Trying to start early, but no idea where to start

RyeRye444 · January 2014

My husband and I are expecting our first child in August and I'm starting to sort out child care options. I'm a RN and work varying 12 days 6am -6pm. Ideally, I would take the baby to employer childcare, but the waiting list is long and I'm not sure there will be a spot open right away ( when I interviewed for the job, that was really important to us, and it came across as a major perk of the job, especially, at such a low cost... But I, and several coworkers have found, it's not as simple as was presented.. Can be a wait... Anyway...not the point). I'm finding I have no idea where to start researching. I've used BBB site for researching other services and have been hit or miss with results. I don't have any friends with kids in the same city or area to use recommendations and coworkers either use the employee DC or have family in the city that provides care... We don't have family close by. Where did you start? Does anyone use Angie's list? Worth the cost? Thanks... We had always thought we had childcare covered due to my job, but starting to worry a bit.

financialdiva · January 2014

My friend and a couple of ppl on this board have used care.com to find sitters and nanny's.

Your city or county should have a child care website that should list daycares in your area along with any incidents they may of had. Yahoo and google can have reviews of daycares (although, I would take those type of reviews with a grain of salt)

After you get a list, then start popping in for tours. Your mommy gut will tell you a lot about a place once you tour it.

Good luck!

FemShep · January 2014

In addition to your state website, try the NAEYC site. NAEYC is a separate organization that provides accreditation for daycare centers. Good luck!

ccam · January 2014

I did exactly what @milk2481 did, except we searched by proximity to our home since we split drop offs and pick ups. Your gut will tell you whether or not its a place for you.

jf198400 · January 2014

With those hours it is unlikely that you will be able to do dropoff or pickup at a center. Is your DH able to be responsible for both? You should probably look into an in home or nanny.

VitaLuna · January 2014

I started by googling centers, since we also don't have any friends using DC. What are your H's hours? I'm also an RN working 12s, so it was important to us to find something close to his work (not mine) since he works shorter days and can do pick up/drop off.

If your H can't do pick up/drop off, then you'll need to find a nanny or flexible in-home, since no center will have those hours. Care.com is a good place to start.

Iblamethebeer · January 2014

I agree with others that you will have a hard time finding center-based care outside of a hospital that will allow you to drop off before 6 or pick up after 6.

I wasn't clear whether you are officially on the waiting list at your hospital childcare. If not, do that immediately and then keep calling every month to ask about the status and whether the wait list has changed at all.

Once you have a sense of how long until you get into that daycare it's a matter of setting up the right temporary care, and it seems like a babysitter/nanny or a SAHM willing to take on an extra kid will fit the bill best for you.

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Trying to start early, but no idea where to start

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