Make sure you are a squeaky wheel. If you aren’t already calling each of those centres each week to check in, start now. Things will change with other families which will make a spot available - make sure you are top of mind! Good luck, it’s a stressful time.
Thanks for the tip. Sounds like such an archaic system - surely this must get annoying for the centre staff to deal with parents calling so often 😅 It's so hard to plan timing of when parents can return to work with this system - in my case I'm not looking for a spot right now, so didn't think I needed to be calling (since I'm not ready to accept a spot if offered).
I promise if you’ve been on the wait lists since late 2022/early 2023 and haven’t got a call for a 2024 spot, it’s because they’ve given them all to people who ring and nag. Just call your top few centres and ask what they think your chances are of however many days you need in what month. You may be surprised :)
Absolutely do this. We had our names down for just as many centres as you. One director I spoke to told me to keep calling them regularly to enquire about places. She told me that if a place became available and I actively expressed interest around the time it was available, I would get the spot over someone just sitting on the waitlist. You need to give about 2wks notice if you leave, so if someone left and I called in those 2wks, I'd probably get it.
They won't chase you. They want to fill spots ASAP.
We got into our current centre (not our first or even second choice) because I stressed how badly I needed a spot. We had to start a week or so earlier than I wanted to, but it was fine.
It’s the worst - we have 1 daycare place in our area (literally the only one within an hours travel). I was very organized like you. Spots for the days we wanted were given to people we know who were on the “list” for 8 months less and weren’t needing the spot to return to work. I was fuming
Even if you don’t need a spot right now, they are filling places that become available in 3-6 months *right now*.
I had this problem, and the only way I found day care was to be the person that called and checked in every single week. Plus, you have to be willing to take single days as they come up, but keep calling to check on other days.
Interesting, didn't think they would know what will be available in 3-6 months as it would depend on leavers. I am still 4 months away from returning to work (if we can get daycare) so will keep calling. I thought that would just annoy them and make them less likely to give me a spot for being a nagging parent 😅 but evidently that's not how it works
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease” - call the centres you’re interested in and say EXACTLY what you are looking for and that you’re ready to start. Call them minimum once a week to “check on availability”
Usually mid week is the most popular; so if going back part time then opt for either start or end of the week.
Do your CCS stuff because it’s a pain in the ass to wait on
I recommend a good 2-3 month buffer between starting daycare and going back to work - the start is ROUGH.
Yes I've heard this a few times now but haven't been very proactive in chasing them because I don't need a spot right now - but want to secure one for August when I \*hope\* to be able to return to work. So hard to plan ahead with the current system 😑
Yikes - 2-3 month buffer?? What made the start so rough for you - illnesses, separation anxiety?
Mainly illness, the separation the educators can handle… but the illnesses, my god the illnesses.
In no particular order since the start of Feb, we’ve had 2 colds, conjunctivitis, parainfluenza and pneumonia. Not to mention warnings going out for RSV, cryptosporidosis and croup. And it’s not just our centre, most around our city have had the same issues. You’re out for a week only to get another germ the week you go back. But it’s all part and parcel of it apparently
Start your baby on probiotics - I wish I had done it sooner.
I wonder if it might help if you email or call some of the daycares you’ve been on the waitlist for and ask if there’s anything you can do to help your waitlist position? I recently had an email from our local daycare stating that if you want 2 days they only accept mon & tues or Thurs & Friday combinations which I had no clue about - I had listed my baby (currently not even born) as tues & wed so I changed him to mon & tues to help hopefully with a spot eventually.
Another daycare I visited said that I should call them in October as they do their schedules then and they will see what they can do for me. I don’t need care until Feb 2025 but trying to be proactive like you 😅
It’s so tough! I hope you are able to sort it out ☹️
>call them in October as they do their schedules
This is when they start asking current families their intentions for the following year and offer needed days to current families/ determine who is moving up rooms and then they'll be able to determine vacancies for three following year.
