Child & Day Care in Mayo, MD

http://www.checkccmd.org/ This site allows you to look up licensed childcare centers by area (including in-home family childcare) and see their licensing info...last recertification, number of kids allowed, etc. Could be a good place to get some names to ask other people about or contact them directly to ask to visit/if they have any openings.

Do you know anyone? I'm looking on the sites like care.com but would prefer if I got a recommendation from someone I know!

I found my current in-home provider by going to the MD State Education departments website. (http://www.checkccmd.org/) They have all the licensed county daycares listed and they show if the center passed or failed inspections and for what if they failed. I ruled out anyone with any failed inspections, and then I called all the other centers in the towns I was looking in. It took some time and LOT of phone calls, but I managed to find a great in-home daycare, within my budget, and right by my house. You can search by county and town, or you can just look up the individual daycares near your job or house.

The Learning Bee! My wife, my son, and I love, love, love them there. He started there at 8 weeks old and, barring forced life changes, he'll be there until preschool. As expensive as daycare is (they're competitive, but no one is cheap), I expected to feel burned by the cost, but they're worth every penny. Do your site visits. Find who you feel comfortable with. La Petite was our front runner until finding The Learning Bee. Give them a shot. Whoever you choose, message the person who told you. It doesn't cost you anything and they'll maybe get a referral bonus that most people would be happy to split.

Both of my girls went to La Petite Academy on Old Farm Rd from 10 weeks old through pre-k. I loved that every time I made an unannounced visit, teachers were always doing the right thing. It's been many years since then (my oldest is now in middle school), but I would still recommend you at least go take a look. In fact, I stopped by the other day because a teacher I recognized was out in the play yard when I drove by. This many years later, she still knew my kids' names (and was amazed by how much they'd grown). Franchised care like LPA or Kinder Care will cost you, but it's worth the cost in my opinion.

Do you know what hours you're looking for? I'm leaving my job as an infant teacher (private Montessori school) in a few weeks and will be looking for something to do if you're interested. Feel free to DM me

My son has gone to Celebree in Ballenger Creek since he was about 3 months old. We love it there! The teachers have been wonderful and really went out of their way to help him (and lets be honest, me) get adjusted to daycare in the beginning. Now he practically jumps out of my arms when I drop him off in the morning. They have been very accommodating with any requests we've had regarding feeding, nap schedule, etc. Some teachers rotate but the main teacher in his classroom has stayed the same since he started there. We actually moved across town a couple months ago but we like Celebree enough to make the drive rather than switch daycares. Money wise, I think in-home providers will typically cost less than centers, but my husband and I didn't find any that worked for us. We toured and priced out several centers (kindercare, la petite, ymca), and IIRC celebree was the cheapest. Fortunately it was also our favorite. I think it's about $60 or $70 less than La Petite per week. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

With child care obviously finding good care is important but location is also important since this will be a part of your daily routine and you want a location that works with where you work and live. Like any city there are places and times you don't want to be driving every day if you can avoid it. Do you know about where would be ideal in terms of location?

We go to Meadows Montessori. We've liked it a lot, but can no longer really vouch for the infant room as the two main teachers recently left. But it's safe and clean and could be a good fit. They are a bit pricey and they are closed a lot -- 4 weeks in summer with a camp option for half of it, and a week for spring break with a camp option (gotta pay for it). A lot of the teachers are really great and the montessori method is pretty cool. They are worth visiting for sure.

Children? Can't you just drop them off at Baker Park and pick them up afterwards?