OP it sounds like you have options so it makes sense to wait. We paid 6 weeks to hold a spot for our DS, because it was our favorite AND we were unlikely to get off the waitlist in time anywhere else. It was worth it. With our second, it was trickier because a spot opened up at our son’s provider 4-5 months before we needed it. At ~$1500 per month, we couldn’t justify paying that much to hold a spot. Interestingly, the spot wasn’t filled immediately so we were like, ok, if we get down to 2 months let’s just pay it and be done. Of course, didn’t our provider fill it the week before then. Now we are scrambling and feeling a bit regretful, but will probably end up at a different in-home provider or nanny share until a spot opens up this summer.

It’s a numbers game- demand > supply so providers have the upper hand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god, this has SCAM written all over it. Can't believe how many stupid people out there are paying this much money! You must have more of it than you know what to do with.

How is it a scam? In home daycares only have a certain number of slots. I own a home daycare and if I have an open slot that someone wants, they start paying for it as soon as they sign the contract. I won't hold a spot for free for one family when I can fill it with another child. It's my income. I would say that most of the women in my day care association who run high quality programs do the same.

If there's a legally binding contract then fine, I suppose that is legit. Although I still think it's asinine to fork over that kind of money to hold a spot when there are plenty of child care options out there.

It is not that easy. There are many considerations you need to take when finding the right daycare such as hours, vacation schedules, child to caretaker ratio, location and policies, just to name a few. Not to mention your general impression of the daycare space and most importantly the person who will be taking care of your child. Well you’re right that there are many childcare options out there they may not all be right for you. So if you find a location that works for you and you have to pay to hold a spot then it is completely worth it.

I disagree, but maybe I'm not part of the wealthy customer base you seem to be accustomed to dealing with.

For normal people budget constraints preclude the luxury of the perfect fit. And I don't trust anyone enough to assume they're not making $500 off of me on top of whatever they're charging the family currently using the "extra" seat. After all, if your center is so excellent, why wouldn't you find a full paying family who needs the seat? There's certainly enough demand.

I can and do. So do the other day care women I know that have high quality programs. So if a client wants the space, even a month or two in the future, they pay either to hold it or someone else will enroll. Lower quality (in-home) daycares might have more spaces open more often but that should tell you something. But you are right in that there are plenty of day care options out there, it's just about finding the right one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god, this has SCAM written all over it. Can't believe how many stupid people out there are paying this much money! You must have more of it than you know what to do with.

How is it a scam? In home daycares only have a certain number of slots. I own a home daycare and if I have an open slot that someone wants, they start paying for it as soon as they sign the contract. I won't hold a spot for free for one family when I can fill it with another child. It's my income. I would say that most of the women in my day care association who run high quality programs do the same.

If there's a legally binding contract then fine, I suppose that is legit. Although I still think it's asinine to fork over that kind of money to hold a spot when there are plenty of child care options out there.

It is not that easy. There are many considerations you need to take when finding the right daycare such as hours, vacation schedules, child to caretaker ratio, location and policies, just to name a few. Not to mention your general impression of the daycare space and most importantly the person who will be taking care of your child. Well you’re right that there are many childcare options out there they may not all be right for you. So if you find a location that works for you and you have to pay to hold a spot then it is completely worth it.

I disagree, but maybe I'm not part of the wealthy customer base you seem to be accustomed to dealing with.

For normal people budget constraints preclude the luxury of the perfect fit. And I don't trust anyone enough to assume they're not making $500 off of me on top of whatever they're charging the family currently using the "extra" seat. After all, if your center is so excellent, why wouldn't you find a full paying family who needs the seat? There's certainly enough demand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god, this has SCAM written all over it. Can't believe how many stupid people out there are paying this much money! You must have more of it than you know what to do with.

How is it a scam? In home daycares only have a certain number of slots. I own a home daycare and if I have an open slot that someone wants, they start paying for it as soon as they sign the contract. I won't hold a spot for free for one family when I can fill it with another child. It's my income. I would say that most of the women in my day care association who run high quality programs do the same.

If there's a legally binding contract then fine, I suppose that is legit. Although I still think it's asinine to fork over that kind of money to hold a spot when there are plenty of child care options out there.

It is not that easy. There are many considerations you need to take when finding the right daycare such as hours, vacation schedules, child to caretaker ratio, location and policies, just to name a few. Not to mention your general impression of the daycare space and most importantly the person who will be taking care of your child. Well you’re right that there are many childcare options out there they may not all be right for you. So if you find a location that works for you and you have to pay to hold a spot then it is completely worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god, this has SCAM written all over it. Can't believe how many stupid people out there are paying this much money! You must have more of it than you know what to do with.

How is it a scam? In home daycares only have a certain number of slots. I own a home daycare and if I have an open slot that someone wants, they start paying for it as soon as they sign the contract. I won't hold a spot for free for one family when I can fill it with another child. It's my income. I would say that most of the women in my day care association who run high quality programs do the same.

It's not a scam. It's just that most people only pay to hold a spot for a month or two, not for nearly a year.

Honestly, the provider is cutting the OP a break--most places make you pay full freight to hold the spot--because otherwise they'll just find someone who wants the spot right away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god, this has SCAM written all over it. Can't believe how many stupid people out there are paying this much money! You must have more of it than you know what to do with.

How is it a scam? In home daycares only have a certain number of slots. I own a home daycare and if I have an open slot that someone wants, they start paying for it as soon as they sign the contract. I won't hold a spot for free for one family when I can fill it with another child. It's my income. I would say that most of the women in my day care association who run high quality programs do the same.

If there's a legally binding contract then fine, I suppose that is legit. Although I still think it's asinine to fork over that kind of money to hold a spot when there are plenty of child care options out there.

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god, this has SCAM written all over it. Can't believe how many stupid people out there are paying this much money! You must have more of it than you know what to do with.

How is it a scam? In home daycares only have a certain number of slots. I own a home daycare and if I have an open slot that someone wants, they start paying for it as soon as they sign the contract. I won't hold a spot for free for one family when I can fill it with another child. It's my income. I would say that most of the women in my day care association who run high quality programs do the same.

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god, this has SCAM written all over it. Can't believe how many stupid people out there are paying this much money! You must have more of it than you know what to do with.

It's one person, the OP. I've never heard of this before reading this thread.

Oh my god, this has SCAM written all over it. Can't believe how many stupid people out there are paying this much money! You must have more of it than you know what to do with.

PP here. And it's a somewhat unusual language for a daycare provider. I wouldn't hold the spot if the language was something more common like Spanish.

Anonymous wrote:Agree that she is being really reasonable if she is holding a spot open for you for ten months. Also agree that in Hines are easier to find a spot in, so you do not need to do this unless there are special religious/language considerations or something else unique about this particular place.

+1 I would only do it under special circumstances (sibling, language, etc.). I do realize that these exist--my in-home, for example, is one of those--we know the provider and there are some language/cultural reasons we chose this daycare, namely that the main provider has the same language/cultural background as my mother.