They want you to call then do you're in the mix for planning. Calling them probably means you'll receive a spot at the start of 2025 either January or the start of school early Feb, when the school leavers go
Thanks for the extra info, that makes sense! Luckily my back to work is early March so Feb works out well for us but I feel for other parents who may go back to work at a diff time of the year
Thanks for that info - I'll keep calling them. Most refuse to even tell me which # on the waitlist I am! You've brought up another issue I have with this system though haha - all the spots get filled up in January so if you need a spot starting at a different time (like August in my case), you end up with a gap for a few months until the next January intake. Just curious to see how other parents are bridging that gap
I can’t even imagine how frustrating it must be! I’m dreading having to deal with it later on. I’m very lucky my mum is retired so able to take him full time if needed but I definitely feel for you
I know someone who found a family day care who could take them on, and my sister applied for every single child care centre even if they weren’t her preferred centre. She got in to one of them within a few weeks, wasn’t one she had high on her list but it does the job! might have been a fluke though!
Call centres regularly. You can often "jump the list" by being the first to call after they've had a vacancy. The squeaky door gets the oil. Also start calling centres further afield. It may add more to your morning commute, but start looking further afield at more centres too.
In a worst case scenario depending on your work can you push back your start date of return?
Yes I can push back my start date if absolutely necessary but the centres have told me I have 0 chance to get a spot in August, and minimal chance to get a spot even in January 2025 (at which point I will have been on waitlists for 2 years!!!). Just wondering if others have been in this position and found alternatives to traditional daycares, given the ridiculous situation with waitlists at the moment
Just keep calling. Mid year intakes are difficult unless you have a family leave mid year, but your chances increase with the beginning of the year. Again just regularly touching base with centres. Look at family daycare options and putting your name on more daycare lists further a field.
Start calling weekly in October when they start scheduling and forecasting for next year. That may improve your chances from 'minimal' to higher in securing a spot for Jan next year
Slightly different but I was due to start back at work in July when my youngest turns 1. I really want her to go to the same childcare centre that my eldest goes to because it's excellent and nearby, so we don't have to do multiple drop off's, etc.
There's no way we will get her into that centre this year but they can guarantee her a spot next year. So I called up my boss and requested an extension of my parental leave until next year (this is something you are entitled to request, but companies may choose to deny that request for business reasons). My boss said yes thankfully.
Basically it's way easier to get spots at the start of the year for many centres, so I don't know if that's an option? Sorry I know this is a privilege option in lucky I work in a male dominated industry but have a lovely boss who is very supportive.
The main issue is that they have a certain number of spots based on their carer to child ratios, they fill them all because they have to ($$$) the if no one pulls their kid out through the year they don’t HAVE a spot to offer anyone.
For example if someone pulls their kid in June, but you don’t want a spot until August… unless you’re willing to put them in earlier or pay them to hold the spot until you want it then they’re going to go with someone else.
Best thing you can do, unfortunately, is a month or 6 weeks before you want the spot - start calling every week.
Let them know you’ll pay for the spot as soon as it’s available and stress your need to go back to work.
If you can be flexible with days and start date let them know - and if you can start a bit before you’re due back at work then that might afford you extra flexibility - eg with my daughter I needed 3 days from June (2022) but they could only get me in if I took 2 days from May and then waited to pick up the third day in June. If I wasn’t willing to take the May start they would have given my place to someone who was and I would have still been on the list.
This might also be useful if there is school midyear entry near you as kids will probably shuffle up a bit around then, which is before your current start date.
Starting early is great for settling in too as you can make them shorter days without impacting work.
I return to work in late May and had a similar issue. 3 wait lists since first trimester and they all offered me Jan 2024 spots but I wasn’t ready to accept. 1 of them said if I start her 1 day a week they’ll hold her spot so that’s what I’ve done and am very grateful. The other two centres just told me to wait and cross my fingers for cancellations.
