This is what drives mothers to go knocking on neighborhood doors to meet other mothers - part desperation.

Have you tried care.com? I found it so intimidating to find a babysitter when my first child was little, but in fact there are tons of people who would love to earn a little money by babysitting. I have also found the childcare section of Craigslist a good resource. Place an ad, and then interview/check references, etc. You may have to interview a lot of people, but it's worth it.

OP here. I would love to find a mother's helper, but have not been able to find one. I guess the idea of drop in care at a daycare wouldn't really work. I did find one place that offered it, but you have to pay for the whole day and it would be too expensive since we would just need a few hours.

The issue is if I have an appointment my husband has to take the whole day off, and he is using up all his vacation days. But with no local family, and since I can't find a mother's helper because it's hard to find someone who only wants to work a few hours a week, it's very hard to get appointments, etc. done when you're a stay at home mom without any local family.

Is Alexandria too far for you to go OP????

You should try PB&Jack.

No, there is nothing for age 2.

Try to find a mom's morning out or morning out coop. Churches often have them so check out the nearby churches.

The daycare at Inova hospital used to take backups, not sure if they still do. I was going to use it but to sign up for backup care you have to fill out all forms as if your kid is going full time, including paying a registration fee. Wasn't worth it to me for a couple days of backup care when DS's school was closed.

Depending on how old your kid is, I would think hard about whether this is a good option. Kids can take a while to get used to a new situation so you may be setting your kid up for a rough day. When I have sent my kid to backup care in the past, I feel guilty because think how hard it is for you to walk into a room full of people you don't know (especially if they all know each other) - then extrapolate that to a 3 year old. Just seems really rough and scary.

that said... I feel like i've heard about mom's mornings out programs in FFX... never had to do too much research since I work full time.

Age 2

What age?

I am wondering if there are any daycares in Fairfax (or within 10 miles of Fairfax) that allow drop-in or back-up care, where I could pay hourly for my child to attend for a few hours once in awhile? I'm a SAHM but sometimes I have to go to appointments, and my DH ends up having to take the whole day off for that as I have been unable to find a babysitter for daytime care for things like appointments and we have no local family in the area. Thanks!