Seeking a daycare for a baby January
Hi BPN! Our daughter will be 6 months old in January and I'm starting to panic that there are almost no infant spots available in daycares. I know about the nannyshare option but for several reasons we prefer a daycare. Does anyone have advice? I've made lots of calls and gone on some visits, but nothing has worked out yet. We live near Piedmont Ave./Rose Garden and location is important for us. Thank you in advanced from a stressed out mama!
~Claire
Oct 15, 2019
Parent Replies
I live in the same neighborhood as you and the only daycare we even got on the wait-list for was SmallTrans Depot (I would have taken him there on the 33 and then barted to work). Since it's one of the bigger day care facilities, it's worth putting your name on the list. We had already found a nannyshare by the time they called to let us know they had a spot for us, but maybe it will work out for you. I remember how worried this all made me and one thing that did help was an older mom telling me that every childcare situation she ever had revealed itself at the last minutes. It's not comfortable if you're a planner (I am!) but it seems to be how things are. Best of luck! You probably already know this, but Bananas has a home daycare search. I remember that I had found a couple that were within blocks of the Rose Garden. Again, none of them had openings when I called, but things change frequently and people move.
Same experience as the previous poster--we also live in the same area. There are unfortunately far fewer family daycares in the neighborhood than there used to be--three actually closed while we were on their waiting lists!--and almost no centers with infant programs nearby. I'd keep calling and visiting family daycares (if you don't have a list, check with Bananas)--typically they won't have much notice of their open spots and timing is everything. Depending on how far you're willing to go, there are also infant centers in Emeryville and South Berkeley that you might consider. We ended up with nannyshares for both kids, despite starting the search months in advance for the second child. However, part of that was because we prioritized location--we did find open spots in Downtown Berkeley and East Oakland, for instance, but because we work in Downtown Oakland/SF and rely on transit, decided that was going to be too challenging logistically for our family to add in those commutes. I don't know what the going rates are today, but when we were looking, the cost difference between a nannyshare (paid over-the-table) and a daycare center was pretty minimal for full-time care. Home daycares were generally less expensive.