Monday Morning Moms

[Anonymous]

If you've used this service, can you please tell me about your experience working with them, expected fees, etc...?

[Anonymous]

I've used them for 4 years and have been very satisfied. We've used 2 main providers and 2 different back-up providers during that time, but both times we were looking for a main provider, we had several good choices.

Fees are rolled into what you pay the provider, I never asked for a breakdown of their fee vs what the provider gets, but it is definitely more expensive than finding a home provider on your own. We pay $285 a week for our 2 year old (we paid the same when he was under 2, and although the fee didn't go down, it also hasn't gone up in 2 years).

I think they have more providers in areas along 270, like Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, but I'm not certain of that, I just know that a few people in Silver Spring had a harder time finding care that was convenient to them.

Overall, it was worth it to us, because we had a really hard time figuring out how to find a good quality home daycare, and MMM has their own checks on top of the required licensing. It's been good for peace of mind.

[Anonymous]

"Overall, it was worth it to us, because we had a really hard time figuring out how to find a good quality home daycare, and MMM has their own checks on top of the required licensing. It's been good for peace of mind."

This is exactly why we used them, and we were also very satisfied. We are in Silver Spring, just outside the beltway, and we had someone pretty convenient to us. I would definitely recommend them - we were paying $300 a week, but we had 2 providers and they kept the ratio low, so it was worth it to us.

[Anonymous]

We used them and didn't like them at all. Our provider was routinely over-capacity (taking backup-care children and other situations), and when we complained the explanation was "she works better with more children there." Our provider took LOTS of days off, which meant we were expected to use backup care routinely (rather than for emergencies and vacation care). Indeed, I think the quality of care our child got was BELOW what he would have had in another setting, which defeated the purpose of engaging Monday Morning Moms.

In any case, we didn't like the backup care options, so didn't use them. In any case, we were not comfortable leaving DC in the hands of someone we had no experience with as backup care.

We live in Silver Spring, inside the Beltway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used them and didn't like them at all. Our provider was routinely over-capacity (taking backup-care children and other situations), and when we complained the explanation was "she works better with more children there." Our provider took LOTS of days off, which meant we were expected to use backup care routinely (rather than for emergencies and vacation care). Indeed, I think the quality of care our child got was BELOW what he would have had in another setting, which defeated the purpose of engaging Monday Morning Moms.

In any case, we didn't like the backup care options, so didn't use them. In any case, we were not comfortable leaving DC in the hands of someone we had no experience with as backup care.

We live in Silver Spring, inside the Beltway.

That sucks! I posted earlier as a satisfied client. OP - maybe you can specify the ratio that would be acceptable to you? We saw one provider who had 8 children - 4 infants and then four older kids, and I politely said we would need a smaller ratio.

We ended up in a house with two full time providers, but in Maryland the ratio is still 4 infants to a house, and kids around here usually move on at age 2 to start preschool, so we never had more than 6 kids at one time during our experience with them (6 kids and 2 providers).

A lot of people love MMM because of back up care, but to be honest I never used back up care and never considered it. We are fortunate to have flexible jobs and grandparents relatively close by, so that was never a concern for us.

[Anonymous]

I realize this is old, but in case people are still looking for feedback, we have also used MMM and were dissatisfied. For all their talk of how much service they provide we found them very unhelpful when we had problems with our provider. We had a safety concern that we didn't feel the provider was taking seriously and contacted MMM to see if they could help. They couldn't. They just told us to work it out. Then a few months later when our provider told us she was moving and therefore had to close her center in LESS THAN 4 WEEKS, MMM wasn't very helpful. They offered to try to put our child in one of their other centers but they don't have that many centers near us so the only openings were very inconvenient and not real options. They basically left us scrambling for care at the last minute. It seems they charge an extra $60 - $100 per month than other daycare centers near us but I didn't think what they provide in exchange in worth it. Our provider also would leave our child in care of a substitute rather than let us know she would be gone and use the back-up care from MMM. We probably would have opted for the substitute anyway, but we weren't given the choice. I think providers are much more independent than what MMM advertises.

