The first one said she wouldn't have any at all (apparently two of her currently parents are pregnant) and the second said she didn't know, call back the month before I go back to work. Yeah, because that's going to be great for me. And if she has no availability, I'm scrambling for daycare the month before I return to work. I can't really extend... I'm already going to be out for 12 weeks. This bites.
And they weren't even centers, they were in-home! Guess I'll try and find some other places to call. And, you know, call right away.
We started looking on care.com early, but just found someone that we LOVED. Maybe check that out, they have in home day cares, centers, and babysitters/ nannies. We chose a SAH mom, to be our nanny, and she will watch our baby along with her 2.5 year old son. And she only charges $160. A week. It's SOOOO perfect for us!
Yeah the in home day care centers are more here too... Since this lady is just watching our kid for some extra income, she is charging lots less. But she worked at a daycare center for 7 Years before she had her son, so I feel like she is really well qualified! Good luck!
If you're actually in NoVA, check out Infant-Toddler Family Daycares (www.infanttoddler.com). It's a network of in-home daycares that are regulated, inspected and has it's DCPs continuously trained by a non-profit. They'll give you a list of providers that have openings near you, and there are usually several to pick from. We actually were able to get one lined up within days of our first daycare not working out six weeks in. Rates are really reasonable for the area, with meals provided through a USDA program.
We loved our provider and were really sad to leave when DD started full-time preschool, and friends have their daughter with another provider and are really happy there too.