I've been looking into every childcare center within a reasonable radius. There's a major shortage in our area and infant care is particularly hard to come by. Almost all the options say that they only enroll with a one year contract starting September 1 and it's extremely rare for slots to open up at other times - including for the infant class.

Is this a normal thing? I'm thinking that maybe it's idiosyncratic to where we are at because universities are the main employer and they seem synced to that schedule. Since I don't have nine months of maternity leave, it's problematic... A couple of people at work I know who've had kids used grandparent care until they could start daycare in Sept, but we don't have family nearby...