When to Start Looking for Childcare
See also: How to Find a Nanny ... How to Find Childcare ... When to Start Looking for Preschool
Parent Q&A
Select any title to view the full question and replies.
First time parent, when to start signing up for daycare?
–Apr 2, 2021Hi BPN. Soon to be first time parent, due in November 2021. I will be taking 3 months for maternity leave. In February 2022, I’ll be returning to work full time. How far in advance can I reserve a spot in a home based day care or child care center?
Apr 2, 2021How soon to sign up for daycare?
–Jan 30, 2021My husband and I are expecting and due with baby boy in June 2021. We are wondering how soon we need to apply for daycares in the area? We are hoping to find one in North Berkeley/Albany area and have seen past posts that say waitlists can be a year long. Also, any recommendations for daycares you liked in this area? Thanks!
Jan 30, 2021When to start searching for nanny share?
–Aug 7, 2020Hi all, first time mom here due early January 2021. I'm looking for childcare starting August of 2021 and am interested in a nanny share. How much time in advance do I need to start my search? I know finding an infant spot for daycare can take at least a year but my assumption is nanny share is more last minute. Any advice on how and when to start my search? Thanks!
Aug 7, 2020When do daycares accept new kids?
–Aug 9, 2019Hi All, we have a 15 month old and have been starting to look into daycares (have visited two with vacancies coming up) as we think our son will enjoy the social aspects.
I'm just wondering how hard is it really around here to find good options for a child that age? Should we be trying to get him in now as it's the end of Summer or do daycares take kids at all times through the year? In some ways it might suit us better to wait just a little longer and look for something starting in November... But we'd like to have a few options when we do look and we realise now might be the time to get him in somewhere.
Any and all thoughts on this topic would be helpful! We are new to the Bay Area and first time parents as well.
Aug 9, 2019When to start looking for in-home daycare or nanny?
–Jul 7, 2019Hi,
I'm due in October with our first. We'll need full time childcare starting in March, when baby is about 4 months old. I started looking several months ago, and got on several daycare center waitlists, but I don't expect to get off those lists by march, so I'm looking at either licensed in-home daycare or a nanny.
When I was looking at 4 months pregnant, I was told by Bananas it was just way too soon to know who would have openings. That said, I don't want to miss my chance to find a good fit for childcare for our family. When do you recommend looking? How far out will places know about their openings?
We're mostly looking in Berkeley, though we might consider Albany, El Cerrito, or Oakland if it was an amazing fit.
Thanks,
Caroline
Jul 7, 2019Nanny shares vs. day care: cost and how far in advance?
–Sep 22, 2016Hello,
I am a new mom trying to figure out what childcare we can afford for our daughter and also logistics. She won't need care until May 2017, and all of the "nanny available" postings on here are for nannies who are available immediately or a month from now. On the other hand, it seems that day cares are filling up for next spring already. If we decide to go the nanny share route, is there any way to "reserve" a spot with a nanny now, or should I wait until a month before I go back to work, and hope that I can find the right nanny? Then if we can't, would it be too late to get into a good day care?
Also, has anyone done research recently into what a typical hourly rate is for nannies and nanny shares? I am currently visiting a lot of day cares which seem to range between $1100-$1800. I'm assuming nannies are more expensive.
Any thoughts are much appreciated.
Katie
Sep 22, 2016
Child care center: get on the list now. Home-based daycares generally don't start filling spots until much closer to the time they open up, but it's worth doing your research now to find some that might work for you and being on their radar should they know of spots opening. Unfortunately, February is a tough time to start childcare since a big wave of spots open up in the summer months, so (at least in my experience, with two kids who both started around that time of year) you want to do all the homework you can now. Both my kids ultimately ended up in nannyshares since we didn't get off any waitlists in time, though, and that worked out fine too; those are trickier to find until the month or so before you need care.
It is never too early to look for centers and get on their list. Nanny shares/nanny you have more time for. Usually 1-3 months before you need it is enough to find a nanny. Like the other poster, we actually wouldn't have gotten into any centers if it hadn't been for one opening in my building at work and getting preferential entry there. Daycares are great, we LOVED ours, but for our second I can't even get anyone to email/call me back to even get on the waitlist! Good luck!
Do your research and interviews now. Some daycares will take a deposit to secure your spot early in advance, but they don’t always know if they’ll have a spot. I know my son’s daycare, Tiny Footprints in El Cerrito, is booked until Jan 2022. Since I’m due in Oct, I let the owner know I wanted to secure a spot in March. When I was pregnant with my first, I tried contacting 13 places and couldn’t get in anywhere. Then we got a place and the spot fell through so we did a nanny share until Covid hit. Now our son loves his daycare and it works great for us, so I would just say that things don’t always work out how you think they will, but try to be flexible and go with it.
We were on the waitlist for 8 months before we were able to enroll my son into his childcare center. Other daycares I spoke to had a waitlist between 3-12 months. I would reach out and start inquiring ASAP. They’ll usually let you know if you’ll need to apply sooner rather than later.
We had our daughter Dec 2020 (recently moved to the area March 2020) and heard we needed to get on waitlists. Although it was during the heart of the pandemic, most of what we found would not allow for waitlist signups until the child was born. We tried to get around those restrictions to no avail.
Three days after her birth, I immediately signed up for a slew of waitlists. But I don't have too much hope – my brother did the same for his daughter before he moved out of Berkeley to Park Slope six years ago. Right before we came to Berkeley – 5.5 years after signing-up – he got a call of a daycare opening. We tried to take without success.