Daycare is reopening 2 days/week with very limited hours (half the class goes two days then switch)

[Anonymous]

I can't make that work with my work hours. What are other families going to do under those circumstances? Are you withdrawing and hiring a nanny? I can't afford a nanny. I have been working from home so far so we've been making it work, but when we're called back to the office and if daycare still has limited hours, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. What are other folks doing under these circumstances?

Are nannies any less expensive if you move outside DC? How far outside DC do you have to go? We could move to get lower childcare costs, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Seems like you need to find a new daycare. I doubt you're going to want to go through this again in the fall/winter, assuming things get shut down again. So you might as well rip off the bandaid now.

[Anonymous]

I agree you should start reaching out and getting on waitlists. When our provider was unclear in terms of whether we'd "make the cut" for the limited enrollment, we applied to 7 other schools and yes paid the fee to process the application.

I live in MD and nannies are certainly not less expensive here ($20-25/hour, overtime, workers comp, employer payroll taxes, benefits, sick/PTO, and so on). We would pay well over $65K / year when factoring in overtime.

[Anonymous]

We are in a similar situation and don't know what to do. My understanding is that the 2-3 days a week is driven by OSSE's 10-person limit on the number of people (including teachers) who can be in a room. I'm wondering if there's any chance that OSSE will increase the number in a few months, even to 12 or 15, which would make a big difference. I believe that it will already by 15 in Montgomery County. Trying to decide whether to hold out in hopes of that, or if it's a pipe dream.

Are there daycares/preks in DC that folks have heard from that are planning to reopening for something close to fulltime care for 3 or 4 year olds? Would anyone be willing to share?

[Anonymous]

Look for an in-home.

[Anonymous]

One option is to do what they did and stagger but keep everyone enrolled. Another option is to do what our daycare did and just cut people. It stinks either way, but I don't see how several days/week can work for anyone, whereas FT with cuts at least works for the families who made it.

The criteria used by our provider to make cuts were full-time (no part-time anymore), good financial standing, essential workers, county employees, and families with special medical/developmental needs (as we have two nurses on staff FT). Some who just met the first two made it. Everyone else is now looking for other providers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One option is to do what they did and stagger but keep everyone enrolled. Another option is to do what our daycare did and just cut people. It stinks either way, but I don't see how several days/week can work for anyone, whereas FT with cuts at least works for the families who made it.

The criteria used by our provider to make cuts were full-time (no part-time anymore), good financial standing, essential workers, county employees, and families with special medical/developmental needs (as we have two nurses on staff FT). Some who just met the first two made it. Everyone else is now looking for other providers.

Do you know if they anticipate being able to offer more spots later, as things open up more? This is OP. I’m not sure if more spots will open up at our school later. My husband has a call set up with the director to ask.

[Anonymous]

I'm waiting to hear back from them about it. I've heard a few places are planning to open up full time in the fall, and wondering how they're making it work (DC JCC for example)...

[Anonymous]

Move to MD with an extra bedroom and get an au pair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look for an in-home.

The few good/reputable ones I know of are totally full. Remember some of them have had to make cuts too because the rules dictate how many people can be in the house.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Also parents who like their inhomes are all keeping their kids in for an extra year now. I know a 4 year old whose parents were thinking of putting her in a PreK in September but with those up in the air they're just keeping her in the in-home which they like another year.

[Anonymous]

How far out of the District will you move? You'd have to move at least 2 hours out, not like Loudon County out. In Nova, you can get someone even at $12-$16 an hour (see all those care dot com posts) if you lower your expectations very low and be prepared they will be more of a warm body rather than high quality care. At that price range, you will sift through a lot of applications that you won't like and do extra interviews to get the "not so bad as the other" applicant.

You already said you can't afford a nanny. But finding a so so person who is not a professional nanny is not a terrible idea if you just need someone to cover those extra days temporarily the next few months while you get off other waitlists or your daycare returns to 5 days a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Move to MD with an extra bedroom and get an au pair

Very few au pairs are getting visas right now. There’s a definite shortage

[Anonymous]

Nanny share?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't make that work with my work hours. What are other families going to do under those circumstances? Are you withdrawing and hiring a nanny? I can't afford a nanny. I have been working from home so far so we've been making it work, but when we're called back to the office and if daycare still has limited hours, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. What are other folks doing under these circumstances?

Are nannies any less expensive if you move outside DC? How far outside DC do you have to go? We could move to get lower childcare costs, I guess.

Where are you located? The Federal Triangle location of Bambini has immediate openings for infants and twos.