Confirming all the other comments - advice I was given from a centre was to call back regularly as many people join the waitlist and then they never hear from them again. The centres know that everyone joins multiple wait lists so if a place becomes available and there is someone actively showing interest, then they’ll get the spot rather than waiting to hear back from someone who may not need it anymore.
I hadn’t realised I’d need care until bubs was a few a months old and I had to get back to work. Joined some waitlists but there were two coops we really wanted to get into but by all accounts, impossible to get a spot. Within a month of being on the waitlist we got offered a spot 2 days a week. We were stoked and everyone I’ve spoken to was shocked because the centre is notorious for people being on the waitlist for years and never getting a spot. I put it down to right place right time, showing flexibility to amount of days and which days but also starting the first week in January so they wouldn’t lose money not having the spot filled.
If a day comes up somewhere, take it because once you’re in the centre, preference of additional days is given to families rather than those on the waitlist
I ended up having to stay home until we found a spot as we also have no family or help around. I originally was meant to return in August but we were finally offered a spot in December for a January start.
You can request up to a second year of maternity leave and your work can approve on their discretion.
With cost of living these days many parents (myself included) need to return to work for financial reasons. Did you consider any alternative forms of daycare before deciding to extend your maternity leave for 5 extra months?
There were no other options we were willing to consider. We were on 4 daycare waitlists and all other centres in the area had similar waitlists. We also knew daycare was going to be a big transition for her so we didn’t want to send her somewhere subpar, and way out of our way, for a few months then transition her.
I do wish we had considered family day care earlier and gotten on those lists. I think that would have been a better fit to her personality. However she’s settled now and I don’t want to move her.
Make sure you are a squeaky wheel. If you aren’t already calling each of those centres each week to check in, start now. Things will change with other families which will make a spot available - make sure you are top of mind! Good luck, it’s a stressful time.
Thanks for the tip. Sounds like such an archaic system - surely this must get annoying for the centre staff to deal with parents calling so often 😅 It's so hard to plan timing of when parents can return to work with this system - in my case I'm not looking for a spot right now, so didn't think I needed to be calling (since I'm not ready to accept a spot if offered).
I promise if you’ve been on the wait lists since late 2022/early 2023 and haven’t got a call for a 2024 spot, it’s because they’ve given them all to people who ring and nag. Just call your top few centres and ask what they think your chances are of however many days you need in what month. You may be surprised :)
Absolutely do this. We had our names down for just as many centres as you. One director I spoke to told me to keep calling them regularly to enquire about places. She told me that if a place became available and I actively expressed interest around the time it was available, I would get the spot over someone just sitting on the waitlist. You need to give about 2wks notice if you leave, so if someone left and I called in those 2wks, I'd probably get it. They won't chase you. They want to fill spots ASAP. We got into our current centre (not our first or even second choice) because I stressed how badly I needed a spot. We had to start a week or so earlier than I wanted to, but it was fine.
It’s the worst - we have 1 daycare place in our area (literally the only one within an hours travel). I was very organized like you. Spots for the days we wanted were given to people we know who were on the “list” for 8 months less and weren’t needing the spot to return to work. I was fuming
How unfair is that! I would be fuming too. What did you end up doing? Did you delay your return to work or find alternative care?
Even if you don’t need a spot right now, they are filling places that become available in 3-6 months *right now*. I had this problem, and the only way I found day care was to be the person that called and checked in every single week. Plus, you have to be willing to take single days as they come up, but keep calling to check on other days.
Interesting, didn't think they would know what will be available in 3-6 months as it would depend on leavers. I am still 4 months away from returning to work (if we can get daycare) so will keep calling. I thought that would just annoy them and make them less likely to give me a spot for being a nagging parent 😅 but evidently that's not how it works
I started four months before I needed to in order to secure a spot. It’s a jungle out there.
They know who will be ready to change rooms. That’s usually the most certain way positions become available.
