Recommendations for infant daycare options in Arlington?

[Anonymous]

As a first time mom, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out the best daycare option for my little boy when I return to work in December. I am consumed with worry and guilt just thinking about leaving him with a stranger and have endless visions of him crying for hours in a crib with a dirty diaper, while an unnamed provider tends to other children! I am sure most new parents experience these feelings, but it would really help to hear from experienced parents on the option that worked best for them. Nanny shares? In-home daycares? Recommendations for daycare providers in Arlington? At this point, getting a spot in a daycare centre seems improbable.

Thanks!

[sbergman]

I went with an in-home day care. The centers I visited seemed a bit chaotic for an infant. I did get on about 3 waiting lists, but didn't find out where I stood after several months on the lists. Ultimately I called licensed in home providers in the area and found one I liked, and between my two kids I have used her for 5 years. Both kids started there at about 5 months old. Once my kids became about 3 years old, I moved them into day care centers. Shoba actually has an opening now since my son is leaving. She's at 703-534-5088 and isn't too far from the West Falls Church metro. She's been a real blessing.

PS After my kids became potty trained, I sent them to Columbia Baptist Child Development Center.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

In addition to the licensed in-home providers in Arlington, you might talk with Infanttoddler. You can learn more at InfantToddler.com. I attended an info session and was impressed with the training and requirements for care providers. They are best described as a referral service for in-home providers. While I ended up going with another recommendation for an in-home provider (and IT just didn't have someone available close to my home), I would definitely give them a look.

[Anonymous]

I used an in-home daycare for both kids when they were infants. My older child is now in a preschool center style daycare and my youngest is still in in-home daycare.

I recommend the following for finding licensed in-home daycare in the Arlington area:

www.infanttoddler.com (how I found my first provider)
Arlington County childcare site (they have a list of county licensed providers by zip code and I just called and visited the ones in my area) This is how I found my current provider that I love.
Virginia state dept of social services/childcare directory (google it.) this is the list of providers who have a state license.

As for the guilt, I have to say you just have to give yourself a break. For example, your child is not going to be ignored and sitting around in a dirty diaper for hours in a good in-home daycare. And compare the pluses and minuses to the kind of care you could give at home. If you had multiple children would your infant's diaper get changed immediately? Probably not, but within a reasonable amount of time, and that will happen at a daycare too.

All I'm saying is, don't let the imagined guilt wreck the time before the baby even comes. The first few months are a huge adjustment but it does get easier as time goes on, mainly because YOU get more used to it, in a good way. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks you all so much for your recommendations and excellent advice. I have started making calls to providers in N. Arlington and am hopeful something will work out.

16:52- You mentioned that you love your current provider, does she currently have any openings?

Thanks all!

[Anonymous]

Where in Arlington do you live? I am going back to work in April (due in January) and am exploring in home daycare as well as Nanny Shares...

[Anonymous]

We are in North Arlington close to the East Falls Church Metro. Ideally I'd like to have daycare situated by December/early January.

[Anonymous]

21:05 here...we are right in the same area - live about 1/2 mile from the East Falls Church metro in Arlington. While I am not going back to work until April (assuming I deliver around my due date), would love to connect if you are still looking for someone to share a nanny and/or daycare - or at least chat about what we're finding. Feel free to email me at [e-mail] if you are interested!

[Anonymous]

My home day care provider is in North Arlington and has an opening for sometime in the next few months. She has a wonderful assistant and I have had 2 children go through home day care and would recommend it over a day care center any day. You can reach Gulshan at [e-mail] or reach me at [e-mail]. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

My daughter's been in daycare at a big center since she was 6 weeks old. I had a hard time with this decision at first, and felt a lot of guilt, but it's worked out well for us. She seems to have a lot of fun there with the other kids her age, and I feel like she gets plenty of love and attention.

When I was looking at in-home daycares, I was troubled by the fact that some of them had up to 6 kids per caregiver. That seems like a lot. I think it would be hard to keep 6 kids of different ages entertained. Our infant room has up to 12 infants (it's usually more like 10) and 3 caregivers, and they can do a lot of things on an assembly-line basis, like feeding the kids lunch. I also like that there are checks-and-balances with a center that don't exist with an in-home provider. There are other caregivers watching, and there are front office people keeping an eye on things.

My friends who have in-home providers seem happy with their decision, as do my friends who have nannies or nanny shares. It's important just to trust your gut, and if you have a strong preference for one option or another, try to make that preference happen. (a nanny may not be realistic for your budget, but a nanny share is a good alternative.) and don't be afraid to find a temporary solution while you're waiting on your ideal one. (i.e. if you are wait-listed at a center, use an in-home provider - you might find you like the in-home provider enough to stay with them.)

One final note about centers: some of them have preschool programs so you don't have to go through this process again in a few years. That's giving me some reassurance as I start the preliminary preschool research!

[Anonymous]

My 18 mo. DS has been in a home daycare in falls church (found through infant toddler) since he was 5mo. We absolutely love her (no current openings). Next year he'll be the oldest of babies so we are going to start looking into centers with preschool, but I loved the home environment for an infant, he just thrived. And I didn't think I could ever leave my baby or that anyone would ever be good enough. I was wrong.