Moving to DC Area - Need help with Childcare

[ToddlerMom]

Hi DC Moms, we are moving next week to D.C. with our 2 yr old son. We have corporate housing near Pentagon City Metro for 2 months and my office is near Dupont Circle - Hoping to find a rental somewhere in Arlington but our first priority is finding the right daycare for him. Right now hes at a full-time daycare and he loves so would love to keep that routine. appreciate all the help and advice. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

All this. Plus, commuting into DC can be horrible. Since you'll be working near DuPont Circle, you might want to seriously consider living in DC - getting to DuPont circle every day from Arlington can be horrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

Don't scare the poor woman with this nonsense. Plenty of people find and use licensed in-home daycares in Virginia. They have state inspections about twice per year and all of the results are posted online. We loved our in-home care provider who gave our child a lot more snuggles than our second child got at the corporate center as a baby.

[Anonymous]

In no particular order:

(1) Decide where you want daycare to be located based on who will do do/pu and your personal preference. Near Dupont? Arlington? Where your husband works?

(2) Decide what kind of care you want: center, in-house, or nanny. I put churches/synagogues in the "center" category.

(3) Start compiling lists, stat. Daycare is competitive here to get into. As PP noted, waitlists are often over a year long. The daycare forum is a good place to get the excel lists floating around and get feedback on the best places. You may need to put him someone not as ideal while you wait to get in to your #1 pick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

Don't scare the poor woman with this nonsense. Plenty of people find and use licensed in-home daycares in Virginia. They have state inspections about twice per year and all of the results are posted online. We loved our in-home care provider who gave our child a lot more snuggles than our second child got at the corporate center as a baby.

+1

[Anonymous]

As much as you loved your daycare, in DC you need to plan your daycare around your commute and not the other way around. A seemingly 20-30 min car ride is likely a 1-1.5 hr during rush hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

Don't scare the poor woman with this nonsense. Plenty of people find and use licensed in-home daycares in Virginia. They have state inspections about twice per year and all of the results are posted online. We loved our in-home care provider who gave our child a lot more snuggles than our second child got at the corporate center as a baby.

+1

+2 The in home daycares in VA are inspected regularly and the results are easy to find online. If she needs daycare with short notice she has a better chance of getting a spot at a home daycare than a center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

Don't scare the poor woman with this nonsense. Plenty of people find and use licensed in-home daycares in Virginia. They have state inspections about twice per year and all of the results are posted online. We loved our in-home care provider who gave our child a lot more snuggles than our second child got at the corporate center as a baby.

+1

And yet every year there is another incident in the news about how poorly regulated on home centers are in VA and there is at least one death for the last several years. In home centers have no checks and balances, you have no idea who might end up staying there or passing through. At least in my home I know who lives there, if its safe etc. Either go corporate or nanny share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

Don't scare the poor woman with this nonsense. Plenty of people find and use licensed in-home daycares in Virginia. They have state inspections about twice per year and all of the results are posted online. We loved our in-home care provider who gave our child a lot more snuggles than our second child got at the corporate center as a baby.

+1

And yet every year there is another incident in the news about how poorly regulated on home centers are in VA and there is at least one death for the last several years. In home centers have no checks and balances, you have no idea who might end up staying there or passing through. At least in my home I know who lives there, if its safe etc. Either go corporate or nanny share.

Eh, you do you. I trust a person who has their home, business, and reputation on the line to provide good, reliable service; Not someone who earns barely enough to scrape by in a center and transfers centers every year or two. If you think there are no issues with nannies or centers, you're really kidding yourself. But good for you for making a choice that somehow makes you feel superior to others who think differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

Don't scare the poor woman with this nonsense. Plenty of people find and use licensed in-home daycares in Virginia. They have state inspections about twice per year and all of the results are posted online. We loved our in-home care provider who gave our child a lot more snuggles than our second child got at the corporate center as a baby.

+1

And yet every year there is another incident in the news about how poorly regulated on home centers are in VA and there is at least one death for the last several years. In home centers have no checks and balances, you have no idea who might end up staying there or passing through. At least in my home I know who lives there, if its safe etc. Either go corporate or nanny share.

