Oklahoma Nesties
OUKap
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
tell me everything you know about daycare
Crap. I started calling places today. One place told me parents sign up before they are pregnant. Another told me I was smart to already be looking. Any info would be helpful. What to look for? What to ask? Do I need backup after we pick a place? Near work? Near home? What is the going rate for babies? What about stars? Everything!
Re: tell me everything you know about daycare
There are some places where you do have to be on a waiting list. Usually these are centers. If you go the in home route they will let you know sooner if they will be able to have a spot open or not.
The stars are just a rating system that Oklahoma has.Here is a short list of the stars and their meanings:
In Oklahoma, a variety of initiatives have been implemented to improve the level of child care quality. A tiered system of quality and reimbursement known as ?Reaching for the Stars? provides incentives for programs that meet the ?star? criteria. The Reaching for the Stars Program has 4 levels of rating facilities in which specified criteria must be met:
I would high recommend toy check out this website so you can see if any liscensed daycare you are looking at has any violations or complaints.
http://childcarefind.okdhs.org/childcarefind/
I think it depends on your preferance if you want the daycare close to home or by your work. If you work close to hom then it shouldn't be that big of a decision. I commute 45 minutes from home but chose to find a DCP in Norman. I didn't really feel comfortable taking M on the highway during rush hour.
Generally, most DCP will require you to come in for a consulation before you sign up for a waiting list. We went into one and we knew right away we did not want to see M there. I would follow your gut.
If you go with a center you shouldn't need back up since they always have a person there so you can drop off your LO. In home I would have a back up just in case. You never know when DCP will get sick or some emergency may come up.
So. This is based on my Stillwater knowledge, and I know OKC is probably different. Here's been my experience:
1. I didn't start looking until I was six months pregnant - and apparently, I got lucky, because all the daycares in Stillwater had wait lists for their newborns, but the kid whose spot JJ took moved out of state, so they had an opening. I would definitely have started looking earlier if I'd realized how hard it was going to be. One mom told me she was on a waitlist for TWO years for her kid at the same daycare. Freaking insane.
2. We paid almost $160 a week during JJ's first year. They provided the formula [and, when he got old enough, the baby food and snacks], and I provided diapers, wipes, bottles, extra clothes, pacifiers etc. It does go down from year to year though.
3. JJ's in a three-star facility, but to me, the stars don't mean much. I mean, they do, but seeing the daycare one-on-one is what really helped me determine where to put JJ. One daycare I went to was a two-star, but there were so many things wrong with it that I didn't even consider putting him there once I left. JJ's daycare is OK, but if we lived closer to one of the other two newer facilities associated with his daycare, I would move him. Most of the daycares I looked at did a thorough visit with me, showed me the room, let me talk to the people who worked in the room etc. I always asked a number of different questions: how often they fed, how many kids were in the room at one time, what their emergency strategy was [for tornado and fire especially], if he'd have his own crib, what the schedule was like, what kinds of things they'd do with him while he was there, how would I be able to tell them who could pick him up, how they kept things clean/separated/refrigerated, how they heated up his bottle...I know there were more.
4. I've never had a back-up plan, but JJ's always been in a daycare that, if they closed, it meant that there was a snow day and I was more than likely out, too. JJ's daycare is a minute from my apartment - while it's a decent drive from my work, it's nice to pick him up and head straight home. I know Stillwater's waaaaaay smaller than OKC, so finding a daycare near your place may be more challenging.
I do suggest looking on DHS at the accident reports for any daycares/private home daycares you're looking into. Those helped me narrow down my choices - some of them had numerous reports that bugged me.
If your first pick has a huge waiting list then yes I would have a back up just in case. You do really have a long time so anything can happen between now and when the baby is born. We are currently on 2 waiting list but about to pull our name from one because they can't give a definite time frame.
I also forgot to add...daycare around here ranges from $150 to $175/week. Generally the centers are going to be more expensive than in home but as the kid gets older the rates go down.
I just went through this whole ordeal for my LO. I didn't receive any rec's from anyone on here though, but friends/coworkers/family are great to ask what places they suggest. I didn't pick a daycare until LO was already here because the process is soooo stressful. I would get started with interviews then stop out of frustration. Especially not exactly knowing when LO would need to start, because you don't know when they'll be born, can be tough for a daycare to distinguish if they will have an opening or not.
I would sit down and think what is important to you about a daycare, such as costs, FT/PT, number of teachers, number of kids, etc etc. I chose a home daycare because they are more personal, smaller number of kids, tend to be more affordable, and have part time more available.
The price ranges from $120-300 a wk for full time care.
Churches tend to have long waiting lists and may only take 6 months of age as the youngest.
Be aware that some waiting lists require for you to pay a deposit and may or may not be refundable. Some places may not know about their openings until closer to your due date.
I chose daycare closer to home so to avoid rush hour with a crying baby in the back seat. Also, if you have to be called from work to take your baby home due to illness, at least you'll be close to home.
Where city are you looking?