 2 around the same time yours are born. Most homecare will only allow 2 under two at anytime do to licensing requirements. I agree with the PP that it is never to early to start looking to get an idea of what is out there.

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• Unknown

  June 2011

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• SoldiersGreenBean

  June 2011

  celiabwatson:

   It's only if you intend to use a center that you need to plan ahead that much. In home providers don't know what spaces they'll have that far ahead of time and therefore it doesn't do you a lot of good to look for those now.

  I totally disagree.  Twins are a different game.

  OP, I found out in October that I would be having twins.  We then called in-home providers, as we knew centers were out of our budget.  We called 70 providers (yes, seventy), and only 1 could guarantee space for both twins.  While OP is right in that in-home providers don't always know ahead of time what spaces they'll have, I'd suggest looking anyways.  Many states allow an in-home DCP to have only 2 under 2 spaces, and you'll need both.

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• Topi-Jan member

  June 2011

  Early fall?  Late fall?  I would start looking during this summer if you are looking for a center or in-home daycare.  I say this as a total procrastinator who waited to look until 3 weeks before our start date to start looking with DS#1 (with DS#2 we just added him to the school's list when re-enrollment came around for the next school year).  We found a great place purely by luck.  If I were having twins, though, it would be a different story.

  First, you need a place with two open slots, which will not be as easy (in-home providers have different limits in each state for number of infants and centers might have just one open slots in the infant rooms instead of two).  If you are looking for part time, that is another factor that limits places that might work for you since not every place has the three days a week option. 

  I honestly know nothing about having someone come to your house, especially a college student.  Maybe check the local schools' child development centers or the early childhood development department to see if there is anyone in the area right now you can talk to/get a feel for?  Depending on what type of college town you are in, a lot of kids might be home for the summer and will return in the fall.  If that's the case, I would still check out some centers or daycares in the summer...just in case you don't run into someone you like in the fall. 

   ETA:  I totally don't mean to stress you out with too much info!  As a PP said, centers are more likely to be able to hold slots for you and it's just a matter of calling around right now and seeing what is available that meets your needs so you can plan accordingly!  

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