[Anonymous]

4 infants with 4 older kids is out of ratio in Maryland. Why would you need to pay a premium to find caregivers that are not complying with Maryland laws? This is really scary.

[Anonymous]

I used MMM and was very happy, but that is mostly because of the wonderful provider. My baby was the only infant under 1, they had another 1 year old and 4 2 year olds, with two teachers. The ratios were perfectly fine and legal. Also, because my son was the only little baby, he got tons of attention. I thought it was a good service, but you will have better luck if you live outside the Beltway in terms of provider locations. There was nothing in downtown Silver Spring at all.

[Anonymous]

Disappointing to hear. I had previously only heard good things.

[Anonymous]

We used them several years back and while we were happy, I can see the PPs experiences happening given the personalities there.

I thought of them as a company to introduce me to care takers, handle the paperwork, nothing more. In that sense, I didn't have any issues - if I had a problem with our provider (who only had 2 babies, we were SO lucky!), I worked it out with her. In retrospect they were basically a payroll service for us. It was also nice to know that they kept ontop of the providers training and certifications (they said they offered toys & equipment, but I never saw evidence of it)

I used backup care once, but wasn't thrilled with the other providers (so maybe we really did luck out) so didn't again. Our provider never cared for other kids.


I do highly recommend them, but suggest you manage expectations. Don't expect them to give you a perfect child care situation, expect them to introduce you to lots of providers (we were in Northern SS & had lots of choices), hopefully one or two you'll love. Expect them to take care of payroll, taxes and paperwork, and expect to handle your relationship with your provider yourself.

[Anonymous]

4 infants with 4 older kids is out of ratio in Maryland. Why would you need to pay a premium to find caregivers that are not complying with Maryland laws? This is really scary.

That's only out of ratio if there is one caregiver. If there are 2 full time providers, this ratio is fine.

[Anonymous]

PP, that is what the post said. . . one caregiver with 4 infants.

[Anonymous]

We tried to use them several years ago and were thoroughly dissatisfied with the providers they introduced us to. The first was in a dark basement with dirty shag rug carpet and few toys/no backyard. The second provider spoke no English (and we don't speak Farsi) so she was having her 11y old daughter translate for her (during which she told us we didn't feed our DS enough because he was too skinny.) Needless to say we dropped MMM and found our own provider.

[Anonymous]

I also had a disappointing experience with them when recently looking for care. They brought us to one provider who seemed fine on the surface but when I looked her up online, I found she had a number of recent violations. None of them were a big deal but MMM didn't know anything about them. I would expect that if I'm paying them a monthly management fee to check up on providers, they would include checking violations.

I also found that the initial checks they do on providers new to their program are pretty lame. The second provider we saw was new to MMM and when I asked for references I received two handwritten, very brief personal references. This woman had just left a large daycare center so I asked if they had called that center to get a reference and the answer was that they only use references the provider gives them. And that they may not do the most detailed reference check because they mostly go on a gut feeling when accepting providers to their network. Sorry, but a gut feeling is not enough for me when I'm handing my child over to someone. It's also not enough for me to hear that the provider's friends think she's great with kids. This wouldn't cut it for a job reference and it shouldn't for daycare either.

We ended up finding care elsewhere so we didn't have to go with one of their providers. I probably would have if I had no other option but I would have been looking for something else to come along. The management fee they tack on (and won't disclose!) is not at all worth the supposed checking that they do. I'm sure they have some great providers in their network but I wasn't happy with the way their business was conducted so I opted out.

[Anonymous]

We called MMM about 2 years ago for providers in the Rockville area. The woman from MMM took us to 2 places. The first place really was unacceptable IMO. The day care provider was really very nice, but the space was VERY CLUTTERED and dark. I guess I had expected that MMM would have already weeded out that type of place for us. The second place seemed great. The woman from MMM informed us that there were 2 providers there and gave us the kid/caregiver ratio. Then when we arrived there, the DCP told her "Oh, no, it's just me. The other woman wasn't able to join me." I would have expected MMM to know this.