Eh, you do you. I trust a person who has their home, business, and reputation on the line to provide good, reliable service; Not someone who earns barely enough to scrape by in a center and transfers centers every year or two. If you think there are no issues with nannies or centers, you're really kidding yourself. But good for you for making a choice that somehow makes you feel superior to others who think differently.

+1. There are plenty more reports at "corporate" daycare centers. There are many licensed in-home centers in VA that are monitored more closely than centers who can hire pretty much anyone off the street. As someone who worked in a "corporate" daycare for a year, I can tell you my background and skills were not checked nearly as thoroughly as VA checks licensed in-home centers. You're probably right though, I'd rather have my kid with someone who wrote whatever they wanted on their resume and is interested in being paid under the table

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

Don't scare the poor woman with this nonsense. Plenty of people find and use licensed in-home daycares in Virginia. They have state inspections about twice per year and all of the results are posted online. We loved our in-home care provider who gave our child a lot more snuggles than our second child got at the corporate center as a baby.

+1

And yet every year there is another incident in the news about how poorly regulated on home centers are in VA and there is at least one death for the last several years. In home centers have no checks and balances, you have no idea who might end up staying there or passing through. At least in my home I know who lives there, if its safe etc. Either go corporate or nanny share.

Stop scaring the poor woman. my baby fell off the bed the other day while I went to turn off a light. my son broke his arm while running around our carpeted family room while DH was sitting on the couch. My friend's son needed stitches while in the care of bright horizons. My other friend's daughter needed stitches and lost 2 teeth while my SAHM took her daughter to the playground. Other SAHM's son broke his arm while playing on a cozy coupe. I can go on an on. accidents happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

All this. Plus, commuting into DC can be horrible. Since you'll be working near DuPont Circle, you might want to seriously consider living in DC - getting to DuPont circle every day from Arlington can be horrible.

Commuting from Arlington isn't that big a deal. Just make sure your place is near a metro and you'll be fine. Since you don't know where you'll be living full-time, you may want to pick a center near work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

This is total and utter BS. Yes, VA regulations aren't that great, but Arlington and Fairfax COUNTIES have really stringent regulations for in home and center-based daycares, and most parents I know (including myself) use an in home until their child is 2 and old enough to either get a center or preschool spot.

OP - please don't listen to the people who are fear mongering. Yes, costs are expensive, but you also have a two year old and it's actually cheaper for two year olds because the ratios go up. It's also easier to find a daycare center spot at 2 because a lot of parents pull their kids to send them to full day preschool programs. There are a lot of centers in Arlington -- look at Bright Horizons, they have several locations. If you look at the preschool and daycare forum here on DCUM (maybe consider asking Jeff to move this thread there so you'll get more helpful reSponses)

Regarding commuting - Arlington to Dupont will be TOTALLY fine. I did it for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just prepare for a couple of things. DC has the most expensive childcare in the country. Also, the bigger corporate daycare centers often have a one year wait list. In home day care in VA is notoriously unregulated (as in there seems to. E a child death every year). A lot of people in DC use nanny shares. Once your child turns three they are eligible for free all day preschool if you live in DC

This is total and utter BS. Yes, VA regulations aren't that great, but Arlington and Fairfax COUNTIES have really stringent regulations for in home and center-based daycares, and most parents I know (including myself) use an in home until their child is 2 and old enough to either get a center or preschool spot.

OP - please don't listen to the people who are fear mongering. Yes, costs are expensive, but you also have a two year old and it's actually cheaper for two year olds because the ratios go up. It's also easier to find a daycare center spot at 2 because a lot of parents pull their kids to send them to full day preschool programs. There are a lot of centers in Arlington -- look at Bright Horizons, they have several locations. If you look at the preschool and daycare forum here on DCUM (maybe consider asking Jeff to move this thread there so you'll get more helpful reSponses)

Regarding commuting - Arlington to Dupont will be TOTALLY fine. I did it for years.

Sorry, I didn't finish my sentence. If you look at the preschool and daycare forum on DCUM, you'll get a lot of info on Arlington daycares through searching.