childcare questions
Socialworkgirl
member
I have a few questions about childcare. If you used center-based infant childcare, when did you (or when do you suggest) start actively looking (as in calling and/or visiting centers)? How did you go about this? Did you call and then make visits to your favorites? I would be looking for part-time care (3 days a week), probably starting at 12 weeks or so.
Also, I live in the Humble area and work in the Heights. Would you recommend a center close to home or close to work? I am thinking close to work so that I could get there quickly if needed, but wanted to get others' opinions. Also, I am guessing there are more high quality options close to my work. I seriously doubt there would be any good options between work and home. DH works in a very different area of town (Greenspoint) so if I chose somewhere close to work, DH wouldn't really ever be able to pick LO up or drop her/him off.
I'd also appreciate any recommendations of good centers located downtown, heights, River Oaks, or nearby areas or in Humble that accept infants on a part-time basis. I haven't set a top end of my budget yet for childcare and am willing to pay for quality. NAEYC accredited is definitiely considered a plus.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Re: childcare questions
I started calling centers 5 months before I had to put my boy in daycare. The infant rooms seem to fill up fast and a lot of centers have waiting lists. Once I found the center I wanted I payed a registration fee to hold his spot. I liked the first center I visited (kindercare) and they are the only one that doesn't charge you an entire week if you don't go the entire week. When you register just make sure you enroll your LO for 3 days. You can always bring him extra days if you want as well.
I live in Pearland and work in Bellaire. I decided to put him in the daycare close to my work. I would have rather put him in a daycare close to my home just because their are so many horrible drivers out there and I hate having to commute with him, especially during rush hour. Unfortunately, there weren't any kindercare's close to my home and all the other daycare's want to charge a full week regardless of how many days the child goes.
With #1, I started looking around 5 months ahead of when I needed it - but 2 of the DCs we wanted were booked over a year in advance! so we went on a waiting list. I found another DC for DS to go into temporarilty for a few months until we got "the call" for our open spot. (it ended up being a few months earlier than we were quoted, so that was nice).
For #2, I practically told them the week I found out I was PG! lol. Especially since I wanted DD and DS to go to the same place, of course, so I wanted to make sure they would have a spot for her. The waiting list wasn't as long at that point (only 7 months booked ahead at that time).
Just start looking asap - especially if there are any in particular you want. Usually the "popular" ones book up fast.
We did a DC near home - that way DH or I could pick him up if need be. Also, our pedi is close to home, so if I needed to take him to go to the doctor and drop him off at DC, I don't have far to go. Also, if you aren't going to work, but need to drop him off at DC (like you are sick or are doing a personal errand day or something), then you don't have to drive practically to work to drop him off.
It works well for us, especially since DH and I work opposite ends of where we live. I do drop off and he does pick up. Unless your job is extremely flexible, I would recommend a DC near home. We needed a location that both DH and I could get to, just in case the other couldn't get there on time b/c of surprise meetings, etc.
Don't have any recs near Humble - sorry! A friend of mine does Primrose in the Spring area and likes it. Have heard that Creme de le Creme in downtown is good, too, but definitely call around to get estimate pricing, as the nicer ones are more expensive.
We chose close to work. However, it is also pretty close to home.
One thing to think about is days you are sick, but your child isn't. Daycare can afford you some time to be sick on those days. Do you want to be able to drop your child off on those days? Would you be willing to drive to your work area to do that? Just something that happens and is worth considering.
Oh, one thing more: always ask what their holiday schedule is. You want to be sure you have something that meshes well with your work holiday/flexibility for time off.
Some care places can be rather liberal with Spring Break and in-services. Others follow the standard work holidays better. It is good to understand this for planning purposes.