How early did you start looking at daycare for your LO? We live outside of Philly and I've heard that some places have HUGE waiting lists - like, you should reserve a spot when you find out you're pregnant. I don't want to miss out on a good place, but it also seems like starting at 8 weeks pregnant is just a little silly! Like I said, we're outside of the city, so we probably have a little more time. But when did other people start?
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We started around 5 months pregnant. For some daycares that was just right but for others we were already too late. We live in a large metropolitan city.
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I started when I was 6 months pregnant and we paid a deposit to hold her spot.
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I was in my 2nd trimester and we put down our deposit.
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We joined the waiting list before our BFP. The day care already had a list for people needing care in 2014.
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@oliviaoblivia: Bah!
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@highwire: seriously. We might not even be in this neighborhood then.
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I was 6 weeks pregnant when we picked our day care. And even then I'll need to use a nanny for 3 months before we can get in at the day care.
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I knew who I wanted to use and made contact around 14 weeks pregnant to make sure they had a spot available for my time frame. It was painless to say the least, one of the easiest things I did.
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I live in the Philly burbs as well, and panicked when I called one place when I was three months along and they had no openings for over 12 months. That kicked us into high gear and we picked out a place within a few weeks.
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Where I am is the same, as soon as you find out you are pregnant get on the waiting list!
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@oliviaoblivia: HOLY COW thats CrAzY!
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I did as soon as I found out I was pregnant! I live in a suburban area and needed a daycare with early dropoff/late pick up. It was literally one of the first things I did as soon as I found out if was PG--put down a deposit and wait in the pool to get in. It paid off though because I am in and now don't have to worry about child care. Other than how crazy expensive it is...
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Near the end of the first trimester, and even then, our first choice daycare had a waiting list of 18 months...
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I need to get cracking on this. Things are crazy regarding daycare in the DC metro. We may well use a home daycare provider for the first year or so as I've heard that centers have more openings after age two.
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We started looking at around 6months which was when we decided to go with a daycare center vs someone who watched children in their home. We have about 10 centers within 10 miles of our house; we looked at 5 of them then made our decision. Once decided we put down a deposit to hold our spot; turned out there were 4 spaces available when we put down the deposit and the other 3 spaces filled within about 2 days so we had perfect timing.
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We started looking the end of my first trimester. We found that in-home daycare had less of a wait then center based.
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@oliviaoblivia: Daaang! Did you have to put down a deposit? Because I mean if not (or if it's a low deposit) that might not be so bad- even though it sounds wild! Did you guys just pick a random month in 2014 b/c you don't know which month you'll get pregnant yet? 2014 is the year we hope to have our first kiddo, and we live in a major metropolitan city, so this is an eye-opener!
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@dc yoga bee: We put down a $200 deposit, so it won't be a tragedy if we lose it. We picked January 2014 to start and fortunately I'm due early January 2013. So even with my year of maternity leave we are cutting it close. Granted....there are very few spots for kids 12-18 months here. Once they are 18 months there are a lot more openings. And we are in a high-end neighborhood with great schools so competition for spots is tight.
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@oliviaoblivia: ahhh I see. I'll probably only get 6-9weeks unpaid mat leave, so we'd need a daycare super fast! DH's eyes will probably pop out of his head when I tell him about some daycares having such long waitlists!
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I am not PG yet but we are TTC & I have already started researching options. I don't think the waiting lists are that bad here but I need some information to feel comfortable starting TTC. Good luck!
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I started looking immediately because I had heard about wait lists. Found out, they weren't that bad around here. We secured our daycare at 20 weeks or around there. They don't require a deposit either. Bonus!
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@oliviaoblivia: Wow, that is crazy!
@mamabolt: That's what I'm worried about. Guess hubs and I need to start moving. In doing my research, there aren't too many good options around where we live, so I"m definitely worried that the good ones will be full. Sounds like a day off for daycare tours is in order for us, soon! -
Holy cow! We toured and picked our daycare at 30ish weeks. They wouldn't reserve a spot or take a deposit until she was born, because they didn't want to jinx anything (the directors words, lol). We live in a medium sized city in NC, any no one has wait lists.
On the other hand, I have a friend that lives in Charlotte that is 3 months pregnant, that just got wait listed for their daycare.
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We are 10 weeks and I started calling around last week. There aren't many places near my work that do infant care, and zero near our house. Most of them had wait lists, but not as far out as May 2013, fortunately. We're going to start touring the ones that are priced well, in a couple of weeks.
ETA: Oh, and we live in Tampa.
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Oh man! I need to get on this. Back when we weren't even thinking of TTC I had heard horror stories about daycare waitlists. A friend of mine told me you practically had to get on a waitlist before you even got pregnant.
The problem is, we are looking to move a few months after the twins are born so I don't even know what neighborhood we'll be in. I guess I could put us a few waitlists as long as the deposit is nominal.
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Ha, I just posted and realized I already answered last month! Whoops!
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I started towards the middle of my 2nd trimester in 2010. We JUST a got call (like literally yesterday) that there was an opening for him....2 years later! I told them I wasn't interested because he's already going to a daycare that he loves. Plus the daycare he goes to right now is $800/month. The one we were waiting for is $1800/month! No thanks!
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@ladyfingers - I live in Tampa too! What daycares are you looking at?
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Hubs and I went out on 6/30 and toured 5 places, plus a 6th on 7/5. We found 2 that we really liked, but decided to go with our 2nd choice because it is $180/month cheaper. Wouldn't you know, it's the ONLY one that doesn't take a deposit or hold a spot until you are a month from your due date? I think we should put a deposit at the other one, just in case, but Hubs is willing to take the risk. I may just go ahead and do it anyway.
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I started researching around 8 weeks and touring around 12 weeks. We had a place picked out around 14-15 weeks and put in a registration. But I also saw it as something that I could get done and out of the way so it was one less thing to worry about :o)
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I let the lady know who I wanted to use within 12 weeks and she said she would save our spot. It was a special circumstance since she was a friend of a friend. Otherwise I would start after my A/S just so I knew everything was okay!
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I also started looking at 6-months pregnant because of the long waiting lists for the good daycares/preschools in our neighborhood!
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