Daycare-vewnting

[bony00]

We just had our baby girl on Oct 29th and my mother in law is currently staying with us. She came all the way from the Caribbean to help us with the baby. Her time with us is drawing to an end. We are currently #21 on the waiting list for the hospital daycare which would be our first choice. So I went daycare shopping. My goodness, after the first place, I felt like crying. How could I send my baby to a place like that. There were three children and they were bored and no one was interacting with them. I walked in there with my shoes and the children were all over the ground putting things in their mouth.
I went to another place that I really liked, but it is so big. The third place I went to was a bit chaotic so I am going to register at the second place.
Daycare shopping was a learning experience. A friend of mine recommended The Goddard School......$1200/month. Are they insane? I thought so, but apparently that is a good price. The place that I am going to go with is half that price.
Why is childcare so expensive? It would be much cheaper for me to just stay at home.

Hang in there, and keep looking if you have to. I found a *great* place for my daughter but it was after looking at some really substandard places -- some of those with glowing recommendations.

I think price varies a lot by location.

[Cumberland]

I got recs from fellow residents' that DH works with- those recs led to a wonderful place that I am very happy with. I pulled DD out of the first place for some of the same reasons you are talking about-I considering quitting my job bc I could not leave her in a big baby factory. If the first place doesnt work out, keep looking.... good luck, this is one of the biggest challenges for a WOHM.

[samssugarmomma]

Finding the right daycare was one of the hardest things for me. I must have gone to every one within a 15 mile radius of my office! There are a lot of scary places out there, but there are some great ones too. I love the place that we chose, it is perfect for us, but I still consider quitting my job every day when I drop her off.