I find appointments the trickiest part of being a SAHM. Mostly, I do then on weekends when my husband is home or he takes PTO. It’s something you don’t think about when you decide to stay home - there’s no “coming in to work late” due to a dentist appt.

Swapping with other SAHM’s is a good idea. Maybe a teenager can cover you for a late afternoon appt. Some doctors you can bring your kid, but definitely not dentist. I would go ahead and use the iPad in a pinch.

(Original poster)
Thanks so much ladies for reminding me of that group that I’m not in. I’ll join now! What’s it called again and where can I find it? I’m located in the neighborhood below pg plaza adjacent to historic hyattsville

Anonymous wrote:Hey! I’m the original poster. So- I’m in the hyattsville Maryland area and having a hard time finding a daycare offering drop-in rates. I’m interested in anything from here to Ellicott city.

I’m not sure I can take her with me, I wouldn’t want her to cry and I wouldn’t be able to get to her. We do no screen time, she’s very good playing on her own, I wouldn’t be able to take her out of the stroller though.

OP, are you in Hyattsville proper? There is a neighborhood babysitting coop. I'm not sure if there are any current openings, but you can ask. Are you on HNmoms listserv? You could inquire about the coop there. (To get on the listserv, you have to be within certain Hyattsville neighborhood boundaries, mostly centered around the historic area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hired a part time nanny with guaranteed hours so that I knew I could schedule things whatever days I had the nanny.

This. I found someone who had 5 hours one day a week. That was my appointment/errand day. It was a neighbor's nanny who had kids in all day school.

+1 My friend's nanny volunteered that she'd love to take DS once a week since it was nice for her charge to have someone to play with. The consistency of knowing I had one morning per week (about 3-4 hours) when I could schedule things was really helpful. She only charged me $5/hour. I did that until DS started at a 2-morning/week preschool when he was 2.

Anonymous wrote:I hired a part time nanny with guaranteed hours so that I knew I could schedule things whatever days I had the nanny.

This. I found someone who had 5 hours one day a week. That was my appointment/errand day. It was a neighbor's nanny who had kids in all day school.

I’m 14:09 PP- also I will add I did take my children to certain appointments, but understand that hours long dental work is not appropriate for a child to tag along. For something that major I’d schedule around when my DH could help. But for a while I took two toddlers to my PT sessions. She fully supported it and they just sat in the stroller with WaterWow books, magnadoodle pads, etc.

Anonymous wrote:One of the caregivers at the childcare center in our gym babysat for us for several years.

Wouldn't she be working during the day though?

I hired a part time nanny with guaranteed hours so that I knew I could schedule things whatever days I had the nanny.

Are you in any moms groups? Look into MOMS Club International and MAEVE - they are nationwide and have chapters all over. Many moms clubs have built in babysitting exchanges, or are at least a good place to meet SAHMS (and I find many who are active in the meet ups have only one child or are not super tightly scheduled). I also took Fit4Mom classes starting when my first was an infant. Those are offered all over the DMV, too. I made some great friends there and several were able to help me with childcare, and vice versa.

Also make friends with neighbors. Maybe there’s a retired woman who doesn’t have grandkids or doesn’t live near hers? Our realtor has grown kids who don’t have kids of their own, and she has offered to watch my kids a few times since her schedule is somewhat flexible.

Anonymous wrote:(Original poster)
Please respect my decision to not use screens. My dental appointments coming up are hours long. If it were a general doctor, she would be more then happy screen free for 20 minutes and I’m very proud of her for that. Again, my line is not that hard for a scenario where it’s absolutely necessary.

Try care.com or a nanny service for a one time job. Unless your child is very easy and accustomed to group settings it will be very difficult to just add him to a daycare, center or in-house. If he doesn’t settle down you would be called home early from your appointment.

(Original poster)
Please respect my decision to not use screens. My dental appointments coming up are hours long. If it were a general doctor, she would be more then happy screen free for 20 minutes and I’m very proud of her for that. Again, my line is not that hard for a scenario where it’s absolutely necessary.

One of the caregivers at the childcare center in our gym babysat for us for several years.

A few different things... trade sitting with a friend who also has a toddler, a friend's nanny likes to watch my child with hers for a few hours (I pay her), if it's in the late afternoon a neighborhood teen can sit, and consider if the child can actually come along. I used to get a sitter when I got a haircut but my hairdresser encouraged me to bring her along. As she got bigger, she started doing her haircuts at the same time.

I was a Nanny for years. Once the kids were school age I would babysit for people like you here and there. 3-4 hours in the middle of the day once a week or so.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:(Original poster again)
Thanks for understanding not wanting to use screen-time. This really isn’t a must-need screen time situation. I’m not completely rigid, I would allow it towards the end of a long drive/flight/etc and other situations. Our family has slight learning attentive issues , so limited/no screens is best for us.

There are other SAHMs here, but many have multiple kids/engagements. I’ve reached out and I’m one of few moms with just 1 child. I’ll keep searching daycares and help on the care website. Thanks everyone

OP, I'm not a SAHM but I have had similar issues when I'm on maternity leave -- I can't exactly bring a 9-month-old to sit in the dentist's office while I get a filling done! Do you have a coparent who can take time off work occasionally? If not, I would suggest posting on a neighbour listserve asking if anyone has any leads on babysitters. I have some friends with a nanny who works slightly odd hours and is sometimes available for babysitting before she starts her main job, for example.

I'm the pp at 11:21.
I'm actually surprised at the number of people saying they just brought their kid with them in the stroller with an I-pad! There's no way my doctors/dentists/etc. would have allowed that!