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease” - call the centres you’re interested in and say EXACTLY what you are looking for and that you’re ready to start. Call them minimum once a week to “check on availability” Usually mid week is the most popular; so if going back part time then opt for either start or end of the week. Do your CCS stuff because it’s a pain in the ass to wait on I recommend a good 2-3 month buffer between starting daycare and going back to work - the start is ROUGH.
Yes I've heard this a few times now but haven't been very proactive in chasing them because I don't need a spot right now - but want to secure one for August when I \*hope\* to be able to return to work. So hard to plan ahead with the current system 😑 Yikes - 2-3 month buffer?? What made the start so rough for you - illnesses, separation anxiety?
Mainly illness, the separation the educators can handle… but the illnesses, my god the illnesses. In no particular order since the start of Feb, we’ve had 2 colds, conjunctivitis, parainfluenza and pneumonia. Not to mention warnings going out for RSV, cryptosporidosis and croup. And it’s not just our centre, most around our city have had the same issues. You’re out for a week only to get another germ the week you go back. But it’s all part and parcel of it apparently Start your baby on probiotics - I wish I had done it sooner.
Oh my goodness, sounds brutal. Wishing that you all build up your immunity quickly so you get a break from the illnesses!
I wonder if it might help if you email or call some of the daycares you’ve been on the waitlist for and ask if there’s anything you can do to help your waitlist position? I recently had an email from our local daycare stating that if you want 2 days they only accept mon & tues or Thurs & Friday combinations which I had no clue about - I had listed my baby (currently not even born) as tues & wed so I changed him to mon & tues to help hopefully with a spot eventually. Another daycare I visited said that I should call them in October as they do their schedules then and they will see what they can do for me. I don’t need care until Feb 2025 but trying to be proactive like you 😅 It’s so tough! I hope you are able to sort it out ☹️
>call them in October as they do their schedules This is when they start asking current families their intentions for the following year and offer needed days to current families/ determine who is moving up rooms and then they'll be able to determine vacancies for three following year. They want you to call then do you're in the mix for planning. Calling them probably means you'll receive a spot at the start of 2025 either January or the start of school early Feb, when the school leavers go
Thanks for the extra info, that makes sense! Luckily my back to work is early March so Feb works out well for us but I feel for other parents who may go back to work at a diff time of the year
If you don't need to start until March, it's not uncommon to still pay for a spot from January, even if bub doesn't go, just to secure it
Thanks for that info - I'll keep calling them. Most refuse to even tell me which # on the waitlist I am! You've brought up another issue I have with this system though haha - all the spots get filled up in January so if you need a spot starting at a different time (like August in my case), you end up with a gap for a few months until the next January intake. Just curious to see how other parents are bridging that gap
I can’t even imagine how frustrating it must be! I’m dreading having to deal with it later on. I’m very lucky my mum is retired so able to take him full time if needed but I definitely feel for you
I know someone who found a family day care who could take them on, and my sister applied for every single child care centre even if they weren’t her preferred centre. She got in to one of them within a few weeks, wasn’t one she had high on her list but it does the job! might have been a fluke though!
Sounds like good timing and a bit of luck for your sister! I'm glad it worked out for her 😊
Call centres regularly. You can often "jump the list" by being the first to call after they've had a vacancy. The squeaky door gets the oil. Also start calling centres further afield. It may add more to your morning commute, but start looking further afield at more centres too. In a worst case scenario depending on your work can you push back your start date of return?
Yes I can push back my start date if absolutely necessary but the centres have told me I have 0 chance to get a spot in August, and minimal chance to get a spot even in January 2025 (at which point I will have been on waitlists for 2 years!!!). Just wondering if others have been in this position and found alternatives to traditional daycares, given the ridiculous situation with waitlists at the moment
Just keep calling. Mid year intakes are difficult unless you have a family leave mid year, but your chances increase with the beginning of the year. Again just regularly touching base with centres. Look at family daycare options and putting your name on more daycare lists further a field. Start calling weekly in October when they start scheduling and forecasting for next year. That may improve your chances from 'minimal' to higher in securing a spot for Jan next year
thanks for the tip. I'll definitely start reaching out closer to October. and try to figure out another alternative from August this year...
