Lions, Tigers and DAYCARE oh my!

I've always heard "rumblings" about getting a child (especially the first) into daycare, but I never paid much attention (after all, that subject didn't pertain to me!). As you know, I found out I was pregnant at 9 weeks, and I really didn't tell anyone (other than those I just can't keep a secret) I was pregnant until 12 weeks.
As soon as I started telling people (especially those with small children), their response was "wow, congratulations; you need to look into daycare." I thought to myself, "are they serious; certainly it isn't a problem. I'm only 12 weeks along, and we don't need daycare right at 6 weeks" because Nick is going to keep our child until March 2011 (our time frame for child care is January 2011-March 2011 since Nick has a light schedule in the winter and would like to stay home with our little one).
Their comments got me thinking; then it got me stressed out! Especially when looking on the internet to find daycares in Charleston, none of these places have a website. We actually found the yellow pages to be the most helpful (talk about stepping back in time) and asking friends where they take their children (and where friends of friends go)!

After my First Trimester Screening appointment, we set out to tour a few daycares. We toured Ashley River Baptist Child Development Center (Savannah Hwy), Little Christian Day School (Wappoo Road), and Charleston Day School (South Windermere). All of these places had its pros and cons, but we would feel comfortable leaving our child at any of these places.

Ashley River Baptist ($160/ week with option of vaca week after 6 mos) is our first choice. We liked how clean the place was, the healthy lunches served, no TV (except for a treat), it comes highly recommend from friends and family, and most of all, the structure they provide (curriculum and schedule).
We put down our $25 deposit to be placed on the waiting list that 12-18 months long (WHAT?!?). Doing the math while sitting in the church office, didn't make me comfortable at all. 18 months from now is June 2011. Although that is our first choice, the director encouraged us to get on 2 other waiting lists.

Since Little Christian Day School ($140/week with no vaca week option) was our second choice, we decided to put down the $60 deposit (which guarantees us a spot anywhere from January-March 2011). We do like this program. Everyone seemed very friendly, the director was very involved with the children, overall the place seemed pretty clean, cheapest ($1,000 less/ year than ARB), and they serve breakfast and lunch to the kids. Some things that made it our second choice was the kids were watching a movie (because it was Friday...not a treat), their menu was not as healthy, and the children's curriculum didn't have structure until 4 years old.

We didn't put a deposit on Charleston Day School ($175/week) since Little Christian said our deposit guarantee us a spot. The ladies who run the newborn room were absolutely fantastic, and they change every child's diaper before letting them go home! We were most impressed with their newborn staff. What made it our third choice, was the location (busy area), the place seemed really dark and was the least clean (by no means was it filthy, so don't get me wrong. I would still leave my child there).

We did call Lutheran Church of the Redeemer's daycare, and their waiting list was so long, they weren't even taking names anymore. I was shocked by that since we weren't asking for daycare until March 2011. She informed me that she has babies that are due in October already on the list. I was thinking to myself "did these women test themselves everyday to see if they were pregnant?"
She did allow me to fill out a waiting list form for their daycare, but it came with no promises. She said she would follow up to let me know if I made it on the waiting list or not after they do their fall enrollment. I went ahead and filled it out since it didn't cost anything. The Lutheran Church would be the only other option if we made it on the list.

I feel pretty good about the daycares that we toured and am certainly glad that we didn't wait any longer to put our name on a list. "Lions, Tigers, and DAYCARES oh my!"