North Arlington infant day care centers

[Anonymous]

Hi
Can you please share your experiences / recommendations with day care centers for infants in North Arlington. I am due in Feb 2020 and will be looking to enroll DC in May2020 when i go back to work. I'm told i need to get on the waitlists NOW ..

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, what is an email to contact you? I know an amazing provider in North Arlington

[Anonymous]

Little ambassadors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Little ambassadors

OP here - their website says 2 yr onwards? I'm looking to start between 3-5 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, what is an email to contact you? I know an amazing provider in North Arlington

thank you- it is [e-mail] (using a spam catching email here but will check for your email, thanks!)

[Anonymous]

OP - do you belong to Mothers of North Arlington (MONA)? If not, google and join. It's maybe $40-$50 and totally worth it. Once you join the yahoo group, you'll see a lot of people posting about their in home providers with openings or you can post a question asking about it yourself. Most people in Arlington use in home providers for the first two years because it's impossible to get into a center without an older sibling.

[Anonymous]

WE loved Rosslyn Children's Center for our DD. Get on the wait list now, you might get off sometime in 2021, unless they've increased the infant room size back to where it was in 2006 (was 24, dropped to 12 sometime in 2008 I think.)

[Anonymous]

We send our daughter to Merit in Clarendon. So far we've been happy!

[Anonymous]

If you want to have the option for your kid to go to Little Ambassadors, you sign up now. I wish I was kidding.

I spent $$$$ at one of the Arlington Bright Horizons and had an ok experience. The director and many teachers have left, so I cannot speak to how it is now. However my second kid went to an in-home daycare from 10mo - 22mo and we loved it. It was so much cheaper and more loving and personalized than BH. I felt like a fool for spending so much money on BH when I could have had my kids at a neighborhood home with a loving caregiver who would walk the kids past my house on stroller walks when I was working at home. My second kid ate better food, had a more personalized nap schedule, and learned SO much being in a mixed age room with kids newborn to 2.5yr.

As a first time mom I was too nervous to do an in home. I wanted a center with apps and emails and cameras/photos. I wanted the reliability of a center that was always open. I didn’t know what questions to ask or what to look for, so I thought a center was better. I could have saved thousands of dollars and hours of my time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous, do you mind sharing your recommendation with me too? I'm at meganitat at gmail dot com. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Clarendon Child Development Center

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to have the option for your kid to go to Little Ambassadors, you sign up now. I wish I was kidding.

I spent $$$$ at one of the Arlington Bright Horizons and had an ok experience. The director and many teachers have left, so I cannot speak to how it is now. However my second kid went to an in-home daycare from 10mo - 22mo and we loved it. It was so much cheaper and more loving and personalized than BH. I felt like a fool for spending so much money on BH when I could have had my kids at a neighborhood home with a loving caregiver who would walk the kids past my house on stroller walks when I was working at home. My second kid ate better food, had a more personalized nap schedule, and learned SO much being in a mixed age room with kids newborn to 2.5yr.

As a first time mom I was too nervous to do an in home. I wanted a center with apps and emails and cameras/photos. I wanted the reliability of a center that was always open. I didn’t know what questions to ask or what to look for, so I thought a center was better. I could have saved thousands of dollars and hours of my time.

I second this. As a first time mom I started my daughter in a center and then quickly realized it wasn't a good fit for our family. We switched to an in-home and have been so happy with the personalized care. Just like centers not all in-homes are created equal, but if you find a good one it can be wonderful. One time I saw someone point out here a couple other things that are great about in-homes: the person who owns the in-home is running their own business, their name is everything so they are very committed to your child and your experience. Plus they actually can make a decent/livable salary which is something I want for my child's care providers. At a center unfortunately you know the workers are making a very low hourly wage and sometimes (not always of course! there are many GREAT centers and teachers) the buy-in is less, lots of turnover in those infant rooms. An in-home provider has a lot of buy-in, it's their entire livelihood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to have the option for your kid to go to Little Ambassadors, you sign up now. I wish I was kidding.

I spent $$$$ at one of the Arlington Bright Horizons and had an ok experience. The director and many teachers have left, so I cannot speak to how it is now. However my second kid went to an in-home daycare from 10mo - 22mo and we loved it. It was so much cheaper and more loving and personalized than BH. I felt like a fool for spending so much money on BH when I could have had my kids at a neighborhood home with a loving caregiver who would walk the kids past my house on stroller walks when I was working at home. My second kid ate better food, had a more personalized nap schedule, and learned SO much being in a mixed age room with kids newborn to 2.5yr.

As a first time mom I was too nervous to do an in home. I wanted a center with apps and emails and cameras/photos. I wanted the reliability of a center that was always open. I didn’t know what questions to ask or what to look for, so I thought a center was better. I could have saved thousands of dollars and hours of my time.

I second this. As a first time mom I started my daughter in a center and then quickly realized it wasn't a good fit for our family. We switched to an in-home and have been so happy with the personalized care. Just like centers not all in-homes are created equal, but if you find a good one it can be wonderful. One time I saw someone point out here a couple other things that are great about in-homes: the person who owns the in-home is running their own business, their name is everything so they are very committed to your child and your experience. Plus they actually can make a decent/livable salary which is something I want for my child's care providers. At a center unfortunately you know the workers are making a very low hourly wage and sometimes (not always of course! there are many GREAT centers and teachers) the buy-in is less, lots of turnover in those infant rooms. An in-home provider has a lot of buy-in, it's their entire livelihood.

We also will be switching to a more preschool like setting at around 2.5, so that is a negative of in-homes having to find care again later but I have found it a positive for me. While pregnant or when my kid was a few months old I really couldn't know what type of preschool program would be a good fit for her. Maybe I thought I knew, but I didn't. I really like that I'm able to assess and pick a program for those preschool years now that I know her personality and our families parenting style/preferences better. Even though it's admittedly a bit of a pain since preschool is hard to find in arlington - get on those lists early too. Sorry but it's true..

[Anonymous]

Another vote for finding an in home daycare near your house! Ask neighbor etc for recs. They won't be able to guarantee you a spot this far out, but it's good to have a few you can talk to this winter.

We used an in home (not in N. Arlington though) and it was such a wonderful experience. I cried when it was time to move my last kid out of her care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another vote for finding an in home daycare near your house! Ask neighbor etc for recs. They won't be able to guarantee you a spot this far out, but it's good to have a few you can talk to this winter.

We used an in home (not in N. Arlington though) and it was such a wonderful experience. I cried when it was time to move my last kid out of her care.

Yes and if in n arlington use MONA for home daycare recs