> people are pre-registering unborn children for childcare because there are so few slots available.
Shit I have to do this too? I’ve already started saving for the unreasonable cost of college, and the cost of childbirth, and the unreasonable cost of a large (enough) house in my metro. But now this?!
Tip of the iceberg. It was going on before Covid (where I live) and has only worsened with labor shortages and the fact day caregivers are in that band of labor that has inflated a lot in recent years. Also, daycares are hard to shop. If you send your kid to A, you likely will recommend A but you have no idea if B is better or worse. Staff and leadership tenure is the best correlation we found after having to change centers 4 times, you really don't want to have to go through that and it's tough on the kid too. Unfortunately, tenure is a weird metric with everyone changing jobs so much lately. Glad to be out of it but having them go on an academic calendar is a challenge too.
But there's a reason people pay so much attention to schools when buying houses - a good school district will almost certainly have good daycares, and it can be totally worth moving to get those.
Check if your state's 529 covers daycare or preschool, it can be useful.
yes, but take a breath because you'll figure it out. New parents and parents-to-be are probably the most taken advantage of people on the face of the earth. You'll get it figured out, don't let the horror stories on the inet keep you up at night and, no, using a generic brand of diapers won't turn your baby into a serial killer like the ads want you to believe.
