When to Start Looking for Daycare

I found out I was pregnant and was going to be a mom on Halloween.   I felt like I had figured out my costume for the next years’ Halloween party, I would be wearing the “mommy” costume.  Hundreds of thoughts went through my mind in the months to follow.  But my main thoughts were not, will the baby be a boy or girl or what will the baby look like?  I began to think constantly about what I was going to do for daycare.  Knowing that I was currently working and was planning to go back work after the baby, I knew that I needed to be prepared and develop a plan.   My advice is to start planning daycare in the fourth month of pregnancy.  By that time, you hopefully are starting to gain back energy and any morning sickness with start to fade.

Start networking

I immediately started to ask around to people that I knew or even ran into at the grocery store.   I found out that most of the people in my network had relatives that took care of their kids.  I did not have that option so I needed to start looking for home daycare or a daycare center.   I looked online for what seemed like endless hours and scoured the yellow pages under the childcare category.

Friend and family referrals, acquaintance referrals

Referrals are the best type of networking and it will depend on who gives you the referral.  It is important to take referrals from everyone and then weed out the ones that do not fit the bill.  Different types of referrals will need more leg work from you but with any referral whether coming from a friend, family member or acquaintance, will need to be checked out by you.

Web search

One of the first places to look is online.  All daycare facilities should have a webpage and most home daycares have web pages.  Some are informative and others are just place holders.  But in any event, some of the preliminary information will be available just by looking online.

Yellow pages / Driving around town

It may seem old fashioned, but the yellow pages can give you a place to start.  It can provide a list of daycares with street addresses that are local.  Once you are looking for daycares, then you will probably start seeing them or at least signs for them.

Local, non-profit organizations and child care referral groups

There are numerous non-profit organizations that can help you with your search.  Examples are Volunteers of America and even local elementary schools can provide recommended day cares locally.  Also look for state affiliated programs that check licenses and can help locate daycares in a specific area.

It can be overwhelming locating a day care that will work for you.  There are many sources of information out there that can help you locate a daycare that will work for you and your little one.  Remember to plan ahead and network with other families that have children or know children in daycare.