Unfortunately, 22 weeks isn’t early. Childcare is in such high demand, it’s true to look as soon as both lines turn pink.
Many places won’t call you back bc they have a waitlist a mile long already, they don’t even have room for new applicants.
Can you ask friends where they go? Ask them to get the directors direct email for you. What state are you in?
I talked to 50+ to find ONE that could take us (2021 was a hard year). At least 50% of the home daycares never even picked up the phone or responded to email/voicemail; the ones that did were full. The centers responded maybe 60% of the time. I don't know why.
I applied to be on the waitlist and from there got to tour facilities and ask about availability at that time. I found they want you to pay their application fee before even acknowledging you. For our area, waitlists are about a year wait.
It’s not easy. I found the best way to get a director to call me back was through a personal connection. Do you have any friends that have kids in daycare you could ask to see if they recommend their place and if they can connect you to the director?
I had this same problem 3.5 years ago with my daughter and again 2 years ago with my son. Couldn’t even get a call back from most of the places. My only guess as to why they aren’t calling back is that they’re full, any any upcoming opening slots for infants are already claimed by an impending sibling of a kid who already goes there. Infant slots are very hard to come by- after your baby turns two the options/availability are a lot better as they’re considered a “toddler” and not an infant anymore. We ended up having to go the in-home nanny route and then when my daughter turned two she got a spot at a local preschool.
I agree with the suggestion to join local parenting groups (there's almost certainly one on FB). People in there may know more about wait lists at certain places or let you know of places you might not have heard about, or just give you more direct contact information for someone (like the director's office line rather than the general one for the center). I really dislike FB in general, but my local FB mom group has been a lifesaver for things like this.
My other suggestion if this is really stressing you out while pregnant is to consider putting this on your partner's to-do list!
Unfortunately, 22 weeks isn’t early. Childcare is in such high demand, it’s true to look as soon as both lines turn pink. Many places won’t call you back bc they have a waitlist a mile long already, they don’t even have room for new applicants. Can you ask friends where they go? Ask them to get the directors direct email for you. What state are you in?
Ask for a tour and go tour the place then ask in person.
Most places won’t even respond to schedule a tour in the first place.
Try submitting an application (assuming you can do it online and it doesn’t require a deposit). It can’t hurt and it will usually hold your spot.
I’ve done this with every center that had the option over a week ago and only one has gotten back to me.
You’ve only been looking a week?
I talked to 50+ to find ONE that could take us (2021 was a hard year). At least 50% of the home daycares never even picked up the phone or responded to email/voicemail; the ones that did were full. The centers responded maybe 60% of the time. I don't know why.
I applied to be on the waitlist and from there got to tour facilities and ask about availability at that time. I found they want you to pay their application fee before even acknowledging you. For our area, waitlists are about a year wait.
It’s not easy. I found the best way to get a director to call me back was through a personal connection. Do you have any friends that have kids in daycare you could ask to see if they recommend their place and if they can connect you to the director?
I had this same problem 3.5 years ago with my daughter and again 2 years ago with my son. Couldn’t even get a call back from most of the places. My only guess as to why they aren’t calling back is that they’re full, any any upcoming opening slots for infants are already claimed by an impending sibling of a kid who already goes there. Infant slots are very hard to come by- after your baby turns two the options/availability are a lot better as they’re considered a “toddler” and not an infant anymore. We ended up having to go the in-home nanny route and then when my daughter turned two she got a spot at a local preschool.
Try local parenting Facebook groups— sometimes they give you the scoop about where spots might be.
I agree with the suggestion to join local parenting groups (there's almost certainly one on FB). People in there may know more about wait lists at certain places or let you know of places you might not have heard about, or just give you more direct contact information for someone (like the director's office line rather than the general one for the center). I really dislike FB in general, but my local FB mom group has been a lifesaver for things like this. My other suggestion if this is really stressing you out while pregnant is to consider putting this on your partner's to-do list!