The Daycare Search

It's true, I'm not far enough along to know the sex of my baby, but I am already looking for childcare!

Our daycare search actually started when I was still in my first trimester. I had a meeting with HR around 8 weeks or so and was told that the waiting list for Kohl's daycare was long. How long could it possibly be, I'm not even giving birth until January, not to mention I won't need daycare until April 2010? No exaggerating on HR's part - I'm currently told that I won't be able to get in until September 2010.

This actually didn't surprise me as much as it does other people. Working for P&G I had heard similar stories. When you have a good corporate daycare, spots go quickly. So of course, we need to expand our horizons in case I really can't get into our company daycare next April. Thus began our daycare search.

Daycare #1: Only blocks away from our house there is a brand-new daycare center opening in late August. With a great location and a raving recommendation I received from another expecting mother, we decided to check it out.

What we loved:
1. Webcams! There is a webcam in each of the rooms and as parents we'll have access to peek in our baby throughout the day. There are of course security measures where only the parents who have children in that exact room have access to the website. Not only is this the next best thing to having the baby just downstairs in corporate daycare, but I believe it also holds the teachers even more accountable.
2. Teachers are highly certified. The head teachers have bachelors degrees and assistant teachers have associates.
3. Infant rooms are "shoes off" to keep as much dirt off the floor as possible for the crawlers.
4. A lot of great toys and learning activities in the other rooms.
5. Field trips: Once children are old enough to be bussed somewhere, they will do field trips outside the daycare. They also do in-house activities like bringing in a magician.
6. Future planning: Before/After school care. They will actually bus your children to and from the elementary school in our district.
7. The director of the site has 20+ years of experience and was very passionate about what they currently have in the center and additions she plans to make in the near future. It's privately-owned and seems to be run very well.
8. Putting down a $50 non-refundable deposit today means we're guaranteed a spot next April.

What's not so great:
1. It's more expensive than corporate daycare by ~$1,500 per year.
2. It's not 2 floors away from my desk.

Daycare #2: Two floors below and down the hall is site #1 our corporate daycare. Open door policy allows parents to stop by whenever they'd like.

What we loved:
1. Location. You can't get much closer than the building I work in!
2. The cribs are in a closed off area than the play area. It's all glass so the teachers can see what's going on, but it keeps a lot of the noise out.
3. There are in-house activities for the kids (when they're old enough) such as computer day etc.
4. I know they hire quality employees and most teachers appeared to have a bachelors degree.
5. Future planning: They have a summer camp for school age children that I've heard great things about.
6. Lots of toys, activities in the rooms and nice playground.
7. Cost is better than every other daycare I've researched. Plus it includes snacks & lunches.

What's not so great:
1. We were taken on a tour by the admin, who was great and very helpful, but didn't "sell" us like the director did at the other site.
2. Teachers seemed to be mostly younger, including two people we went to high school with that were younger than us. I know I'm not in high school anymore, but it's always hard to picture someone you thought of as an "underclassman" as now someone who can take care of my newborn baby.
3. Waiting list has us out until September 2010. While it's very likely we won't have to wait that long, we still need a back-up plan.

So as you can see, we're slightly torn between the two daycares. I loved the first one, but it was based solely on feeling. I'm not sure I can justify spending more money, when statistically they seem to have all the same benefits. And I am not sure how much I'd miss not being able to stop by the daycare during the day. But then again, let's be realistic, how often will I be able to stop by? I'll keep you posted on our decision & welcome any advice!