The Daycare Dilemma

As of Wednesday last week, we were informed of Avery’s daycare closing at the end of the month.  Eek. We were shocked, disappointed, worried and overwhelmed.  We had less than 3 weeks to find him a new daycare which isn’t an easy task because…

• Daycare is expensive.  And the tuition/enrollment fees vary greatly in our area, so it’s a like finding a needle in a haystack when you discover one that isn’t outrageously priced. (To give you an idea, I was quoted $1800 a month for one… yeah. almost two thousand dollars a month!)
• Daycare’s have LONG waiting lists.  We started looking at daycare options before Avery was born, and once he came (early!) we quickly snagged a ‘slot’ at his daycare because some places have 3-12 month waiting lists.  Yes, some are a year long – which means as soon as you find out your expecting, you have to reserve the slot!
• Daycare’s are difficult to find (for us).  Since we both don’t have roots in this area, we don’t know the area well – so we don’t know what all the daycare options are – so that leave us to ask around and do lots of ‘googling’.

So, after were given the news and it had time to sink in during our days at work, and Avery was put to bed, we regrouped (with a big bottle of wine) on our back deck.  We vented our concerns and stress.  And we explored all possible options…

• Become a Stay-At-Home-Mom-If we can’t find a fit with a daycare, is it possible to stop working and become a one-income household?
  
  • Pros: More time with Avery
  • Cons:  Could we afford it?  What about insurance and other company benefits we’d lose?  Avery wouldn’t have daily interaction with other kiddos.

• Find a new full-time daycare-located near home so we can share pick-up & drop off (Avery’s current daycare is by my office which requires me to do most transporting)
  • Pros: sharing transportation = shorter daycare day for Avery and more flexibility for our schedules
  •  Cons: Can we find one that we can afford?  The daycares near home are more expensive than ones near my office.  Will there be any openings?

• Find a new part-time daycare– if we can’t find a daycare with full-time openings or that we can afford, at least we can do part-time?
  • Pros: More time for Avery at home
  • Cons: Do we have the option for less/shorter work days to make this happen while not hurting financially?

After throwing all our ideas on the table and exploring our options, we decided to start our search for a daycare and if we found one that fit, we’d go with that.  If not, we’d explore the other two options (as backups).

And as if right on cue, we saw our neighbor in her side yard.  It was a long shot, but I went over to chat and ask if she knew of any daycares.  She doesn’t have any kids, so she wasn’t sure of any, but after thinking for a bit, she said her neighbor (on the other side) works at one.  She said she’d make a call.  10 minutes later she was outside waving a post-it with a name and number for me-a more corporate place, but still- A shot in the dark was worth it! Yay.

The next morning I was off at a run.  I made phone calls, sent emails, told co-workers, and pretty much exhausted all resources looking for a daycare.  I avoided the places I had gotten quotes at (that were ridiculously priced) when first looking for Avery’s daycare when he was born.  Another shot in the dark to a co-worker resulted in a name and number of a woman that had an in-home daycare.

As it turned out, the two shots in the dark both had openings, were located near home and on our commute routes, and were affordable (just a bit more than we pay now). So, we made appointments to see them that week – we wanted to tour them and (if we liked them) reserve a spot before someone else did!

• Daycare #1  A more ‘corporate’ facility – they care for 45 kiddos, but they are grouped by age in mini-classroom like sections.  Each section has two ‘teachers’, one has a degree in early childhood education and the other is an assistant.  Our tour went very well.  The teachers were energetic and friendly.  The space looked safe and adequate for indoor and outdoor play.  Their curriculum is based on learning through play.
  • Pros:  We loved the safe environment, structured curriculum, and the teachers were very impressive – seeing them juggle fixing a bottle, prepping a bag for pickup, while talking to us and caring for an infant showed us they know what they’re doing!
    
  • Cons:  We wonder if switching to a more corporate daycare is the right choice-as opposed to an in-home daycare?  Plus, the area for the classrooms seemed small – much smaller than the space Avery has right now… will that be limiting for him?  He’s so active and needs space to roam around.

• Daycare #2  An in-home daycare with 6 kiddos.  A tag team, the care-providers are like a pair of grandparents.  Very down-to-earth, caring, and experienced.  There was a long playroom with toys & a TV area and a huge outdoor area with toys, cars to ride, grass to play on.  The parents picking up their kids when we were there seemed like family.
  • Pros: We loved the homey environment and huge outdoor space.  We felt they were experienced and caring from our interaction with them and the parents arriving for pick-up.
  • Cons: We were concerned that there weren’t any safety gates or locks, which with an exploring 10-month old, is scary. 

So, a little recap here… Wednesday we were told daycare was closing.  Thursday we toured Daycare #1.  Friday we toured Daycare #2.  We brought Grammy back to VT over the weekend and this week we’re calling references and making a decision…

How did you chose a daycare?  What were the deciding factors in your decision?

Side note – Following up with everyone’s suggestions yesterday, Avery tried some new table foods last night: bananas & raisins (along with his usual Gerber puffs and cheerios)