Quote:
Originally Posted by Traum
Supposedly, couples are recommended to start putting their "child" on daycare waitlists when they are trying for pregnancy. I know it sounds absurd, but that's what it takes to get a spot at some places.
The tricky thing is -- at some of those very same places that are much sought after, they won't actually take your name down unless mommy is already pregnant. 
And tons of places (most?) don't take kids that are younger than 2.5 yrs old bcos of stricter regulatory requirements -- there is a lower child-to-caregiver ratio for kids younger than 2.5 yrs old. And tons of places (most?) don't take kids who have not been potty trained.
In the pre-COVID world, we started putting ourselves on daycare waitlists at around the 5-month pregnant mark, and we actually only heard back from some of those same daycares by the time our little person was over 3 yrs old. And the only reason we heard back from them was bcos COVID has resulted in tons of parents taking their kid out of daycare.
And that's the funny thing with COVID -- it actually made daycare availability very, very easy. Of course, it is an entirely different matter whether you wanted to put your child into daycare during that time... |
Yep, we were lucky we got a spot for my youngest into preschool because of covid, and then now b4/afterschool care and daycare for my youngest because we got into brand new facilities. Before that, we weren't on any lists because I didn't want to pay for the stupid application fees just to be on a list and you might not even get in.
I can't imagine waiting 2-3 years on a multiple waitlists and still not being able to get in...that would totally suck.