We're on waitlists at 6 daycares in the Seattle area. My wife's maternity leave ends in January and we have NOTHING locked in. The good places have waiting lists that are 18+ months long. How are people actually managing this? Are we supposed to plan years in advance? This feels broken.
This is the Seattle special. 18+ months is insane but real. Have you looked into nanny shares or in-home daycare? The waitlists are shorter and sometimes you can negotiate start dates better.
Also try calling the waitlists directly (not email). Talk to an actual human, ask about cancellation rates, ask if they do priority adds. Some places secretly have openings because people don't follow up.
seattle is honestly brutal for this. but the janky in-home daycare we ended up at? best thing that happened. kid loved her, way more flexible, way less $. not saying give up on your list but maybe get serious about the backup option
Real question: has your wife reached out to HR about pushing her return date? Some companies will do 6-week extensions if you're in this exact situation. Worth asking before January becomes an actual crisis.
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We went through this. Our solution was getting on 3 lists we actually liked, then as soon as ONE spot opened up we took it. Doesn't matter if it wasn't your first choice - having childcare locked in is worth more than the perfect place.