In search of infant care in Kensington/Forest Glen/Silver Spring area, starting Fall 2013

[Anonymous]

We're expecting our first child in March, and trying to line up day care to start around September 2013. We live close to Kensington in Silver Spring (20902). Any particular centers or in-home day cares in that area that other moms recommend? We are on the wait list for Karasic, which looks fantastic, but doesn't offer part-time care -- not an absolute must-have, but I would prefer the option since it looks likely that I will be able to work from home 2 days a week. If I do that, I'd also be interested in a nanny share, but have no concept of how much that costs -- is it comparable to day care? How do you find one? Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Anonymous]

We're at Karasik and love it so I wish you the best of luck getting in.

Part-time care for an infant is virtually impossible to find in this area unless you're using a nanny. Infant spots are so competitive that there is no incentive for providers to do anything other than full-time.

Nanny shares are great but we got scared off by the taxes, insurance, paid benefits, etc. and luckily got our spot at Karasik just in the nick of time. But if you can find someone who already has the share set up then you don't have to lay all the groundwork. Expect it to be at least a few hundred more per month than in-home daycare though.

We really liked Buenos Amigos near Georgia & Dennis (google it) but they didn't have a spot at the time we needed it.

You can also try Monday Morning Moms although we had some problems with their business model.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're expecting our first child in March, and trying to line up day care to start around September 2013. We live close to Kensington in Silver Spring (20902). Any particular centers or in-home day cares in that area that other moms recommend? We are on the wait list for Karasic, which looks fantastic, but doesn't offer part-time care -- not an absolute must-have, but I would prefer the option since it looks likely that I will be able to work from home 2 days a week. If I do that, I'd also be interested in a nanny share, but have no concept of how much that costs -- is it comparable to day care? How do you find one? Thanks in advance for any advice!

We will be looking for infant care in the same area at the same time. For day care centers, its normal to sign up this early, but for nanny shares or in-homes, they are unlikely to know anything this early. If you are interested in a share, feel free to email me at georgetownshare @ yahoo.com.

[Anonymous]

We love Susanna Simmons in silver spring. She's got a great downstairs space, with separate rooms for eating, art, playing, sleeping. My son is only there part time, but we love it. She's incredibly loving and down on the floor with the little ones. Makes lunch from scratch. Has a paid helper too.
Her contact info is
301-933-7342

She is with Monday Morning Moms too.
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You will quickly learn that it is impossible to work from home and care for an infant at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. I hired a NAnny for 25-30 hours. She was amazing and didn't need to work more.
Good luck

[Anonymous]

you still need care if you're working from home unless you only need to do a few hrs a day and your employer doesn't care when it occurs.

anyway, don' tknow about daycare options but nannyshare is a good option that we've used for several yrs now in the area. You won't be able to find a nanny for awhile if you are hiring new but you may find either a family to join with or else a family/nanny that need a new share partner. It costs more than daycare but less than your own nanny. Taxes, etc are a slight hassle but the easiest way to deal with it is to hire a service for yr 1 and just follow the template once they have you set up after that.