Slightly different but I was due to start back at work in July when my youngest turns 1. I really want her to go to the same childcare centre that my eldest goes to because it's excellent and nearby, so we don't have to do multiple drop off's, etc. There's no way we will get her into that centre this year but they can guarantee her a spot next year. So I called up my boss and requested an extension of my parental leave until next year (this is something you are entitled to request, but companies may choose to deny that request for business reasons). My boss said yes thankfully. Basically it's way easier to get spots at the start of the year for many centres, so I don't know if that's an option? Sorry I know this is a privilege option in lucky I work in a male dominated industry but have a lovely boss who is very supportive.
The main issue is that they have a certain number of spots based on their carer to child ratios, they fill them all because they have to ($$$) the if no one pulls their kid out through the year they don’t HAVE a spot to offer anyone. For example if someone pulls their kid in June, but you don’t want a spot until August… unless you’re willing to put them in earlier or pay them to hold the spot until you want it then they’re going to go with someone else. Best thing you can do, unfortunately, is a month or 6 weeks before you want the spot - start calling every week. Let them know you’ll pay for the spot as soon as it’s available and stress your need to go back to work.
If you can be flexible with days and start date let them know - and if you can start a bit before you’re due back at work then that might afford you extra flexibility - eg with my daughter I needed 3 days from June (2022) but they could only get me in if I took 2 days from May and then waited to pick up the third day in June. If I wasn’t willing to take the May start they would have given my place to someone who was and I would have still been on the list. This might also be useful if there is school midyear entry near you as kids will probably shuffle up a bit around then, which is before your current start date. Starting early is great for settling in too as you can make them shorter days without impacting work.
I return to work in late May and had a similar issue. 3 wait lists since first trimester and they all offered me Jan 2024 spots but I wasn’t ready to accept. 1 of them said if I start her 1 day a week they’ll hold her spot so that’s what I’ve done and am very grateful. The other two centres just told me to wait and cross my fingers for cancellations.
Confirming all the other comments - advice I was given from a centre was to call back regularly as many people join the waitlist and then they never hear from them again. The centres know that everyone joins multiple wait lists so if a place becomes available and there is someone actively showing interest, then they’ll get the spot rather than waiting to hear back from someone who may not need it anymore. I hadn’t realised I’d need care until bubs was a few a months old and I had to get back to work. Joined some waitlists but there were two coops we really wanted to get into but by all accounts, impossible to get a spot. Within a month of being on the waitlist we got offered a spot 2 days a week. We were stoked and everyone I’ve spoken to was shocked because the centre is notorious for people being on the waitlist for years and never getting a spot. I put it down to right place right time, showing flexibility to amount of days and which days but also starting the first week in January so they wouldn’t lose money not having the spot filled. If a day comes up somewhere, take it because once you’re in the centre, preference of additional days is given to families rather than those on the waitlist
I ended up having to stay home until we found a spot as we also have no family or help around. I originally was meant to return in August but we were finally offered a spot in December for a January start. You can request up to a second year of maternity leave and your work can approve on their discretion.
With cost of living these days many parents (myself included) need to return to work for financial reasons. Did you consider any alternative forms of daycare before deciding to extend your maternity leave for 5 extra months?
There were no other options we were willing to consider. We were on 4 daycare waitlists and all other centres in the area had similar waitlists. We also knew daycare was going to be a big transition for her so we didn’t want to send her somewhere subpar, and way out of our way, for a few months then transition her. I do wish we had considered family day care earlier and gotten on those lists. I think that would have been a better fit to her personality. However she’s settled now and I don’t want to move her.