I get 12 weeks of FMLA and then my husband gets 8 weeks. Since I'm due in late July, we probably won't need childcare until December or maybe not even till after the holidays. It feels strange to start looking for something 11 months away but everything I read says to look as early as possible.
Thoughts?
honeydew / 7667 posts
We would have started looking at six months but DH and my mom are going to end up watching LO.
persimmon / 1361 posts
Early! Depending on where you live. I was looking in march 2 years ago and some places had no availability until June the following year...like 15 mo out! I ended up having to settle for a much more expensive daycare to bridge us until our current one had a slot. I was 18 weeks pregnant when I was looking and LO was 7 mo old when that spot finally opened.
pomegranate / 3858 posts
In our area, we got on a wait list at 4 months pregnant and still don't have a spot there at 13.5 months pp! Thankfully we had another option that we could get into when we needed it, but it's about $500 more a month than the other place.
persimmon / 1363 posts
I paid my deposit when I was still pregnant and wasn't going back until LO was 7 months, and I still didn't get the days that I want! So I don't think it's ever too soon!
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
Start looking now. You may find your childcare desires change - day care, at home etc so give yourself ample time to research every option.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
I put LO 2 on a wait list 13 months before she started daycare...when I was still pregnant!
pomelo / 5720 posts
I was probably 16 weeks pregnant? Depends on what your looking for too. At first I was set on a family day care, then we decided to go with a nanny instead. That process too considerably less time, maybe 3-4 weeks.
pineapple / 12793 posts
I was on the wait list 1 year and 8 months before we needed a spot. Got a call that we got off the list a week before I went back to work that we had a spot. At that point I had already made other arrangements.
Look now!
apricot / 469 posts
Depends where you live. We had our LO in NYC and we should have looked for childcare on our first date! We ended up doing a nanny share as we weren't fond of any of the daycares we saw and they didn't have any openings for months on end.
I am currently looking now for a start in 3-4 months but we are down south and the availability is much better.
grapefruit / 4997 posts
Yes you are being so wise to start looking now. I narrowed down my searching to 2 at home day cares 6 months before my due date but after baby came, things came up in both daycares that I wasn't happy with. So we had to work around with some numbers financially but I decided to be a SAHM for 1 year.
One place took on more babies than I felt she could handle. The 2nd place although had less kids, they were so rambunctious, it made me nervous. One of the boys almost kicked my newborn in the head jumping around on the sofa while the sitter was holding her. It was obvious that a newborn would be too much work for her. We took LO there to visit when she was about 3 weeks old to see how the other kids would react to an infant.
I can't believe my 1 year timeline is soon approaching its end! Time really flies by too fast. 
We decided to go with a traditional daycare center where the children are in the same age group once I return to work. Good luck with the searching and trust your mommy instinct! 
cantaloupe / 6171 posts
I'm 27 weeks and we have applied for 4 centers to start care in September-- in my neighborhood, the centers function on an academic calendar and application deadlines are in the winter for fall admissions, just like college. I think there are some other places a bit farther from us that do rolling admissions/wait lists rather than September entry only as well, but it really seems like there is no such thing as too early here
pomelo / 5258 posts
I started looking at daycares at 7 months for 4 months pp. Most places had plenty of room and said I didn't need to come before I had the baby. Then everyone and their sister had babies. The daycare I chose went from having no baby room when I toured it to having 8 babies and a crazy waiting list. Earlier the better!
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