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October 2023 Moms
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Call the daycares now people!

bandbebebandbebe member
in October 2023 Moms
So I’m only 8 weeks along and on a whim decided to research local daycares and options for childcare after baby is born. I’ll take 3 months of fmla, mostly unpaid and then return to work full time. I have a lot of reasons to keep working, and despite the cost of daycare we felt like it was worth it to keep working after baby is born. I know that even being able to have that conversation is a thing of privilege, because I know for many the option isn’t there at all. 

Fast forward to today’s phonecall with a small church run daycare a few miles from our home. They have a waitlist 4 babies long for January 2024. These people are less pregnant than me! I’m over here still crossing my fingers that this little peanut makes it to 12 weeks. I haven’t even told my mom I’m pregnant, but it looks like I’m going to have to tell a lot of daycare directors before her. Just keeping it real… it’s wild out there. Also… not cheap. 

For context, I live in the northeast- within commuting distance of NYC. This is my first baby and I’m 35, so late to the game, but man are my eyes getting opened quickly! 

I have a good amount of anxiety about the transition from 0-1. How do you build your village when your parents don’t live nearby and make it all work? What if I legit can’t find childcare by the time little peanut is 3 months? 

Any words of comfort, advice or similar stories are much appreciated 🙏


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Re: Call the daycares now people!

  • lindz42lindz42 member
    I second this! Definitely look early! @knottie, I would say keep looking around and keep your options open. Perhaps something will open up with that first place, it's still early and people could change their minds if they find other options.

    Here's some more context, in case you aren't planning on daycare until later. With my first, we decided that we would start sending him to daycare around 10 months. (DH used fmla and pto, I teach and don't work summers.) So we wanted daycare to start late August. When we started calling around in March, we had trouble finding 1)daycares that even offered infant rooms and 2) daycares that had openings for August. This was looking about 5 months in advance. We finally found one, in a town over, and secured our spot asap. The next year, we looked for a closer daycare and had more options because we were looking for a toddler room. We set up a visit in March; they told us they wouldn't have an opening until July, but that we could definitely start in August (which was our plan). 

    Since this little one is expected around the same time as the last one, I think we will be planning to start around the same time (August 2024ish), but I'm going to talk to my current daycare much earlier because I'm really hoping to have both in one place.  
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  • charmedlifex3charmedlifex3 member
    We are in Boston area and yeah, that’s why I’ll be staying home after this baby. Paying daycare on two already. 



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  • knottie2f69b8f4c092aa3eknottie2f69b8f4c092aa3e member
    This is so good to know. I’m in the same area and haven’t started looking at daycares yet. Going to start today!
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  • mizzoumomma11mizzoumomma11 member
    Yeah, we’re in the Midwest, and I had to do enrollment this week for our baby, without knowing gender, name, etc. It was bizarre, but there were only two spots left, so we had no choice. We will also have to pay half tuition for the school year months before we actually start sending the baby. But we love this daycare so it’s worth it in the long run.
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