Child care advice

marajay6 · June 2014

Today my husband and I toured 6 daycares. We have some that we like and some that we have eliminated. All of them except 1 have wait lists - no availability until April or May. The 1 that has availability when we need it in January is the one that we like the least. It is also one of the most expensive.

Right now we are thinking that we have no choice but to go with the one with availability and possibly switch after a few months to the one we really like. Any ideas on other options could we explore?

jess123456 · June 2014

You could consider hiring a nanny for a few months until your other spot opens up. If this is out of the budget perhaps a local stay at home mom might be interested in some temp work for a lower hourly rate?

sweetbabyrahe · June 2014

Definitly get on the wait lists of your favorites because things may change and people not use their spot. Have you looked at an in home provider temporarily? Only other option I can think of it switch.

marajay6 · June 2014

We are on the wait list for 2 of the centers we liked, including our #1 choice. The other centers require a non-refundable enrollment fee to be put on the WL.

jlove253 · June 2014

Don't put your baby somewhere you didn't like, unless the reasons you didn't like it are silly (lead worker has a big mole or something). The pp's have offered good suggestions and you still have a lot of time to figure things out. Don't give up!

morrkim · June 2014

I would get your name on the wait lists for your top choices. Just because you are on the wait list doesn't mean you have to accept that one.

I am worried about this as well. We are moving so we haven't started looking at daycares since we haven't found a house yet. We are debating on daycare in the city we might be living in or in the outskirting town we will be working in. We are also worried because we will need to have room for twins and a toddler. We had been talking about having my MIL watch them and just pay for gas and extra since she is not working and will only be a half hour away, but she informed us today she is going to get a job and probably not be able to watch them like she originally offered.

MrsDL · June 2014

We went through this with DS - spaces filled up on our favorites. We did put deposits on our top 2, and had a bottom of the list choice with an opening as our back-up. It wasn't that I hated it, I just didn't like it as much as the others so it would have been acceptable and we said we could do it for 5 months and switch.

The place on the bottom of our list was a "hell no" - it wasn't even a choice imo so we took it off the table. I agree with others, if the one on your bottom with the opening gave you a "hell no" feeling - don't even consider it and pp's gave you some alternative to look into.

As an FYI - our top two choices had a spot for us before we even delivered. Plenty of people pay and get on the lists, then choose another place or alternative. It's very possible you'll have a spot by the time you're ready if you get on the list now.

Good luck - I remember this being pretty much the most stressful decision/process of anything else baby-related.

mb314 · June 2014

Go on the wait lists at all the places you like, and reserve the spot for where you don't like just in case. Revisit that place after the baby is born and see if you still feel the same way. If you really hate it and still don't have a space somewhere else you can consider a nanny or nanny share.

Fwiw we had the same situation. We ended up at a place I really didn't like at first. I cried after his first week in daycare and a few days later we got off the wait list at a place we loved (and still love). Wait lists can open up much more quickly sometimes.

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